Are book users cheating?

What is meant by endgame tablebases? I am not familiar with that term.

Originally posted by mcreynolds
What is meant by endgame tablebases? I am not familiar with that term.

They are reverse engineered solutions to all 3-4-5 and now 6 piece endgames. Basically you put the position into the EGTB reader and it tells you the result for each move, and if it's winning or losing how far from checkmate you are. They are not allowed here as they are the result of engine calculation, openings databases are allowed since they are databases of human games and there is a level of doubt as to whether a recommended move really is the best one.

Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endgame_tablebase exlains them reasonably well; the article talks about their use in correspondence chess, EGTB lookups are not allowed for games played on this site. Obviously you can use them to compare what you did with the ideal result once the game is finished.

Databases and books are allowed partly because it is impossible to prevent the use of them. The same will eventually be true of engines.

Books have been permitted in correspondence chess for decades.

In fact I believe the ICCF permits the use of engines also.

Opening books are allowed because nobody can blame anybody for knowing the theory.

Unfortunately the understanding of 'opening databases' is sometimes poorly understand by many players. an opening database is a computer generated storage copy of published and or printed material containing in some cases the sum total current knowledge of chess opening theory. such databases contain no information which is not available in either a printed format or other storaging system. published printed books contain this information also, providing the reader with that information which might be required. they serve either as a reminder to the player/reader , or as a source of information previously unknown to the player/reader.consequently as it is impossible to determine the opening knowledge possessed in individual player memory, it is not inconsistent with fairness to make the usage of such materials available to all players,thereby making it unecessary to determine who holds this information in memory and who does not.Clearly a player who can recall from memory these opening theories has a working advantage in otb games in terms of how they are able to play openings correctly, however this does not indicate that any player has the knowledge necessary to bring their games to a successful result. In conclusion therefore the availability of opening theory information be it databased or printed , is not an assistance to correct and successful play,rather it is information which provides the user with the means to complete the openings of chess without suffering the consequences of poorly played opening moves, only.

I am actually fascinated by this issue. I've floated in the chat rooms this survey I have taken on it:

http://blueeyedrook.blogspot.com/2005/12/cheating-what-is-it.html

Is using a book cheating? I had only 50% say no. 34% saying yes.

Use your brain only.