Let's make RHP a safe and better place for everybody
31 Mar '14 20:20Hello guys!
It has been a year since I join the site and I want to share my opinion about my time playing with you.
I am a Class A player from, I have played for my University club team for many years. When I moved to the States, I stopped playing over the board, and where I live there is no chess club, it takes me more than 2 hours to go the nearest chess club. I found RHP through the link on Game Board Geek site.
I can say I 've had a pleasant experience and I think I have made some friends.
I am competitive person and sometimes a bad loser, when I lose I can't sleep and try to find where I made a mistake. Some people play chess like a hobby, a chance to meet friends. I don't play chess, I analyze, I take chess seriously, sometimes too seriously.
Along the years I have built what I think is a decent repertoire, I play main lines because I like learning opening theory, and most of the time, I play the same lines time and time again. I buy chess books regularly and I also own a database the one I use constantly to see the evolution of theory.
KNOW THY ENEMY
When I was in the university the chess trainer of the club team who was an IM, told us that Kasparov before giving a simultaneous session analyze the last 40 games of each player he was going to face.
Sometimes if I have the time, I also do that, I see games from other players, I try to figure out it they are
tactician or strategical players. I want to see what lines they like and what they avoid.
I had 4 games against Solving In Style User 716828, they are in the opening.
OK. I can't use my games to analyze him but I found out that nobody has defeated him and if you are playing against him the most you can expect is a draw.
Surprise: He had 4 draws against TheBigKat.
And I suspect something weird is happening with Solving In Style games.
Solving In Style vs. TheBigKat Game 103244305
I loaded the pgn in a GUI with the free edition of Houdini, I let the engine analyze every move for at least 2 or 3 minutes and I could not believe what I saw, almost all the game is the first selection from Houdini. The game leaves the theory on move 5 (black turn), so nobody can say they are following a grandmaster game.
40 out of 52 (76.9% ) moves made by SIS are the first option from Houdini.
5 out of 52 (9.6% ) moves were the second option of Houdini.
If you accumulate both results you get a 86.5% of first and second options.
45 out of 53 (84.9% ) moves made by TheBigKat are the first Houdini options.
5 out of 53 (7.5% ) moves are the second Houdini option.
And now we get a 92.4% of the moves were first and second options.
The other game:
TheBigKat vs Solving In Style Game 10324300
In this game black leaves the theory on move 4.
29 out of 37 (78.4% ) moves made by TheBigKat are the first Houdini options.
5 out of 53 (13.5% ) moves are the second Houdini option.
And now we get a 91.9% of the moves were first and second options.
29 out of 37 (78.4% ) moves made by SIS are the first option from Houdini.
4 out of 37 (10.8% ) moves were the second option of Houdini.
If you accumulate both results you get a 89.2% of first and second options.
I really think something weird is happening. This players really play accurate moves.
I tried to raise a Fair Play Ticket against Solving In Style because I think he has broken the TOC.
Do you know what? I could not do it because the Fair Play Ticket feature is reporting an error.
In the end I sent my findings to feedback, reporting this like ABUSE. RHP has not answer me, not even a "we are aware of the problem, out staff is analyzing the situation, we will contact with you in near future..."
First: RHP administration knows that Solving In Style is a multiple account user.
According to the TOC, he should have been banned long ago.
Second: Solving In Style has a flawless record, he has only drawn 13 games out of 295. And 4 of the 13 draws are with TheBigKat, who is suspected to be an engine user.
Third: Solving In Style presence is ruining the tournaments. princess xena and SteveWil gave up their games without making a move, this is like a secret, everybody suspects but nobody can do anything.
I can't tone down this because is a fact. Honest players are afraid of Solving in Style.
Fourth: I have played twice against TheBigKat and I think I played against a human being.
I hope the administration can be up to the task, and investigate Solving In Style games.
When I wrote all this, I wanted Solving In Style head on a plate, because I have friends that are playing with him and they are going to be defeated probably in an unfair way. I am sorry, but I can't trust Solving In Style and I am only trying to get a draw in my games with him because I know I will never win and he can easily outplay me at his whim. DB users like me can get a good middle game but in the end, we will lose against perfect play.
