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Online Chess & Cheating

Everybody who has been playing online chess for any significant period of time has probably encountered somebody using an engine to win. I myself have done it. Once, around 3 years ago, I was hanging out with a buddy and we decided to use an engine just for giggles. We wanted to see how high we could get our rating. That was the one and only time I ever did it. Funny thing is, we didn't get it that high before we gave up because so many games after the 1800 mark started to be draws. I.E. We kept running into other cheaters. The fact that online cheating at chess is that common was and still is a sad realization.

Let's think about the different types of cheating and why people do it.
1) Beginning to end cheater: He's the guy that uses a computer for every game from move 1 to checkmate.

2) Opening cheater: This is the cheater that uses an engine to play just the opening.

3) Advantage Cheater: This is the cheater who uses an engine until they have a clear advantage, then play on their own.

4) Disadvantage Cheater: This is the cheater who plays on their own until they realize they are getting beaten and only then turns on their engine.

5) Weakness/Confused Cheater: This is the player that only uses the engine when they get into a situation and they don't know what to do or they get into a situation where they know they don't know what to do.

At first I tried to write down all the different reasons I thought each of these types of cheater cheat. I quickly realized that it was a futile effort. There are probably as many various reasons why people cheat at chess as there are reasons or excuses for any immoral act. I, for instance, did it for giggles and out of curiosity. Others might do it because they feel they are learning something from it. For the most part however, I believe it has to do with ego in many different ways. Just one example might be a person who thinks they are deserving of a minimal rating of 2000 might cheat to achieve or maintain that rating always assuming that anybody with a lower rating that beats them is cheating.

If ego is the main underlying reason a person might cheat, then you can probably ask an obvious question with an equally obvious answer. What does a cheater have to gain from cheating? The answer, rating points. Possibly just as valid an answer, the satisfaction of beating a stronger player or to get rating points so they can play the stronger players.

What is the damage done to the honest player who is there just to enjoy the game? The guy who wins some and loses some but despite the emotional pain or glee, continues to play fairly for no other reason than the love of the game? The answer to this is as simple as it is complicated. One can argue that the answer is nothing. It's just a game. Another person could argue that it damages the integrity of the rating system and messes with people's heads. We can all agree, I think, that's it's simply not fair to find yourself playing a computer when you didn't want to. Even more to the point, you could argue that the cheater is stealing rating points, or bits of our hard earned ego boosting or diminishing rating. I think all of these points are valid.

Is there a solution to online cheating? I don't think it will ever go away completely. People will always do it as long as it is as easy to do as it is. Do I think there is an obvious way to significantly reduce the amount of cheating on this, my favorite chess server, lichess.org/? YES!
But is the cure worse than the disease? That's the question I pose to whoever is reading this.

My proposed solution is simple. Hide the rating system. Make ratings viewable only to the person it's assigned to and only then after that person has proven, through so many games played, that they aren't going to just make another account if they aren't satisfied with it. Only make updates of this viewable rating weekly or monthly. I believe this will deter players who cheat greatly. If nothing else they will play on other sites. This wouldn't change anything either. The ratings will still be there. Players will still have the option of not being paired with people too far from their own rating. The ratings will simply become private and therefore less important to ego and more important as far as personal accomplishment. Most importantly, I believe that the average person's ability to enjoy the game will be enhanced and that all players will benefit from not worrying about their rating or losing rating points to cheaters.

Please post what you think about my idea to address the problem of cheating and anything else you might like to ad to this article. The points I made here are only my opinion and I'm equally interested in hearing yours on this topic. Thank you for taking the time to read this, inkspot
why not make an engine to spot the engines...?
That would only be effective against the beginning to end cheater. This is also probably the least common type of cheater that stays active long term. Plus lichess already uses this type of detection on their server.
yah that's definitely worse than the disease.
that said, i personally would welcome a way to filter by RD, so that we can avoid playing brand new accounts. most cheaters don't last very long here.
Every sport is competitive, has scores and statistics. Without some sort of standings, it becomes pointless to participate. To establish accurate player stats, all chess players need to abide by the rules and play respectfully, by trying to win honestly.
I'm not sure if I would mind a person doing reason #5 if the game is casual, it seems like a good learning method as long as they use it for studying and not just as an escape from the situation they find confusing. I'd prefer that they tell me though at least.
Cheating is always a problem in just about everything. It's about the immediate self-gratification of winning without putting in the effort to improve and grow as a player. I think hiding the ratings is not the correct approach. I just believe that harsher penalties should be assigned to those who cheat. How this is done however is up for debate. I personally think cheating is not as frequent as many believe, but still it can be extremely frustrating, especially when you know for sure your opponent is cheating while you are still playing the game. It's nice to see this is being brought to light though and am curious to see more ideas and perspectives on the issue. Thanks to the original poster ....
I'm not in favor of that idea ... let them cheat. I don't care about these morons.
I don't thinks it's a big issue as it seems (if u look at it as a victim ,sure it's a big problem for cheaters ), first of all , it can be reduced but never stopped , just like anything human can do wrong such as lying, insulting others,,etc , there will be always "bad " people ,so ,and only fanatics have the dream of an earth without "sins" . The problem can be handled by 2 things (as any "crime") 1-punishing the ones who do it (and here come the anti-cheat methods) 2 - preventing it by raising the issue to the people ....second, of you think about it, for example when you realize that u have lost a game to a cheater, it really should not bother you at all, yah, you lost some game to someone (who will be eventually caught) and your points will return to you after a couple of games, you have to feel sorry for that person who manges to win against you using some engine, you really should feel pity for him not angry ,and continue raising the matter in forums
The best way to avoid cheating is to play 3 minute games or shorter. They won't have time to copy the moves and will loose on time.

It's sad though because the best games are longer ones. Fast games often have low quality chess.

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