It depends on how the tournament was done. Computers playing chess do not win 100% of the time. The top levels of the GM's can play reasonable against them. Computers playing chess have not yet become the checkers program Chinook, which is proclaimed unbeatable by experts (At the best, you can draw it).
I would much prefer to play humans but i think the idea is a good one. It really brings chess into the future. I dont know if the effects would be good or bad, but it could raise the bar and improve the average standard of human players.
Perhaps in the future humans could play with the 'aid of computers'. For example, long lines of study could be stored on a computer and then used as reference against an opponent. Hmmm.... to be honest i dont know much about where computer chess is going but it generates alot of scope for progression. I cant see the classic tournament set-up being supplanted however, as chess tournaments are as much a social event as a competitive event for the most of us.
Playing a computer (silicon) opponent in a tournament is ludacrous. Would you run a race versus a car? How about a horse? This oddity of allowing computers to play against humans is as absurd as either of the aforementioned questions.
As a computer programmer I am impressed to see silicon advance, and do what it does in our society as a whole (not just chess that is). However, the computing speed of modern systems makes it pointless to play against them at all. Humans do not think like computers, and computers do not think like humans. Similar to how both cars and horses are different than man.
Let them play one vs. one against a GM or against other silicon opponents to further science, or computer technology, but keep them out of main stream tournaments where humans compete against each other. Once again, you see auto races face off against other cars, and horse races against other horses, but you don't see man running along side of either...do you?
Playing a computer (silicon) opponent in a tournament is ludacrous. Would you run a race versus a car? How about a horse? This oddity of allowing computers to play against humans is as absurd as either of the aforementioned questions.
Well no, but I think I would do reasonably well against a horse in chess. :)
Once again, you see horse races against other horses, but you don't see man running along side ...do you?
I wonder how many people in here are using databases and analysis software to help their games. Esp. with the delay in alot of the moves.
I think it's important to draw a distinction between human error and programming errors. Programming errors can be eliminated, human error can-not. It's been demonstrated by Chinook, the checkers program which was cited earlier in this thread. It will play flawlessly because it's been programmed to do so. It's conceivable that eventually Chess will also be "solved", but even if this happens, no human will ever be able to play a flawless game because we simply don't posess the computational horsepower and even if we did, would occasionally blunder. We are, after all, only human....
"computers are programed by humans, so they will think like a human"
This is just a false leap of logic.
So what if the question was "would you be averse to allowing computers in tournaments as aids instead of players?" They allow calculators in math exams, because the math being tested is not reliant on the calculator. The calculator is merely a way of obtaining the result in an accelerated timespan, but the theory itself must still be understood to pass the exam; a better calculator won't help one pass if they don't understand the principles involved.
Similarly, what if people were allowed to carry an electronic analysis board into a tournament with them? It couldn't suggest moves, but it could add clarity to one's own ideas and accelerate the speed with which one could calculate a complex attack or defense. This might be a legitimate use of computers in tournaments that could become widely accepted. Not everyone might agree (and I know several individuals on this site who wouldn't) but I think that if everyone in a specific tournament used one, the best player would still win. It just might not take as long and we might see some players playing well above their normal over-the-board level.
Do you think computers should be allowed to play in chess tournaments with people? Would you play in such events yourself? My own opinion is that they shouldnt be allowed and I would not play in any tournament that allows them to play.