Machine vs. Angler
Votbinnik vs. Lysmov
Jal vs. Serek
Sherevsky vs. Krakatower
Jandorf vs. Grabo
After studying the list for a while, Sandra said, "Hey, even Angler
could come out first, couldn't he, if he beat the Machine and Votbinnik
lost to Lysmov?"
"Could, could--yes. But I'm afraid that's hoping for too much,
barring another breakdown. To tell the truth, dear, the Machine is
simply too good for all of us. If it were only a little faster (and
these technological improvements always come) it would out-class us
completely. We are at that fleeting moment of balance when genius
is almost good enough to equal mechanism. It makes me feel sad, but
proud too in a morbid fashion, to think that I am in at the death of
grandmaster chess. Oh, I suppose the game will always be played, but it
won't ever be quite the same." He blew out a breath and shrugged his
shoulders.
"As for Willie, he's a good one and he'll give the Machine a long hard
fight, you can depend on it. He might conceivably even draw."
He touched Sandra's arm. "Cheer up, my dear," he said. "You should
remind yourself that a victory for the Machine is still a victory for
the USA."
* * * * *
Doc's prediction about a long hard fight was decidedly not fulfilled.
Having White, the Machine opened Pawn to King Four and Angler went
into the Sicilian Defense. For the first twelve moves on each side
both adversaries pushed their pieces and tapped their clocks at such
lightning speed (Vanderhoef feeding in Angler's moves swiftly) that up
in the stands Bill and Judy were still flipping pages madly in their
hunt for the right column in MCO.
The Machine made its thirteenth move, still at blitz tempo.
"Bishop takes Pawn, check, and mate in three!" Willie announced very
loudly, made the move, banged his clock and sat back.
There was a collective gasp-and-gabble from the stands.
Dave squeezed Sandra's arm hard. Then for once forgetting that he was
Dr. Caution, he demanded loudly of Bill and Judy, "Have you two idiots
found that column yet? _The Machine's thirteenth move is a boner!_"
Pinning down the reference with a fingernail, Judy cried, "Yes! Here
it is on page 161 in footnote (e) (2) (B). Dave, _that same thirteenth
move for White is in the book_! But Black replies Knight to Queen Two,
not Bishop takes Pawn, check. And three moves later the book gives
White a plus value."
"What the heck, it can't be," Bill asserted.
"But it _is_. Check for yourself. _That boner is in the book._"
"Shut up, everybody!" Dave ordered, clapping his hands to his face.
When he dropped them a moment later his eyes gleamed. "I got it now!
Angler figured they were using the latest edition of MCO to program
the Machine on openings, he found an editorial error and then he
deliberately played the Machine into that variation!"
Dave practically shouted his last words, but that attracted no
attention as at that moment the whole hall was the noisiest it had been
throughout the tournament. It simmered down somewhat as the Machine
flashed a move.
Angler replied instantly.
The Machine replied almost as soon as Angler's move was fed into it.
Angler moved again, his move was fed into the Machine and the Machine
flashed: