Is online chess dead?

Cheating is already poisoning the experience and I doubt it will decrease. I've played on uChess as well as RHP Blitz and already met a handful of cheaters. Several admitted it. So what is the future of online chess when cheating can occur so easily?

BTW: I'm less worried about OTB (and never met a cheater) because cheating would be more difficult when a player is being watched. However, I hope that there will be a rule that a player MUST make a move before leaving the table and that one can only leave the table so many times.

Eh, I think such a rule would make tournaments much less enjoyable, at least for me. Being able to walk around and watch other games while your opponent thinks is so relaxing and enjoyable. I can't even imagine how it would be to play in a "slow" OTB game without being allowed to do that.

I agree with you on the whole online cheating thing, though. It's pretty annoying.

Ever since there became a competition in anything...someone has always found a way to beat the system.

Look at blood doping, steroids, HGH, and the MIT Blackjack team...although i really don't think they totally cheated...they were just smarter than the casinos...but a ton of people have always tried to beat the system.

It is no different here.

Since I have come back I have lost 1 game...and i resigned it because of the strength of the moves the other guy was playing and looking over his games I knew something was up.

If someone wants the points that bad...they can have em.

Don't let it make you feel like all players here do it...cause they don't. This is a very good community with alot of good honest people.

But yeah...in every bunch ya find a bad apple or two

Dave

BTW: I'm less worried about OTB (and never met a cheater) because cheating would be more difficult when a player is being watched.

but a cheater could use information listening !

In sites like uChess where people don't pay, and in CC chess, since there's no client, it's easier to cheat. I would say that when I'm on ICC, I'm worry free, since their client can detect if you're running an engine. Sure, you can run it on a different computer or have people tell you the moves or something like that, but eventually you'll get reported or get greedy and get reported, then your games will get checked. I don't worry too much.

Originally posted by nmdavidb
Since I have come back I have lost 1 game...and i resigned it because of the strength of the moves the other guy was playing and looking over his games I knew something was up.

didn't that turn out to be a game from database? I hope you are not misleading here.

Originally posted by diskamyl
didn't that turn out to be a game from database? I hope you are not misleading here.

no...look at my one loss...the guy was a 1200 something at the time and dropped his queen and other pieces in games that were going at the same time.

Dave

Originally posted by !~TONY~!
In sites like uChess where people don't pay, and in CC chess, since there's no client, it's easier to cheat. I would say that when I'm on ICC, I'm worry free, since their client can detect if you're running an engine. Sure, you can run it on a different computer or have people tell you the moves or something like that, but eventually you'll get reported or get greedy and get reported, then your games will get checked. I don't worry too much.

Well of course, I made a pretty sensational post. I too have confidence that people are mostly honest (if not by natural goodness, by enforcement) when playing on ICC or Playchess.com. However not so much on most, such as uChess, RHP Blitz, Yahoo! and other sites like that. After getting back into the 1500s on uChess, I'm not even going to play there anymore. It's not just the cheaters, it's the software. It doesn't support three move repetition, the 50 move draw rule and freezes or disconnects way too many times.

BTW: I'm not sure why I only end-up in the mid 1500s on uChess (top 15% according to the site). Sure the disconnects might have cost me 50 points, but still. I suspect it's the fact that there's no rating restriction so if I blunder against an 800, there go 30 points. While if I play 10 800s in a row (because I have no way of knowing) it gives me next to nothing. Or maybe I just suck. 🙂 Does anyone here have corresponding uChess ratings?

Originally posted by !~TONY~!
In sites like uChess where people don't pay, and in CC chess, since there's no client, it's easier to cheat. I would say that when I'm on ICC, I'm worry free, since their client can detect if you're running an engine. Sure, you can run it on a different computer or have people tell you the moves or something like that, but eventually you'll get reported or get greedy and get reported, then your games will get checked. I don't worry too much.

Tony...everyone knows on here that you have never cheated.

Which is why I really hope you become a game mod

I know you too well and you will rule without passion or prejudice.

Simple as that

Dave
( who is scared about our next encounter...I think I am going down! )

I've lost almost every game since playing the cheater. Before that, I had won about a dozen in a row. This is why it bothers me. It isn't just for one game, the fact that people cheat bothers me a lot for the next games too. It poisons everything. 🙁

UChess is full of cheaters. Also en passant rule does not work there.

Originally posted by exigentsky
... I hope that there will be a rule that a player MUST make a move before leaving the table ....

I'm not sure this is workable.

Recently I made my move and headed off to the toilet. My opponent replied instantly so I was still technically 'at the table' when he hit the clock.

What would you have people do in this situation? Pee on the floor?

Originally posted by exigentsky
Cheating is already poisoning the experience and I doubt it will decrease. I've played on uChess as well as RHP Blitz and already met a handful of cheaters. Several admitted it. So what is the future of online chess when cheating can occur so easily?

BTW: I'm less worried about OTB (and never met a cheater) because cheating would be more difficult when ...[text shortened]... MUST make a move before leaving the table and that one can only leave the table so many times.

If you think someone is cheating on a blitz site, just avoid playing them. Play on the big sites, which have thousands of players online at any time. My attitude is that if a player cheats against you in a blitz game, then they've wasted a few minutes of your time. It might cost you a few rating points, but you can probably regain them very quickly by playing a different opponent.

Being cheated against in a correspondence / email game is far worse, as the game could go on for months and sometimes years. Also the problem on a site like this is that it can be hard to avoid a particular opponent. If you play in tournaments and manage to get to the final round, it's incredibly frustrating to lose to an opponent who you believe to be an engine user. It just feels that the whole tournament has been a pointless exercise.

For the vast majority of OTB players, the chance of them encountering a cheat is incredibly low. A rule which prevented players from walking around between moves would be a horrible measure that would do very little to stop cheating, but would annoy a lot of people. I tend to walk around quite a bit. If my opponent is having a long think (and I've had games in which someone spends over an hour on one move) then there is nothing more boring than just sitting there waiting for them to move. However I wouldn't object to a rule that forbids leaving the building, or straying too far from the playing area.

Originally posted by exigentsky
Cheating is already poisoning the experience and I doubt it will decrease. I've played on uChess as well as RHP Blitz and already met a handful of cheaters. Several admitted it. So what is the future of online chess when cheating can occur so easily?

BTW: I'm less worried about OTB (and never met a cheater) because cheating would be more difficult when ...[text shortened]... MUST make a move before leaving the table and that one can only leave the table so many times.

I like OTB more, and all things I do on net are primally to enhance my OTB. And there is hard to cheat ! So do not worry, you will always be better than cheaters regardless their rating.

Originally posted by David Tebb
... However I wouldn't object to a rule that forbids leaving the building, or straying too far from the playing area.

... a very sensible compromise.

That said, I play mostly in the London league and cheating just isn't an issue there. Until it is I see no sense in bringing in preventative measures without there being a problem to solve.

I don't play in tournaments these days. I wonder if cheating is more likely to be a problem with cash prizes on offer?