Cheating in chess

[Geoff Chandler]

...if they had an implanted microchip that was activated once at a crucial point, it would affect the result.

It sounds like Sci-Fi but the technology exists for such an implant and the time delay is easy to get around by either hacking into the main computer holding the games before transmission or interrupting the moves on the way to the computer.

With the large amount of money up for grabs it must be tempting. (Make the players wear tin foils hats.) The player would have to be a genuine GM to take over and put some good human moves on the board.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Carlsen can accuse people, but Kramnik can't? Anyone would think Magnus had shares in the company...

[Reg Clucas]

When I read "Chinese Chess champion", I thought surely not Ding?!? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-67822137

[Roger de Coverly]

When I read "Chinese Chess champion", I thought surely not Ding?!

The same story from the BBC
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-67822137

Is there an equivalent of Stockfish for Xiangqi? Presumably yes.

[NickFaulks]

There is a separate thread, which I think it deserves.

[Roger Lancaster]

Kramnik has been worrying about this for a long time. At Oslo Airport on the way to the Tromsö World Cup in 2013, he sought me out to discuss. Later I arranged a meeting with Makro and I to discuss his concerns. His main worry was about 2700+ players. He thought that if they had an implanted microchip that was activated once at a crucial point, it would affect the result.

Not obviously a hypothetical question for much longer - see BBC report below. How exactly do FIDE propose to react (I could ask the same question domestically of organisations such as the ECF or 4NCL but let's start at the top!) if someone enters an event with an implanted chip?

"Elon Musk is no stranger to bold claims - from his plans to colonise Mars to his dreams of building transport links underneath our biggest cities. This week the world's richest man said his Neuralink division had successfully implanted its first wireless brain chip into a human".

[Stewart Reuben]

I have been predicting implanted micro-chips for years. I presume then that shielding the whole playing hall from the internet would not help.

The other problem, at the highest levels, is that the players are just too strong. A draw is too likely an outcome.

Surely this is one of Magnus's concerns? Is the game becoming played out, like English draughts?

[Matt Mackenzie]

I mean, we have just had one of the world's major classical tournaments which was hardly devoid of wins.

The most recent WC match wasn't exactly draw after draw after draw either.

We have had talk of chess being played out for a full century now - and that's just what it is, talk.

Musk is a confirmed bull****ter btw, though yes the idea of implanted chips is a very obvious concern.

[Roger Lancaster]

I mean, we have just had one of the world's major classical tournaments which was hardly devoid of wins.

The most recent WC match wasn't exactly draw after draw after draw either.

We have had talk of chess being played out for a full century now - and that's just what it is, talk.

Musk is a confirmed bull****ter btw, though yes the idea of implanted chips is a very obvious concern.

I would suggest that it's reasonable to assume that implantable electronic medical devices of one type or another will become increasingly common. I also believe I'm right in thinking that the current range (pacemakers, defibrillators, etc) is designed to help control only heart disorders but I assume that some of these are or will be internet-connected in order that the patient's condition can be remotely monitored. FIDE law 12.3b states that "Without the permission of the arbiter a player is forbidden to have a mobile phone or other electronic means of communication in the playing venue, unless they are completely switched off..." and this plainly extends to an internet-connected medical device capable of being remotely monitored and which cannot safely be switched off. Saving grace here appears to be the first six italicised words which I would expect an arbiter to invoke, partly on common sense grounds and partly because to do otherwise would, in many jurisdictions, fall foul of anti-discrimination legislation. However, whatever one's opinion of Elon Musk, it's not hard to believe that - if micro-chips or other electronic devices can be designed to counter diseases of the brain - they will be in great demand. Devices that enable brain activity to be remotely monitored, some of which permit only one-way communication while others allow both directions, will present rather more of a challenge - and, I would suggest, well within the lifetime of many of you here.

[Kevin Thurlow]

A former team-mate of mine has an implanted insulin delivery device. If it decides to do something, it squirts insulin into the system, whilst going "beep". He has to explain to all opponents that if they hear the sound, it's (A) not a mobile phone, and (B) he cannot switch it off or he'll collapse on the floor (as a minimum). I don't believe anyone has objected yet.

[Geoff Chandler]

I mean, we have just had one of the world's major classical tournaments which was hardly devoid of wins.
The most recent WC match wasn't exactly draw after draw after draw either.

I agree, the success of the tournament was due to the imaginative selection of the field which was a mixture of playing strengths. A trend future organisers should take onboard.

The world championship produced some great games due to (IMO) no increment till move 40. That should be the norm for all FIDE events, no increment till after the first time control. Why some tournaments give players a 30 second increment from move one as in the last Isle of Man FIDE Grand Prix is beyond me. (an extreme example was PIchot - Navara which ended with both players having more time left on their clocks than what they started with.)

[Paul Habershon]

I have been predicting implanted micro-chips for years. I presume then that shielding the whole playing hall from the internet would not help.

The other problem, at the highest levels, is that the players are just too strong. A draw is too likely an outcome.

Surely this is one of Magnus's concerns? Is the game becoming played out, like English draughts?

I am glad always to have remained an amateur whose income and lifestyle don't depend on chess results, however alluring the dream of being grandmaster strength may be. For us no danger of chess being 'played out'. Even if we were all to have brain implants there would presumably be ways of neutralising them during play.

[IM Jack Rudd]

I mean, we have just had one of the world's major classical tournaments which was hardly devoid of wins.
The most recent WC match wasn't exactly draw after draw after draw either.

I agree, the success of the tournament was due to the imaginative selection of the field which was a mixture of playing strengths. A trend future organisers should take onboard.

The world championship produced some great games due to (IMO) no increment till move 40. That should be the norm for all FIDE events, no increment till after the first time control. Why some tournaments give players a 30 second increment from move one as in the last Isle of Man FIDE Grand Prix is beyond me. (an extreme example was PIchot - Navara which ended with both players having more time left on their clocks than what they started with.)

The trouble with "no increment till move 40", Geoff, is that time scrambles mean you need arbiters clustered around the boards for the inevitable disputes and incomplete scoresheets. This is fine for the World Championship and the Candidates, where the number of games is so low that you can assign one arbiter to each board, but it would be a big issue for events like the Grand Swiss, which would need to hire rather more arbiters than they do now.

[Ian Thompson]

The trouble with "no increment till move 40", Geoff, is that time scrambles mean you need arbiters clustered around the boards for the inevitable disputes and incomplete scoresheets. This is fine for the World Championship and the Candidates, where the number of games is so low that you can assign one arbiter to each board, but it would be a big issue for events like the Grand Swiss, which would need to hire rather more arbiters than they do now.

Alternatively, you could film everything for review by arbiters when necessary. That would probably be less costly in the long-run and maybe also in the short-term. It would also mean that there was evidence that the arbiter's decision was correct and reduce the chances of players trying it on in the hope the arbiter didn't see what actually happened.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Jack,

I know of the time scrambles in the latter stages of the game,that is where the majority of the disputes appear. The increment after the first time control were meant and do take care of that. Mutual time scrambles before the 1st time control are more rare than common but then they stop on move 40. How did chess survive for 150 years without increment clocks?