It would not be fair if we don't see things from Solving In Style point of view, probably he is a strong player, that is something I will NEVER know for sure.
TheBigKat and other top players have a bad reputation. Can you imagine a new member reading in the forums about cheaters. If I knew that my adversary is USING AN ENGINE ON HIS EVERY MOVE, I would be seriously tempted to use mine just like a blunder checker because I don't like losing either.
The funny thing is an engine user detects another engine user automatically, they know each other, but they both have dirty hands and what is worse, they can't say "I am playing against an engine user" because they have a lot of "skeletons" in the archive games.
I have heard RHP administration is tired of having to deal with cheaters (in the end, they are also u$er$).
"You are cheaters, you deal with your problems".
I can take that we can't get rid of the engine users, but we need to find a way to prevent the honest players to be playing against them.
If RHP is keeping a blind eye about this problem, the people that make the site a good place to be are going to leave.
When I started playing I only saw a board and pieces, but I started reading the players' profiles I saw that many retired people, men and women play on the site.
I think that most of the people here, take chess like a hobby, they play using their own knowledge not checking online theory or books.
I am an DB user, and I have a book of every opening I play, I take chess too seriously. And I restrain myself from entering to some tournaments because it is not going to be fair for the other players. I have decided only to play banded tournaments but even a 1800+ is not enough to make the game level.
At the beginning I thought playing Duel tournaments would be cool, but the truth is I feel remorse when I beat a 1500+. If I am posting here is because I believe we can find a solution for everybody.
I am more calm down now and I have stopped asking Solving In Style head on a plate.
Let's face it, we can't banned players unless RHP administration decides to do it.
If they are going to stay, we need to implement mechanisms that prevent honest players facing cheaters. I have some ideas.
a) The Fair Play ticket was a way for us to expose cheaters, not any more. It would have been cool to have a system like in the real life sports. OK. you won a tournament, let's see some of your games.
b) Let's make a BLACK LIST, we can not ban them but we can let people know who we really suspect are not fair players. People are going to complain about this because it affects their reputation, I think they should have thought about it before using a chess engine. Yeah, I know nobody wants to lose, yada, yada, yada.. .
c) We need tournaments with more bands, probably a 2000+ and 2200+, 2300+ bands. Bands can prevent honest/hobby players to face players that have "high level skills".
d) What if we create another category, DB users, I enjoy strong opposition and I have no problem playing players that follow 20 moves from theory.
e) There was a Queen's gambit decline tournament, I saw TheBigKat name in the list of players, even though he has a bad reputation, I wanted to play with him because I wanted to study the match: Capablanca vs. Alekhine (most of the games were QGD), and I thought it was the perfect chance to learn something about this old opening. I have been so busy with other games that I did not get into the tournament. Yes, I know, it sounds CRAZY but I wanted to play with him.
f) THE CLEAN LIST or Honor List, lets make a list with the names of honest players, why not? we have a "ranking" that many people think is a SHAME. Let's have a list of players you can trust. People that can say "check my games, I am clean".
g) Probably we need more club tournaments or tournaments with invitation. What I want is to give reasonable options to the people.
i) I am going to mention this, just to be sure I am covering all the bases, let's give the people what they want, this suggestion is going to create controversy.
Let's create tournaments for advanced chess, but the user that plays that kind of tournaments CAN NOT PLAY ANYMORE with normal people. I know, nobody is going to expose themselves, but probably users with new nicknames could find this interesting. Engine Tournament?. I know it sounds too crazy
UPDATE: I offered two draws in early (14 moves) to Solving In Style and he agreed, I am glad he took them because I was wetting my pants, I know I can't win, but I also think he is a reasonable person.
I don't want to end this with a low note. I want to hear what you think. PLEASE, DON'T INSULT THE MEMBERS, we do have problems and believe me RHP moderators would be HAPPY if they delete the whole thread. If you are going to post, please, bring ideas, I really believe we can find a solution for all of us.
