Cheating in chess

[Matt Mackenzie]

I've looked at some of these steamed games before. Some players have it set so you click on a piece and it shows all the legal moves available, some also have any threats to capture a piece or pawn highlighted.
Obviously you do not get this help in a game. This will be a reason why lower rated OTB players seem to play better online, no daft blunders. I play with everything switched off. (no computer generated hints of any kind.) I might use this feature as I'm getting very clumsy in my dotage but is it not a form of cheating?

The machine is telling you where a piece can move thus giving you an idea you might not of thought off. And telling you something is being threatened, something you may have missed is taking outside help during a game.

Yes that definitely does seem to count as assistance to me?

[Roger de Coverly]

Some players have it set so you click on a piece and it shows all the legal moves available, some also have any threats to capture a piece or pawn highlighted.

The former is a standard feature which supports the long established pre-move concept. I would have thought only of use to beginners unsure of legal moves, but it may assist them in a way not available OTB.

I'm not sure where the latter can be configured and used in rated games as that's assistance surely.

[Roger de Coverly]

the experienced player was certain from the start the opponent was a cheat

His slow speed of play on known and forced moves was cited.

I wonder whether at a suitable slow move rate, you could attempt to confuse your opponent by setting a buzzer running (it's a setting on DGT clocks) and playing to the buzzer. You might need a witness as a defence against trigger-happy cheat detection attempts.

[Nick Ivell]

Interesting article about cheating in the Sunday Times magazine today.

[Simon Rogers]

Interesting article about cheating in the Sunday Times magazine today.

I've bought a copy as well.
Lengthy article from pages 28 to 35.
Worth buying.

[Paul Habershon]

Interesting article about cheating in the Sunday Times magazine today.

I've bought a copy as well.
Lengthy article from pages 28 to 35.
Worth buying.

A thorough summing up by one Ralph Jones, for whom a Google search suggests he's a freelance journalist from Oxford. He is not in the ECF rating list. I think most of us would agree that the article is well expressed and accurate. It includes quotes from some expert sources I hadn't heard before. When he defined bullet chess as three minutes (or fewer implied) I thought it was his one error, but I am glad I checked before getting egg on my face here. He is right, and I thought it is always one minute only.

[MJMcCready]

Do we have a link to this article?

[Nick Ivell]

A link may be possible, but that sort of IT skill is beyond me.

[Tim Spanton]

Do we have a link to this article?

It is behind a paywall, but starts: "Computers are now impossible to beat ..."

[MJMcCready]

Oh right. Breaking news then!!!

[Paul Habershon]

Do we have a link to this article?

It is behind a paywall, but starts: "Computers are now impossible to beat ..."

Actually that's the blurb on the introductory double page spread, headlined: CHESS? COMPLETED IT, MATE

The article itself begins 'If they want me to strip naked, I'll do it...'

It ends thus:' Reports of the death of chess may have been greatly exaggerated. The game is likely to live on in ever-changing forms, capturing our imagination until a day when humans become infallible. Fortunately that day isn't going to come any time soon.'

[MJMcCready]

Not in our lifetime it won't. Any word on whether cheats ever prosper?

[Matt Mackenzie]

Computers aren't infallible yet, never mind mere humans.

[Tim Spanton]

Computers aren't infallible yet, never mind mere humans.

Very true. If you have old games annotated with the help of contemporary engines, try reanalysing them with modern engines - I find significant differences often arise (sometimes suggesting my originally chosen move was right after all).

[MJMcCready]

Run through Tal's games with a modern engine. They don't like him very much.