Cheating in chess

[NickFaulks]

I have said this before, but if a player's phone rings, I regard that as fairly strong evidence that they are not using it to cheat. I mean, you'd mute it, wouldn't you?

[Matt Bridgeman]

There’s a long article here. It looks possibly like there is a Twitter picture of Docx - very similar to the infamous picture - sat on a toilet, in a cubicle, fully clothed with a phone in his hand clearly with a chess position on the screen. When challenged he didn’t argue with the arbiter and left the tournament immediately. That would appear to be the story anyway.
https://perlenvombodensee.de/2022/12/13 ... ste-bitte/

[Ian Thompson]

I mean, you'd mute it, wouldn't you?

On mine, it's quite easy to accidentally operate the mute switch, so yes you would, but accidents can happen.

A more effective way of stopping calls would be to put it in airplane mode, but that wouldn't silence it completely.

[David Sedgwick]

Docx has certainly been under suspicion for over a decade.

At the Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2014, some of the arbiting team were under instructions to monitor him very closely indeed. Nothing untoward was found or observed.

I subsequently discovered that Docx was unaware that he was being watched, which suggests that we did a pretty good job.

I have never mentioned this episode publicly before and I would not have done so now but for the recent incident.

[Chris Rice]

Playing in Stockholm at the moment and the players had a few feathers ruffled even before Round 1 began which started 45 minutes late. This was entirely due to the Fair Play Commission who are here en masse after the Stockholm organisers reached out to them for help with cheating. There was total confusion outside the playing hall with people not being allowed in till they gave up their jackets to the cloakroom staff and everyone was scanned. There were no announcements about this or signs or directions whatever.

OK so cloakroom ticket obtained and then going through the scan I went into the playing hall where the opening speeches were taking place. Bojana Bojatovic of the Fair Play Commission apologised for the inconvenience and said that the fact that the Swedish organisers had reached out to them had led to the upgrading of the Rilton Cup tournament into a Candidates qualifier. However, today she said they were being lenient as it was Round 1 and tomorrow they were going to be stricter! Under consideration is whether they provide us with pens rather than allowing us to bring our own in and the after my game the Chief Arbiter told me all watches would be banned, smart or otherwise. That leaves me to decide whether to walk the 10 minutes from my hotel to the venue tomorrow in the freezing cold without a jacket in order to avoid the cloakroom queues.

The Fair Play Commission are having a seminar here once the tournament finishes on January 6.

[Roger de Coverly]

Under consideration is whether they provide us with pens rather than allowing us to bring our own in and the after my game the Chief Arbiter told me all watches would be banned, smart or otherwise. That leaves me to decide whether to walk the 10 minutes from my hotel to the venue tomorrow in the freezing cold without a jacket in order to avoid the cloakroom queues.

If they want to retain the respect and support of amateur players, they really should be asking themselves whether their measures are all necessary rather than floundering around banning things for the sake of it.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"If they want to retain the respect and support of amateur players"

I think that ship has sailed.

[Joey Stewart]

Still, everyone must be feeling pretty confident they are playing in a 'clean' environment right now, nothing better then knowing that any potential cheats have had their weekend ruined.

[NickFaulks]

"If they want to retain the respect and support of amateur players"

I think that ship has sailed.

I was about to invoke a very similar metaphor. However, you have to admit that Fair Play Commission can't win.* However unpleasant they make life for 98% of chess players, the other 2% will continue to insist that when they lose, their opponent must have found a way to circumvent their measures.

*Unless of course they charge a fee for their services, in which case they can.

[Ian Thompson]

Still, everyone must be feeling pretty confident they are playing in a 'clean' environment right now, nothing better then knowing that any potential cheats have had their weekend ruined.

That depends on how thorough they're being during rounds. How difficult are they making it for a player to go to their hotel room, undetected, during the game, or to get advice from a spectator, or to consult a device secreted somewhere in the playing venue, for example?

At the last tournament I played in everyone was scanned on entry to the playing room and there was a players' only area outside the playing room that lead to players' only toilets. That didn't stop a woman using a mobile phone in the players' only area outside the playing room during a round or a player, most likely her son, looking at her phone. When I noticed this, the player had finished their game. Whilst there's nothing to indicate he cheated during his games, the opportunity was clearly there.

[Roger de Coverly]

How difficult are they making it for a player to go to their hotel room, undetected, during the game, or to get advice from a spectator, or to consult a device secreted somewhere in the playing venue, for example?

Those are the risks they should concentrate on. Not taking away pens and watches or demanding that players don't wear jackets.

[Richard Bates]

What is it that you can do with a pen that you can’t do with some other thing that you might carry on your person? A wallet? A “hotel” keycard? A “shirt button”?

What can you keep/hide in a jacket that you can’t keep/hide in a pair of trousers?

[Brendan O'Gorman]

[== text omitted ==
What can you keep/hide in a jacket that you can’t keep/hide in a pair of trousers?
[/quote]

Careful, Richard, don't go giving them ideas.

[Ian Thompson]

What is it that you can do with a pen that you can’t do with some other thing that you might carry on your person? A wallet? A “hotel” keycard? A “shirt button”?

Wallets are on the banned list. Cufflinks, jewellery and hair bands, to name but three, aren't mentioned.

[Geoff Chandler]

Preparing for an opponent by studying their opening repertoire is also cheating. (yes it is).
You are using outside assistance to aid you in your coming game. The fact the game has not started yet is beside the point.
Using a computer to go prying and snooping about in your opponents previous games is a form of identity theft.