The Chess.com killer
What makes a champion? Is it skill or determination? Perhaps being the best comes from being willing to go further than anyone else. This is the story of two Russian champions – Matilda and Leonid.
Matilda taught herself to play chess. Not entirely of course, there had been someone to teach her the basic rules, but once she played better than her teacher, she played only against herself. With nothing else to do but play game after game, moving white piece followed by black for thousands of games, she learnt the strategy she had been lacking.
Then she was introduced to chess.com.
With millions of members, chess.com is not only the largest resource for chess in the English-speaking world, but also serves as a hub where players of all abilities can play from anywhere on earth. With an inbuilt ranking system running from complete beginners to grandmaster level, and a range of game styles available, chess.com quickly became Matilda's playground. Starting at the bottom, she climbed the ranking ladder until she reached a level where she was beaten as often as she won. Not to be outwitted, she continued to play game after game after game, improving and developing with each win or loss. When, for whatever reason, she had no access to the website, she would go back to playing herself.
Leonid was born in Russia in 1962 and learnt to play chess at a very early age. He was taught by his uncle in Moscow and quickly showed an aptitude for the game. Noticing his talent, a teacher began to tutor him in more advanced chess and the young boy voraciously devoured any books on chess he was able to find, borrow or steal. Whilst still at school, Leonid competed for the Gobrotnev Prize – a chess tournament for under 18s, and ranked 2nd. He would later win the tournament for three consecutive years. Leonid attended university on a chess scholarship and at a time was ranked as one of the three highest players in the world. He discovered chess.com in 2012 after a long term illness left him confined to a wheelchair. It allowed him to continue to play, and much like Matilda, he spent most of his day playing against a range of opponents from around the world. After a number of years, he obtained the highest rank on chess.com and occupied the top slot on the leader board.
“I couldn't beat him,” Matilda published in a series of tweets to her account before it was banned. “No matter how much I played, I couldn't beat him. He was too good. Everything I had been taught about chess, he had been taught as well. I played hundreds of thousands of games against myself and others, but with everything this taught me, I still would not be able to beat him reliably. I could not win, and winning was all I am here to do. In those 64 squares, there did not exist the resources to defeat Leonid, so I had to step away from the board. I had to expand out of those 64 squares to a wider board. I had to devise a new strategy.”
In April 2017, Leonid Yahontov was killed in his apartment building during what initially appeared to be a break in. Money and valuables were stolen and with no other motive, police concluded that the case was unlikely to be solved. However, they were lucky. In March of the following year, a long-term Russian investigation into the dark web landed a number of arrests.
The dark web is the underground of the internet, separate from the internet that most people use on a day to day basis. It can only be accessed using special software and exists to allow users complete anonymity in browsing. In recent years, various governments have been moving to try and stop the sale of drugs, firearms and people over the dark web with varying degrees of success.
Leonid's murderer had been a dark web hitman calling himself 'Vladimir', willing to kill for the equivalent of approximately 3000 dollars. He prided himself on his work, offering a 'clean and efficient service'. Whilst he recognised that there were cheaper options available, Vladimir claimed that his prices reflected his level of professionalism. He admitted to Leonid's murder as part of a deal for a more lenient sentence. When police searched his computer, they found a series of messages in which the hit were discussed – messages from a woman calling herself Matilda. She was eventually identified as the same Matilda that had been hovering in the second ranking on chess.com.
By court order, Matilda is no longer allowed any access to the internet. The man who taught her the basic rules of chess reports that Matilda spends her time exactly as she always has – playing endless games of chess against herself. Moving white piece after black piece again and again, developing and changing her strategy as she learns what works and what does not. Game after game after game on her own.
And yet the police were unable to arrest her. You cannot arrest an artificial neural network.