> 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

> 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.