Cheating in chess

[Ian Thompson]

Just in round 3 I noticed that in the tournament icognito is playing the notorious Igors Rausis, who has been banned by FIDE to play in tournaments for 6 years! He was wearing a mask and playing on the lower boards with a name of Isa Kassimi thus I did not even notice him.

When I confronted Rausis, what is he doing here, violating the ban, he showed me a new ID with the new name. The tournament organizer, unclear how to solve the incident, decided to call one of the main arbiters in Latvia, for an advice. And the advice from the nation wide recognized arbiter was - it is legal for Rausis to play!

I think it can be safely assumed from this that he didn't declare his rating or previous playing history, and probably not his IM title. At most tournaments the first two would be grounds for ejecting him when the organisers found out, even if the name change wasn't grounds because it is now his legal name.

(The FIDE Ethics Commission ruling explicitly states "The ETH decision does not affect Mr Rausis’ rating", so he'll still have an inactive rating even though it's no longer shown on the FIDE website.)

[Chris Rice]

Full story from chess.com on the Rausis/Kasimi incident including the rather pitiful:

"Kasimi told Chess.com that he changed his name earlier this year because of the unflattering photo that was published in numerous publications and on social media. In the picture he can be seen sitting on a toilet, looking at his phone. It was taken during a game at a tournament in Strasbourg in July 2019. Apart from the name Rausis being forever linked to the photo, Kasimi said he also changed his name because he feels ashamed for his family. He is now using the surname of his ex-wife, with whom he is on good terms."

[Geoff Chandler]

Jeremy Vine today round about 10:45 he covered cheating in chess for a few minutes
and said after thinking how difficult it would be ..."it was something to be admired."

His co-presenter suggested they could have a cheats only chess tournament.

[John Upham]

Jeremy Vine today round about 10:45 he covered cheating in chess for a few minutes
and said after thinking how difficult it would be ..."it was something to be admired."

His co-presenter suggested they could have a cheats only chess tournament.

Jeremy Vine starts his daily programme at 12pm.

Did you mean Ken Bruce or perhaps not BBC Radio 2 (The Light Programme) ?

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi John,

Definitely on the telly, Channel % started at 9:15 am - catch up will be available in a few days.

Scroll down a bit and you will see the advert for the programme today.

https://www.channel5.com/show/jeremy-vine/

[Roger de Coverly]

Jeremy Vine today round about 10:45 he covered cheating in chess for a few minutes
and said after thinking how difficult it would be ..."it was something to be admired."

Without witnesses it's unfortunately getting easier by the year. Live games complete with analysis are a boon for spectators, but what if one or both players are watching the suggestions and assessments on their own game?

His co-presenter suggested they could have a cheats only chess tournament.

By OTB rules, that could describe correspondence tournaments.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Roger,

I understand there is a delay in live games. (yes?)

[Kevin Thurlow]

"By OTB rules, that could describe correspondence tournaments."

"I understand there is a delay in live games. (yes?)"

Geoff is right - the event I've recently started says,

"Other participants can see the games only when they are finished, and at least 0 games are finished in the event.
The public can see the games only when they are finished, and at least 10 games are finished in the event."

I can see ongoing games for my team-mates, but cannot see completed games between two other teams, presumably as only 6 games have finished in the event. (They must have been quick - four of my games haven't started yet, well in two of them I have played move 1.)

Most events have a similar rule, so you need 10 games finished in an individual event before you can see the completed games. I think the reason is to stop you waiting to see what other people are doing if the same opening has been played elsewhere. Also, they frown on "mirroring", where you end up with 1/2 in each pairing!

[Ian Thompson]

Jeremy Vine today round about 10:45 he covered cheating in chess for a few minutes
and said after thinking how difficult it would be ..."it was something to be admired."

His co-presenter suggested they could have a cheats only chess tournament.

Definitely on the telly, Channel % started at 9:15 am - catch up will be available in a few days.

The replay is available on My5 now. It's at 1:10:45 into it; no adverts on the replay, so nearer the start than you might think from Geoff's live broadcast time.

It was about Rausis being found playing under his new name. They explained why he'd previously been banned and they showed an article in The Times about it. Jeremy Vine's comments about how difficult it would be to cheat using a mobile phone in the toilet were those of a non-player. He thought it would be very difficult to remember positions and moves to enter on the phone, so he was admiring Rausis' ability to do that.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"His co-presenter suggested they could have a cheats only chess tournament."

and better still, one of them said something like, "they already do that with cycling."

Luckily, the lawyers haven't noticed yet (although whether a libel action would succeed is another matter.)

Jeremy's shirt was rather nice.

[Joey Stewart]

I cant imagine it will cause a huge stir in the sports world for anyone to insinuate that most of the top athletes are doping in some way or other , you only really need look at the size of them now to know that they are doing more then just working out (the trick is presumably staying ahead of the regulations in terms of banned substances so they are always in a morally grey but not outright illegal territory).

[Roger de Coverly]

Article in the Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/ ... he-culture

It mentions So-Petrosian, chess.com and Ken Regan.

Also there's comments from Sarah Longson where she claims that it was private school pupils who were the main offenders in the UK Chess Challenge.

“It’s the children from the private schools, sadly,” she said. “When I ring their parents they just get angry with me. They’re under such pressure to succeed.”

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Ian,

I think you are right about the Jeremy Vine comment. I did not see it all, I was elsewhere
when the wife shouted 'Chess on the telly' and came in catching the back end of it.

Jeremy played chess live on his show a few months back. Not a very good game but chess on the telly, so cannot complain.

That article in the Guardian was interesting, the number quoted was rather grim.

"Sarah Longson, a former British ladies’ champion who runs the Delancey UK Schools’
Chess Challenge, said at least 100 of 2,000 online participants cheated."

and this bit:

“When I ring their parents they just get angry with me. They’re under such pressure to succeed.”

Pressure?

If a kid from a private school losses to some kid from a comprehensive do they get expelled.

[JustinHorton]

Article in the Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/ ... he-culture

It mentions So-Petrosian, chess.com and Ken Regan.

What it doesn't mention is any problems there might be with these cheat-detection systems.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Justin,

The article does mention:

"Regan is realistic but determined. “If you cheat on a single move I will disclaim any ability to catch you,”
he said. “You can fly under the radar. But if you keep going at the same rate, you will come into the radar in the end.”

The number of stealth cheats, those who sneak in a box move when the position is critical can breath a sigh of relief
and those who never intended cheating for fear of being caught have been given a good hint on how to beat the system.

(OOPS!)

EDIT: (MY OOPS!)

Forgot to add an odd coincidence regarding Wes So and "...You was doing PiPi in your pampers "
which was also mention in the Guardian.

The very first game on the Wes So page at chessgames.com
is Tim Pipan v Wes a pun point that has not gone unnoticed by one poster.

'Although he was young, Wes did not Pipan his Pampers' posted 13th October.

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1585129

Good game, Wes 10 when it was played.