Norwegian player banned for cheating

[Roger de Coverly]

This story hasn't been mentioned yet.

http://mattogpatt.no/2016/04/27/visuall ... -cheating/

Supposedly he wore a pair of Bluetooth headphones ostensibly to hear a playback of his moves. The Regan witch finder program also pronounced him guilty.

I'm not even sure if such devices are still available, but British visually handicapped players would record moves using a dictation machine. A smarter equivalent would speak moves back through the headphones.

There is also the issue that handicapped players are going to have to be cautious about what equipment they take with them to assist at tournaments. Something capable of making or receiving move suggestions should be treated with suspicion.

In one of the games quoted in the mattogpatt.no site, he is a Rook up and could play a Queen exchange with zero seconds thought. Instead he nudges the Queen in a sequence sacrificing pawns which looks dangerously as if it might be a repetition. This gets the King up the board to create a mating net.

[NickFaulks]

I find this interesting primarily for the process described. The article states "FIDE in its report writes...", but it is not clear to me that there has been a FIDE report, or even that they were involved at all.

[Roger de Coverly]

The article states "FIDE in its report writes...", but it is not clear to me that there has been a FIDE report, or even that they were involved at all.

I think they mean the report by Ken Regan. He controls the official FIDE witch testing software without, it would seem, being a member of the ACC.

https://ratings.fide.com/fide_directory.phtml?content=9

FIDE might want to reconsider the definition of a tape recorder in
https://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html ... w=category

5. The visually handicapped player must keep score of the game in Braille or longhand or record the moves on a tape recorder.

It's too obvious a loophole when the "tape recorder" is also capable of calculating moves as it eliminates the complex methods for capturing moves involving shoes or cameras hidden in glasses.

[Matthew Turner]

Very sad this, he seemed a nice guy and it was quite inspiring to see him win in Fagernes.

[Alex McFarlane]

This issue was reported in Arbiting Matters Too 15 (May 2016). This is available for download from the Chess Arbiters Association website.

The "FIDE" report is indeed the result of his games being tested using the Regan Software.

The Matt & Patt Blog mentions that he played games away from the rest of the tournament. At an Arbiter's Seminar I conducted in Prague during the summer this case was raised and a Norwegian Official who was on the course gave some more details. I don't have more information other than that the player was being very closely monitored during that period but nothing conclusive was found.

[NickFaulks]

I think they mean the report by Ken Regan.

I also think that is what they mean. However, it is dangerous if work done by Ken in a freelance capacity ( if that's what it is ) is described as a FIDE report.

Personally, I am happy to see federations taking matters into their own hands - some, like Germany, seem reluctant to do so for fear of legal repercussions.

[MartinCarpenter]

No idea about this case beyond hoping there is justice.

Equipment wise, Chris Ross (a very strong blind player) plays for York and still uses a dictaphone. He doesn't use headphones for that - he remembers the moves and has a braile based move counter thing to flip over.

He does have a headphone link to use to get the time off his clock, and I'm not really sure how you'd avoid the need for that. Not in his ear all the time of course, but still.

It seems like it is, unfortunately, simply going to be very hard for any new blind player to get strong without at least a bit of suspicion.

[Roger de Coverly]

I don't have more information other than that the player was being very closely monitored during that period but nothing conclusive was found.

How was he recording his moves? If it was done using a recording device, the supposition would be that the recording device had a playing engine running which transmitted moves back through the headphones. But even if not recording moves in this manner, games involving visually handicapped players involve the moves being spoken, so that is the other way of data capture.

The CAA article is here.
http://www.chessarbitersassociation.co.uk/AMToo15.pdf

That also refers to a "FIDE" report which appears to be the terminology used by the Norwegian federation.

[Roger de Coverly]

He does have a headphone link to use to get the time off his clock, and I'm not really sure how you'd avoid the need for that. Not in his ear all the time of course, but still.

With increments, you need a speaking digital clock. An anti cheating measure, if it were needed, would be that the clock spoke its times to both players rather than by an earpiece.

(You could perhaps imagine a clock connected to a DGT board that had been hacked to included an analysis engine. Visually handicapped player frequently supply the clock)

[Brian Towers]

With increments, you need a speaking digital clock. An anti cheating measure, if it were needed, would be that the clock spoke its times to both players rather than by an earpiece.

An alternative, which would disturb other games in the same room less, would be a second earpiece / set of headphones which the opponent could listen in to.

[NickFaulks]

The CAA article is here.
http://www.chessarbitersassociation.co.uk/AMToo15.pdf

"Lord Brabazon thought that analysis was killing chess and as a first step to overcome this he suggested that the king and queen should swap positions."

I presume he meant for only one side! That is in fact a very interesting suggestion. The change in the rules would be minimal, but all existing opening theory would be overturned.

edit : I've only just realised how far off topic this is. It might be better placed in discussion of the match just finished.