The strange, strange story of John von Neumann
One of the earliest mentions of using technology to cheat at chess occurred in 1993 during the World Open hosted in Philadelphia. A man described as having dreadlocks and wearing headphones waltzed into the arena and said his name was John von Neumann, which is also the name of a famed computer scientist and game theorist from the early to mid 20th century. Von Neumann was reportedly unrated in the chess world, but he still won more than half his initial nine games in the open section, even drawing against a grandmaster. Players reported he had a bulge in his pocket that buzzed at certain moments in the game.
During a chess cheating conference held in New York back in 2007, former U.S. Chess Federation director Steve Immitt said that the tournament director at the time quizzed von Neumann on basic chess concepts and the rogue player apparently failed to give knowledgeable answers. He was kicked out of the tournament.
The story has taken on a near-apocryphal air, especially since the real name behind von Neumann’s moniker was never identified.
