I am going to start posting chess problems in this thread. The goal is to find the best continuation. I won't tell you in advance if the best continuation will lead to a win or a draw. Since the skill level in this thread varies greatly I will post problems of varying difficulty. If you are a strong player and the solution is a mate in one, please stay silent and let the beginners solve it. Some of the problems will be from real games or positions that could have occurred in real games. If you recognize the game and remember the solution, let someone else solve it.
Here is the first problem. Black to move. Enjoy
I'm stumped, the safest move would be to move the Rook to c8 and blow raspberries at his Queen menacingly. Some clues: 1. Black can either force checkmate in three moves or force white to give up massive amounts of material to prevent it. 2. If you want to checkmate your opponent, identify possible escape square(s) for their king. Now figure out how to eliminate those escape square(s). 3. Dxxlxxxxon  |
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This is expected. Naturally wealth is easier to create in economies where GDP is growing at faster rates. |
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Get a Mac.
UBUNTU SUCKS!
That was not a very helpful response. |
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Coinshuffle as a concept has added value even on a cryptonote coin itself.
Without something like coinjoin/coinshuffle you an infer that inputs to a transaction are controlled by the same party. This in turn requires additional measures which are inconvenient and not really desirable (MRL-0004 suggests at least sometimes sending a torrent of microtransactions rather than a single large one to spend multiple outputs rather than combining them).
Certainly coinshuffle is also needed if his supernet system includes coins that aren't anonymous, but that's a different issue.
Just when I feel like I am starting to understand the basics in this thread now you start talking about the combination of things. Here is a problem some of you chess addicts may like to solve while I continue to study cryptography: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1148538.msg12620343#msg12620343 |
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I am going to start posting chess problems in this thread. The goal is to find the best continuation. I won't tell you in advance if the best continuation will lead to a win or a draw. Since the skill level in this thread varies greatly I will post problems of varying difficulty. If you are a strong player and the solution is a mate in one, please stay silent and let the beginners solve it. Some of the problems will be from real games or positions that could have occurred in real games. If you recognize the game and remember the solution, let someone else solve it. Here is the first problem. Black to move. Enjoy |
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http://diyhpl.us/wiki/transcripts/scalingbitcoin/privacy-and-fungibility/This is interesting but it lacks discussion of the possibility of pruning within CryptoNote: "CryptoNote leaves a trail of transaction outputs that are ambiguously spent, you can’t tell if coins have been spent or not. You have to keep the UTXO set around forever. The use of lightning network for example would allow some increase in privacy, and move stuff off-chain at the same time." Some good points: "Do the programmers believe in privacy? Some people don’t believe that certain privacy should exist. There should be a bigger emphasis on explaining what the privacy is for, and why the general public needs it. Describing the necessity of fungibility may help. Later retroactive deanonymization is a constant threat in the future. Weak privacy can burn users. Retroactive privacy is probably impossible." Bitcoin fungibility needs to be addressed now to protect users privacy, not at some point in the distant future.
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Ne5. Pawn at d3 could do with an additional support
Ne5 6 votes (XMRpromotions, recklessrager, boolberry, Foxpup, languagehasmeaning, jjacob)
Rad1 2 votes (Hueristic, dre1982)
Nc3 2 Vote (Timelord2067, gotmilk)
Your move bitcointalk. You have the white pieces The current position is updated below: 22.Ne5 Nd7  |
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4 votes for Bf4 (Foxpup, xmrpromotions, gotmilk_ languagehasmeaning)
1 vote for Ne1 (dre1982)
1 vote for Nf4 (jjacob)
1 vote for Rc1 (Hueristic)
Your move bitcointalk. You have the white pieces The current position is updated below: 21.Bf4 Qa8  |
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As chance is not involved in chess, CHESS cannot be considered as gambling at all!
