Tying the Niemann scandal or changing practices into the chess engine discussion is I think wrong. As the article itself points out, chess engine use became ubi

Tying the Niemann scandal or changing practices into the chess engine discussion is I think wrong. As the article itself points out, chess engine use became ubiquitous and cheating as a concern emerged almost 20 years back. The article also vastly overstates the importance of NN chess models. Conventional Stockfish already played at levels so far beyond human capacity a few years back it makes no practical difference. (chess GM's literally would draw or lose with pawn odds many years ago), and professional players have been using engines extensively for well over a decade. What's starting to shift in chess isn't tech but the culture, largely driven by the social media around it, the livestreaming medium where now much of it takes place in real time, and so on. Chess isn't becoming like poker, it's just becoming like any other sport that gets the entertainment sector treatment, including increasing amounts of drama. It reminds me a little bit of a recent thread on how Substack allegedly revolutionized writing. There also it wasn't substack, which is basically a blog generator with a payment button, but the social networks around it that create all of the new dynamics. I expect a lot more cheating allegations, personal feuds, played up controversy not because of technology that affects the game itself but because of tech that changes how the game is broadcast and how people participate in it.