I also feel that the tone of this piece interferes with your basic anti-cheating message which most all online players would agree with. If I find people troublesome or toxic, I just block them and move on. I do wonder if anyone has ever blocked you, sir. That said, I am a Suttles/Tiger Modern player but I also like your Modern Defense stuff! Take care.

That does not suggest cheating. It does not take 30 seconds to feed a move into an engine. The only reason for taking that long is to think. Chess players are taught from a young age: “If you see a good move, look for a better one.” I don’t think it is unreasonable for a well trained and meticulous player to take extra time on every move to question their first assumption. I don’t think that your generalizations about humans can necessarily be applied as a proof against cheaters. Stronger evidence is required.

I agree. I’m also not convinced based on that first game. In a 5 or 3 minute game maybe. But under rapid conditions (10-15 min/game), I would have stared at that misplaced Queen myself to see if I could harass it. Nothing looks that out of the ordinary, and Nb5 makes perfect sense to me without needing to analyze much because the Knight can’t really be chased from b5 by anything, and there’s a potential spot at e6 for the Knight. Anyone 1800 or above should be willing to play this move.

I get the need to police cheating, but I think we have become so paranoid that it also affects our abilities to sometimes admit that we get outplayed. If I’m playing a computer cheat and I see signs of cheating, I just move on to the next game. I think we take these online ratings too seriously. I use online chess to assist with OTB growth. I can gain experience playing against a cheater in much the same way I can get experience against a non-cheater. My biggest issue with the paranoia is this…

A few years back I beat a guy in a 15 0 game after he ended up in a bad position out of the opening. I got an email later that day saying that my account would be suspended based on the game unless I could send proof of OTB rating. Not only did I send them my OTB rating, but I also sent them the opening analysis from the chess magazine that I had known about for years. My opponent walked straight into an inferior position in a Smith-Morra and didn’t realize it. Apparently, he felt since I played a line that didn’t allow the typical Smith-Morra attacks, that I was somehow cheating. None of my moves were that deep. The line I played simply made use of not committing to weakening moves to allow White to exploit the d-file, and waiting to castle until it made sense to castle. The chess magazine article containing the analysis pretty much explained the idea of how to play the waiting game against the Smith-Morra gambit. There were no computer engine-like tactical shots. Just taking advantage of keeping the gambit pawn and waiting for him to overcommit, then taking him to an endgame where I was a pawn up and winning. A few days later, they re-opened my account. No apology was ever sent. Needless to say, I quit that chess server that day and had the credit card company reject the charge for the membership. The game was a pure common sense strategical effort where I basically waited the opponent out until he ran out of useful moves. The type of strategical foresight that chess engines still don’t have. Outside of a few 3-4 move tactics, there was nothing deep about the game. Later, when I looked at it with a computer, it turned out that the majority of my moves weren’t even suggested by the engine because a computer typically plays more accurately. I ended my membership on that particular chess server because they didn’t produce evidence of anything and just took the word of a disgruntled opponent. Only after I emailed a copy of the magazine analysis and showed OTB rating proof that I could possibly understand enough about the game to outplay an opponent this way, did they attempt to resume my membership.

In short…sometimes we simply get outplayed. Not everyone is a computer cheat, and if they are…so what? Move on to the next game, or find another chess server to play on. I play online chess mostly for fun and to relax and learn. My online rating won’t be used to rank me in an OTB tournament, give me points on an exam, or improve my resume.

Hey JLR;

Thanks for your comments. I agree you have a point with your comment. But I don’t see a better solution – I have tried playing with people who have (?) next to their name in lichess and only rapid rating and realized they are often cheaters. So I decided to avoid even the most remote possibility of wasting my time.

Also, reporting people I get paired against, I abort and then check the games and find them suspicious is perfectly reasonable imho. Got several people banned in that way and sometimes it was blatantly obvious.

I am definitely sure I am overreacting in many cases. But alas, the number of people cheating is really high in online chess. I don’t see a better way than displaying due vigilance.