Just because chess is a game of skill does not mean the outcome is certain or that one player is favored. Better players can provide time or material odds to compensate for their skill advantage. This happens fairly often in chess tournament lobbies. Betting on chess online is still a horrible idea because of the high risk of cheating described in this thread. I play chess online frequently but only for fun. No gambling is ever involved. |
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I am still studying the paper, but must say the more I learn about elliptic curves the more interested I become. |
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Bitcoin update: Most top chess players have "seconds" who help with opening preparation for certain opponents. Often this done over Skype from far away. One of my seconds has just agreed to accept bitcoin for payment going forward. I am lucky that I can make a good living from playing chess alone. Most "professional" chess players cannot and must supplement their income by coaching or something else. For those that teach online, bitcoin is perfect, especially if your students live in another country. https://twitter.com/ChessBTC/status/650327520034824192 |
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20. Rd2.
6 votes Rd2 boolberry, dre1982, languagehasmeaning, hueristic, xmrpromotions, Foxpup
3 votes Bf4 gotmilk_, ErisDiscordia, newb4now
1 vote Qa3 Timelord2067
1 vote Nf4 jjacob
Your move bitcointalk. You have the white pieces The current position is updated below: 20.Rd2 Nb4  |
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Oh and I've been meaning to ask, what's your interest in BitCoin? The mining? The block chain? Does it come from an interest in Cryptography? PGP / GPG ??
My interest in cryptography developed after I became aware of bitcoin. My post history should provide some background but I love the idea of a decentralized currency controlled only by math and its users. Improved speed and cost efficiency for international transactions interest me greatly. Recently I have begun to think more about micro transactions, privacy and new uses for blockchain technology. I enjoy learning. |
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After looking at the position once again I want to change my vote to Ne2.
I updated the count. Lets start using the idea here of keeping the current totals updated with each new vote until someone starts a vote only thread. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1148538.4602 votes Ne1 language dre 5 votes Ne2 xmr newb reckless boolberry eris 1 vote Rd2 fox 1 vote h4 timelord You missed my vote for Ne2, but it doesn't seem to have made a difference. 2 votes Ne1 language dre 6 votes Ne2 xmr newb reckless boolberry eris jjacob 1 vote Rd2 fox 1 vote h4 timelord Your move bitcointalk. You have the white pieces The current position is updated below: 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4 c5 7. 0-0 a6 8. d3 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10.Nc3 Be7 11.Bf4 0-0 12.Rfd1 Qb6 13.a4 Rfd8 14.a5 Qa7 15.e4 Rac8 16.h3 Nb8 17.Be3 Nc6 18.Qb3 h6 19.Ne2 Qb8  |
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My single biggest question after reading the entire paper is the how did they choose their elliptic curve constants? The protocol appears sound; who chose the constants? Will there be a plan for choosing new constants in the future if needed?
As I understand it the constants were chosen by Daniel J. Bernstein. I think this is noted in the white paper but may have been missed during that initial review when cryptonote suddenly dropped out of the sky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdDSAI'm not a cryptographer so I may be getting some of this wrong. I've not seen any answer to this, though you could try asking on their forum. That can be hit or miss. Some of the people posting there on behalf of "cryptonote" obviously have technical knowledge but others are just clueless. Daniel Bernstein seems well qualified to make that decision. Maybe he will share his thoughts with us. Is he on bitcointalk? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_J._BernsteinThe second question may or may not even matter (I have no reason to assume there is something wrong with the chosen hash function). Only because of the importance of the decision am I wondering about the selection. I have not registered on the CryptoNote forums but may do so at some point. Thank you for your time. 1. The largest prime number closest to the power of two (2^255 – 19) was defined for modular arithmetics speed up. 2. The order of group 1 (another large number) was obtained when the group order for this curve was calculated. 3. Basepoint for EdDSA corresponds to the basepoint of Curve25519. These curves are birationally equivalent. Curve25519 uses the base point x = 9 4. Coefficient 486662 for Curve25519 (and, respectively, coefficient 121665 for EdDSA) was chosen the same way. More detailed explanation of each constant choice can be found there: http://cr.yp.to/ecdh/curve25519-20060209.pdfThank you for your detailed answer. I will study the paper you referred me to until I am certain I understand the importance of all of the above. My chess schedule should provide me some flexibility to study more cryptography this week. |
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My single biggest question after reading the entire paper is the how did they choose their elliptic curve constants? The protocol appears sound; who chose the constants? Will there be a plan for choosing new constants in the future if needed?
