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From the article: > Nigel Short played against a strong player on Internet Chess Club who used the opening; Short suspected his opponent of being Bobby Fischer

From the article: > Nigel Short played against a strong player on Internet Chess Club who used the opening; Short suspected his opponent of being Bobby Fischer. > English Grandmaster Nigel Short dubbed the opening an "insult to chess". So...I wonder how the game against Fischer (?) went.

throwaway81523 5y ago
That was a very famous incident, try searching "fischer nigel short bongcloud". Someone played several games against Short and won them all with horrible openings using 2 Kf2 and the like (not Ke2 iirc). The person knew some Fischer trivia so there was wide speculation (including by Short) that the mysterious opponent was Fischer himself. Consensus these days was that it was some prankster using an engine. This was in the era before powerful engines were that widely available, so they weren't people's immediate thought, but they existed.
- mrslave 5y ago
  I'd never heard of bongcloud before but searching YouTube for "Fischer Short" yields many videos discussing this apparent incident. One from a popular channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9p2PrsKWY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9p2PrsKWY. Great story. I like to believe that there's a mysterious and excellent human opponent on the other end. I find it difficult to believe an engine could have such a terrible opening, then go on to defeat a top blitz player. This is just my speculation.
  - throwaway81523 5y ago
    > I find it difficult to believe an engine could have such a terrible opening, then go on to defeat a top blitz player. This is just my speculation. It's more the other way around. Short was a world championship challenger. There is no human in the world who could beat him with such an opening, except for the possibility of a mysterious Fischer with expanded powers gathered during his time away from the mortal chess world. An engine could also do it, of course, and that's a far more likely explanation. A human operating the engine picks the opening, then lets the engine take over after a few moves.
    - sudosysgen 5y ago
      Did Carlsen not being a similarly skilled player with 2. Kf2 or the bongcloud once?
      - MauranKilom 5y ago
        Yes, against Andrew Tang of all people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_6Zl1jNWYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_6Zl1jNWYQ But this is Magnus Carlsen we're talking about.
  - deleted 5y ago
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- jointpdf 5y ago
  Excellent, I love a good mystery. I mis-remembered the Bongcloud as: 1. f3 2. e5 Kf2 (i.e. “fianchettoing” the king :D), but that is apparently called the Hammerschlag. https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess_Opening_Theory/1._f3/1...e5/2._Kf2 https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess_Opening_Theory/1._f3/1...
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throwaway81523 5y ago

That was a very famous incident, try searching "fischer nigel short bongcloud". Someone played several games against Short and won them all with horrible openings using 2 Kf2 and the like (not Ke2 iirc). The person knew some Fischer trivia so there was wide speculation (including by Short) that the mysterious opponent was Fischer himself. Consensus these days was that it was some prankster using an engine. This was in the era before powerful engines were that widely available, so they weren't people's immediate thought, but they existed.

mrslave 5y ago
I'd never heard of bongcloud before but searching YouTube for "Fischer Short" yields many videos discussing this apparent incident. One from a popular channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9p2PrsKWY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9p2PrsKWY. Great story. I like to believe that there's a mysterious and excellent human opponent on the other end. I find it difficult to believe an engine could have such a terrible opening, then go on to defeat a top blitz player. This is just my speculation.
- throwaway81523 5y ago
  > I find it difficult to believe an engine could have such a terrible opening, then go on to defeat a top blitz player. This is just my speculation. It's more the other way around. Short was a world championship challenger. There is no human in the world who could beat him with such an opening, except for the possibility of a mysterious Fischer with expanded powers gathered during his time away from the mortal chess world. An engine could also do it, of course, and that's a far more likely explanation. A human operating the engine picks the opening, then lets the engine take over after a few moves.
  - sudosysgen 5y ago
    Did Carlsen not being a similarly skilled player with 2. Kf2 or the bongcloud once?
    - MauranKilom 5y ago
      Yes, against Andrew Tang of all people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_6Zl1jNWYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_6Zl1jNWYQ But this is Magnus Carlsen we're talking about.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
jointpdf 5y ago
Excellent, I love a good mystery. I mis-remembered the Bongcloud as: 1. f3 2. e5 Kf2 (i.e. “fianchettoing” the king :D), but that is apparently called the Hammerschlag. https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess_Opening_Theory/1._f3/1...e5/2._Kf2 https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess_Opening_Theory/1._f3/1...

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