Web Summit: Chess Grandmaster Hans Niemann to face global opponents advised by AI

The chess world will try and break a new record at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon this week when Grandmaster Hans Niemann competes online against what he hopes will be tens of thousands of opponents in a single match. 

The match draws inspiration from the historic Garry Kasparov match against 50,000 participants in 1999 and another match in 1997 where he was defeated by a computer, IBM’s Deep Blue. Niemann, a rising chess star was not even born then. 

This year, the world match against the 21-year-old will feature artificial intelligence (AI). 

Anyone can join to play the match from their own devices. The AI system will give participants three options for each move which are either grandmaster, advanced or amateur level, the player is not told which level the move is. 

Players then have 30 seconds to cast their vote and the most popular will be played. Niemann will have five minutes in total to make his moves. 

“I think there's a lot of intersectionality between chess and technology,” Niemann told Euronews Next. 

“Obviously, top chess players mostly rely on like a neural network AI engine to do most of our analysis. So I thought it would be an interesting mix to see what level of like mix between people and AI with suggestions could be,” he said. 

“If you're a complete beginner and you play a grandmaster, you're never going to win. It's not like a game like poker or backgammon that has a luck element that an amateur can enjoy against a professional”.

The AI advisor system has been designed by the company it.com Domains and is based on the Stockfish AI engine, which Niemann said he uses. 

Niemann said that his opponents will have less control as you get input from the engine but a vote is the most effective way to include as many players as possible.

‘Good chances’ in Web Summit chess game

Asked how he would feel if he lost the match, Niemann said it would depend on how he lost. He said it would “not be good” if he were crushed but if he “loses on time and it’s a fun game, it’ll be ok”.

“I don't have much riding on this game. Humans have been beaten by computers before so I certainly won't be an exception,” he said.  

“But I do like to think that every chess game that I play will end in a victory”.

The match will be played on November 13 at 13:15 CET at Web Summit. 

“I think I have good chances. It really depends on the crowd in Lisbon. I would presume it won't be all grandmasters in hiding,” he said.

“But obviously, it's going to be open to the public in the entire chess world, so it could be balanced out by all the chess players … so it could get quite difficult for me,” he said. 

The current record for the most participants in a chess game is held by Viswanathan Anand who defeated more than 60,000 opponents.

Putting a spotlight on chess is important, Niemann said. 

“From a commercial perspective, it's not as developed as other sports with similar interactional recognisability. And hundreds of millions of people in the world play chess,” he said. 

“Bringing chess to the masses through different exhibitions, whether it's a conference or show like ‘The Queen's Gambit’ is going to bridge the gap. I think the chess world from the outside is this intangible, weird little island, and I think we need to present it in a good way,” he added. 

“And obviously, with all the interest in AI and technology and a lot of the people I've met who even run a company or work in technology, chess is probably one of the most common pastimes. 

“So I think that there is going to be a lot of interest from people who are perhaps from the corporate world that are going to be at this conference”.