As I understand it the constants were chosen by Daniel J. Bernstein. I think this is noted in the white paper but may have been missed during that initial review when cryptonote suddenly dropped out of the sky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdDSAI'm not a cryptographer so I may be getting some of this wrong. I've not seen any answer to this, though you could try asking on their forum. That can be hit or miss. Some of the people posting there on behalf of "cryptonote" obviously have technical knowledge but others are just clueless. Daniel Bernstein seems well qualified to make that decision. Maybe he will share his thoughts with us. Is he on bitcointalk? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_J._BernsteinThe second question may or may not even matter (I have no reason to assume there is something wrong with the chosen hash function). Only because of the importance of the decision am I wondering about the selection. I have not registered on the CryptoNote forums but may do so at some point. Thank you for your time. |
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That vote only thread sounds smart. Will OP start that or will you? Why do you think it should be moderated? So that only votes are posted and not anything else?
Exactly, only votes in a clear and agreed one row post (we should discuss how vote changes or 2nd choice must be declared). It's important to decide if it should be moderated or not, because this option is only available when you start a new topic and you can't modify it after. About the thread starter, I think that OP would be the natural choice here, but if I remember well he asked for someone else to count the votes. I also see Taras or Foxpup well suited for this task. If I am trusted enough, I am available too. Another option would be for every voter to quote the previous voter and update a running tally of voting totals. Compliance may become difficult to enforce but in theory this should be easy.
That should improve the current situation, but as you wrote, I've some doubts about its compliance. Update including the last vote:I vote Qb3 too.
18. Nd2 dre198218. Qb3 - 9 VOTES - [Foxpup, jjacob, languagehasmeaning, Timelord2067, boolberry, XMRpromotions, ErisDiscordia, abacus, newb4now] 18. Rd2 - 2 VOTES - [gotmilk_ (you meant Rd2, right?), Hueristic] 18. Ne1 - 2 VOTES - [ObscureBean (I'm assuming you voted for it), dre1982] 18. e5 HueristicI can understand why counting votes is a chore with the current format. Your idea for another voting only thread (ran by someone else) is a good one. Once it is created I can link to it in the OP here. The community can decide who the moderator (if needed) should be, so long as it is not me. If this happens we can talk more about chess in this thread without worrying about confusing the vote counters. I can post more puzzles and am willing to help analyze our current game once it is over. Your move bitcointalk. You have the white pieces The current position is updated below: 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4 c5 7. 0-0 a6 8. d3 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10.Nc3 Be7 11.Bf4 0-0 12.Rfd1 Qb6 13.a4 Rfd8 14.a5 Qa7 15.e4 Rac8 16.h3 Nb8 17.Be3 Nc6 18.Qb3 h6  |
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You're not the first and you certainly won't be the last person concerning themselves with how to break the Bitcoin network.
You should use your knowledge and skills for productive means and help the community.
What exactly do you think computer security professionals DO? Or cryptologists employed by three-letter agencies? Or military strategists? A person who wants to strengthen the bitcoin network and isn't constantly thinking of ways to break it, isn't doing their job. I wish more people understood this concept. This type of testing is exactly what bitcoin needs to become stronger. You have to think of different ways to attack bitcoin in order to develop better ways to defend it. |
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I am bumping this thread because I like to see people promoting bitcoin within the chess community
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Those links were helpful. There are a few questions raised in the whitepaper review that I would like to hear opinions on: https://downloads.getmonero.org/whitepaper_review.pdfQuote from Surae Noether on pages 4-5: My single biggest question after reading the entire paper is the how did they choose their elliptic curve constants? The protocol appears sound; who chose the constants? Will there be a plan for choosing new constants in the future if needed?I know that Monero and Boolberry did not create CryptoNote but have improved on it. Any guesses for the reason the CryptoNote creators selected a relatively new cryptographic hash function? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Hash_AlgorithmI appreciate your thoughts on this and am aware there may not be easy answers to my questions |
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