It has taken me 3 days to write this, because I have been editing a lot. I know some people are going to try t...
It has been a year since I join the site and I want to share my opinion about my time playing with you.
I am a Class A player from, I have played for my University club team for many years. When I moved to the States, I stopped playing over the board, and where I live there is no chess club, it takes me more than 2 hours to go the nearest chess club. I found RHP through the link on Game Board Geek site.
I can say I 've had a pleasant experience and I think I have made some friends.
I am competitive person and sometimes a bad loser, when I lose I can't sleep and try to find where I made a mistake. Some people play chess like a hobby, a chance to meet friends. I don't play chess, I analyze, I take chess seriously, sometimes too seriously.
Along the years I have built what I think is a decent repertoire, I play main lines because I like learning opening theory, and most of the time, I play the same lines time and time again. I buy chess books regularly and I also own a database the one I use constantly to see the evolution of theory.
KNOW THY ENEMY
When I was in the university the chess trainer of the club team who was an IM, told us that Kasparov before giving a simultaneous session analyze the last 40 games of each player he was going to face.
Sometimes if I have the time, I also do that, I see games from other players, I try to figure out it they are
tactician or strategical players. I want to see what lines they like and what they avoid.
I had 4 games against Solving In Style User 716828, they are in the opening.
OK. I can't use my games to analyze him but I found out that nobody has defeated him and if you are playing against him the most you can expect is a draw.
Surprise: He had 4 draws against TheBigKat.
And I suspect something weird is happening with Solving In Style games.
Solving In Style vs. TheBigKat Game 103244305
I loaded the pgn in a GUI with the free edition of Houdini, I let the engine analyze every move for at least 2 or 3 minutes and I could not believe what I saw, almost all the game is the first selection from Houdini. The game leaves the theory on move 5 (black turn), so nobody can say they are following a grandmaster game.
40 out of 52 (76.9% ) moves made by SIS are the first option from Houdini.
5 out of 52 (9.6% ) moves were the second option of Houdini.
If you accumulate both results you get a 86.5% of first and second options.
45 out of 53 (84.9% ) moves made by TheBigKat are the first Houdini options.
5 out of 53 (7.5% ) moves are the second Houdini option.
And now we get a 92.4% of the moves were first and second options.
The other game:
TheBigKat vs Solving In Style Game 10324300
In this game black leaves the theory on move 4.
29 out of 37 (78.4% ) moves made by TheBigKat are the first Houdini options.
5 out of 53 (13.5% ) moves are the second Houdini option.
And now we get a 91.9% of the moves were first and second options.
29 out of 37 (78.4% ) moves made by SIS are the first option from Houdini.
4 out of 37 (10.8% ) moves were the second option of Houdini.
If you accumulate both results you get a 89.2% of first and second options.
I really think something weird is happening. This players really play accurate moves.
I tried to raise a Fair Play Ticket against Solving In Style because I think he has broken the TOC.
Do you know what? I could not do it because the Fair Play Ticket feature is reporting an error.
In the end I sent my findings to feedback, reporting this like ABUSE. RHP has not answer me, not even a "we are aware of the problem, out staff is analyzing the situation, we will contact with you in near future..."
First: RHP administration knows that Solving In Style is a multiple account user.
According to the TOC, he should have been banned long ago.
Second: Solving In Style has a flawless record, he has only drawn 13 games out of 295. And 4 of the 13 draws are with TheBigKat, who is suspected to be an engine user.
Third: Solving In Style presence is ruining the tournaments. princess xena and SteveWil gave up their games without making a move, this is like a secret, everybody suspects but nobody can do anything.
I can't tone down this because is a fact. Honest players are afraid of Solving in Style.
Fourth: I have played twice against TheBigKat and I think I played against a human being.
I hope the administration can be up to the task, and investigate Solving In Style games.
When I wrote all this, I wanted Solving In Style head on a plate, because I have friends that are playing with him and they are going to be defeated probably in an unfair way. I am sorry, but I can't trust Solving In Style and I am only trying to get a draw in my games with him because I know I will never win and he can easily outplay me at his whim. DB users like me can get a good middle game but in the end, we will lose against perfect play.
