Free subscriptions for GM's and IM's

Originally posted by David Tebb
I think that offering free subscriptions to GMs and IMs would be an interesting experiment. But I doubt that there would be many takers.

For one thing, the subscription (at $30 per year) is so cheap that it wouldn't be much of an incentive. They would much rather be paid. Especially as many people seem to assume that the GMs would need to make themsel ...[text shortened]... or plenty of challenge games, play for clans, give tuition and regularly post in the forums.

I think the easiest way would be to get a link up with chesslecture.com or a similar site. They have a dozen IM and GM's... if they were asked to play here for free (they have already been verified and you hear them giving the lecture... pretty conclusive)

In return RHP can advertise chesslecture.com, give deals, promotions etc.

The GM's don't need to post much in the forums.. it would mostly be in the chess forum anyway and they could just say "for advice on this see my lecture called..." More good advertising for them.

If these strong players do get beaten by a wannabe with his computer I would trust their opinion over the honesty of the opponant... They should have the ability to spot if moves are human or computerish. Beating a GM doesn't automatically make you a cheat, but if the GM feels they are a cheat and the mOD analyzes they are this is pretty conclusive and won't meet with much resistance.

In some ways I think playing a known GM will make players less likely to cheat as they know if they win (with computer help) it is almost certain to get analyzed by many players wanting to see how the GM was beaten. It might become the quickest way of catching the cheats.