If memory serves me right, the subject of this article was alleged to be up to something similar at the World Open a few years back.
boston.com/news/nation/artic … oku_match/
Does sound familiar. Someone should bring this to the attention of the Sudoku folks.
Yes, Eugene Varshavsky is the same name as the guy caught at the World Open.
I wonder how many other game competitions will have to worry about this kind of thing. Backgammon, scrabble …?
– Hal Terrie
[size=150]Cat in the Hat ?[/size]
The unfortunate thing is that Chess has still not learned its lesson.
While at the Liberty Bell Open - Philadelphia in 2007, I noticed signs all over prohibiting
wearing headphones etc. There were people clearly violating this policy.
The Chess Life article even shows someone wearing them. The caveat is
that you can use them based upon your score in the tournament. As long as there is tolerance and money involved, it will continue. It will be interesting to see how the Sudoku tournament handles this the next time.
On the contrary, the Liberty Bell Open has never had a headphone rule, although there were many signs warning about penalties for cell phones ringing.
Two-time world champion and molecular chemist from Harvard Thomas Snyder is now after Eugene Varshavsky. motris.livejournal.com/
Well, maybe I mistakenly interpreted the thread title. 
It can happen.
But while I’m here… Here’s your Deja Vu, from right here in Philly!! 
:mrgreen:
MODERATORS TAKE NOTE - as the Phillies are defending Champs, this post is precisely ON TOPIC. 
[size=200]GO PHILLIES!!! [/size] 
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the prizes in the Sudoku tournament have been frozen pending investigation.
philly.com/inquirer/local/20 … probe.html
However, it must be pointed out that “The Man with the Hat” was not expelled from the 2006 World Open. It was never proven that he cheated or how he did it. He was just made to remove his hat and, with his hat off, he started playing much worse and lost all his games.
At least we have an idea of how he did it. Nobody has yet figured out what he did or how he did it at the Sudoku tournament.
Sam Sloan
This is the solution to the puzzle in the picture:
Back up a level from my website to find the Sudoku solver.
Outstanding ! Did you solve it without a computer?
No, that was part of a screen save after I ran it through my sudoku solver. Go to my webpage (the globe on the right) and strip off “/chess_etc”.
Most of my javascript is original, but the sudoku comes from elsewhere with just a few tweaks from me. The round robin scripts framework came from devenizia, although I have heavily modified them since then.
A few weeks ago, a guy with a hooded sweater asked me how he could use them. I thought it a little unusual to be wearing that in the Mississippi summer …
The hoody and oversize hat may be misdirection. This may be a demonstration of a product that has no relation to chess or Sudoku and would be of interest to folks like Peter Popoff.
Yes and No…
Yes- There has never been a headphone rule stated online for the Liberty Bell Open like the rule as stated and implemented in 2007 for the World Open and the Foxwoods Open.
SPECIAL RULES REVISED
Players with scores of 80% or more in round 3 or after may not use headphones, earphones, cellphones, or hearing aids, or go to a different floor of the building, without Director permission. They must also submit to a search for electronic devices if requested by Director; refusal to be searched is grounds for expulsion from the tournament, with no refund.
This rule was devised after the 2006 World Open incident as noted.
The 2007 World Open announcement along with the new rule was placed online previous to the 2007 Liberty Bell Open.
It was also implemented for the 2007 Foxwoods Open with a March 15,2007
revision date.
No- I was there at the 2007 Liberty Bell Open with a friend of mine.
I noted the signs to him prohibiting the headphones, earphones, etc.
I also pointed out the individuals who were wearing the headphones.
I then went home and pointed out to him the new rule above as stated
for the 2007 World Open . This did not make sense to me. This was on the heels of the major cheating incident at the 2006 World Open. The only difference between these tournaments is: amount of MONEY and TOLERANCE.
When the Chess Life article about this 2007 Liberty Bell Open came out, I submitted a comment. I noted the discrepency of the posted signs and CCA rule and the picture of a winner with the headphones. My comment was posted and subsequently deleted.
I believe you’re conflating a policy which applied to cellphones at the Liberty Bell Open, and not to headphones, with a policy regarding both cellphones and headphones at the World Open. The World Open rules were announced in Chess Life and on the website, and I checked a copy of the January 2007 Chess Life, and there is no such reference in the TLA for the Liberty Bell Open. However, they are listed in the World Open TLA in the same issue.
Now, all we need is a 32 piece tablebase… 
In reading one of the articles I very quickly saw the how easy two numbers the man got were…
So now I went back to the pictures on the blog of the puzzle, plugged it into the Sudoku game on my Palm, and started solving. (Closing my eyes to the solution in the quoted post.)
At 20 minutes in I caught a break and plugged 8 more numbers into the puzzle. At 33 minutes in I’ve decided to take a break. (Only 47 open spots left. 
)
(And ordinarily I give up on sudoku I can’t solve in 20-25 minutes. So I may or may not go back to solving it. I think I would describe this puzzle as Insane-level. )
ETA… and what a cool script (and I imagine a fun project to tweak! 
)
It was. It was slow getting started as I still do not really know how it works. Sometimes it says “Cannot solve this puzzle” when it has done just that. A new “about” division was the only new thing I added, but it was display only. In other places I could modify existing code to change color or add “Enter” key functionality to the arrow keys in entering the puzzle. Good comments from the original author were a big help.
Thanks for checking it out!
I confirmed with my friend who was at the Liberty Bell Open with me in 2007. There were posted signs pertaining to headphones. This was specific to this event. While we may disagree on the content of the posted signs, we agree that there is no formal policy relating to headphones for the Liberty Bell and other major tournaments. This applies to the TLA or online announcements. Therefore, there is no rule prohibiting earpieces at most major tournaments. The World Open and Foxwoods Open allow a partial tolerance of earpieces.
What does this all mean?
Chess will await the next incident and act upon it.
Sudoku will currently decide if there should be a wait and see policy.