It would not be fair if we don't see things from Solving In Style point of view, probably he is a strong player, that is something I will NEVER know for sure.
TheBigKat and other top players have a bad reputation. Can you imagine a new member reading in the forums about cheaters. If I knew that my adversary is USING AN ENGINE ON HIS EVERY MOVE, I would be seriously tempted to use mine just like a blunder checker because I don't like losing either.
The funny thing is an engine user detects another engine user automatically, they know each other, but they both have dirty hands and what is worse, they can't say "I am playing against an engine user" because they have a lot of "skeletons" in the archive games.
I have heard RHP administration is tired of having to deal with cheaters (in the end, they are also u$er$).
"You are cheaters, you deal with your problems".
I can take that we can't get rid of the engine users, but we need to find a way to prevent the honest players to be playing against them.
If RHP is keeping a blind eye about this problem, the people that make the site a good place to be are going to leave.
When I started playing I only saw a board and pieces, but I started reading the players' profiles I saw that many retired people, men and women play on the site.
I think that most of the people here, take chess like a hobby, they play using their own knowledge not checking online theory or books.
I am an DB user, and I have a book of every opening I play, I take chess too seriously. And I restrain myself from entering to some tournaments because it is not going to be fair for the other players. I have decided only to play banded tournaments but even a 1800+ is not enough to make the game level.
At the beginning I thought playing Duel tournaments would be cool, but the truth is I feel remorse when I beat a 1500+. If I am posting here is because I believe we can find a solution for everybody.
I am more calm down now and I have stopped asking Solving In Style head on a plate.
Let's face it, we can't banned players unless RHP administration decides to do it.
If they are going to stay, we need to implement mechanisms that prevent honest players facing cheaters. I have some ideas.
a) The Fair Play ticket was a way for us to expose cheaters, not any more. It would have been cool to have a system like in the real life sports. OK. you won a tournament, let's see some of your games.
b) Let's make a BLACK LIST, we can not ban them but we can let people know who we really suspect are not fair players. People are going to complain about this because it affects their reputation, I think they should have thought about it before using a chess engine. Yeah, I know nobody wants to lose, yada, yada, yada.. .
c) We need tournaments with more bands, probably a 2000+ and 2200+, 2300+ bands. Bands can prevent honest/hobby players to face players that have "high level skills".
d) What if we create another category, DB users, I enjoy strong opposition and I have no problem playing players that follow 20 moves from theory.
e) There was a Queen's gambit decline tournament, I saw TheBigKat name in the list of players, even though he has a bad reputation, I wanted to play with him because I wanted to study the match: Capablanca vs. Alekhine (most of the games were QGD), and I thought it was the perfect chance to learn something about this old opening. I have been so busy with other games that I did not get into the tournament. Yes, I know, it sounds CRAZY but I wanted to play with him.
f) THE CLEAN LIST or Honor List, lets make a list with the names of honest players, why not? we have a "ranking" that many people think is a SHAME. Let's have a list of players you can trust. People that can say "check my games, I am clean".
g) Probably we need more club tournaments or tournaments with invitation. What I want is to give reasonable options to the people.
i) I am going to mention this, just to be sure I am covering all the bases, let's give the people what they want, this suggestion is going to create controversy.
Let's create tournaments for advanced chess, but the user that plays that kind of tournaments CAN NOT PLAY ANYMORE with normal people. I know, nobody is going to expose themselves, but probably users with new nicknames could find this interesting. Engine Tournament?. I know it sounds too crazy
UPDATE: I offered two draws in early (14 moves) to Solving In Style and he agreed, I am glad he took them because I was wetting my pants, I know I can't win, but I also think he is a reasonable person.
I don't want to end this with a low note. I want to hear what you think. PLEASE, DON'T INSULT THE MEMBERS, we do have problems and believe me RHP moderators would be HAPPY if they delete the whole thread. If you are going to post, please, bring ideas, I really believe we can find a solution for all of us.
It has taken me 3 days to write this, because I have been editing a lot. I know some people are going to try t...
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