Analyzing a Potential Cheater

I recently played a game where my opponent was playing well - suspiciously well. Even though they were about 200 points higher than me, they played more accurately than the average player in my range. 

The opponent in question: KnightsRider_India

(Here's the game: My Game )

The opening was pretty dubious, as 1. e4 f5 is classified as a mistake by Black. I honestly felt like he was just trolling me and rubbing in the fact that he was 200 points higher than me. But it seems not.

I started the game with an advantage, which is a common tactic by cheaters. Some cheaters like to put themselves in bad positions by playing weak openings in order to trick chess.com's algorithm. But you can't trick everyone or everything.

Unfortunately, I made a few mistakes (as per the 1400 deluxe package) and I fell into a long 6-move sequence that I don't think any 1600 would completely see in such a small amount of time. I saw Ne2+ and just thought, "Oh, there goes my Bishop." But no. Ne2+ was actually the start of a brutal mate in 5. You can just see it for yourself by clicking the game link. 

Another factor that raised suspicion was the user's time usage. He would constantly do seemingly random premoves but would take 10-15 seconds on "obvious" blunders by the opponent. This could easily be an attempt to hide from the cheating detection algorithm, as it's easy to just pretend to be "thinking" while actually just having another screen loaded with the top engine move. 

Oh, and I didn't mention this yet, but his account was made on January 28, 2024 - less than a week from the time I started writing this on February 2, 2024.

How is this possible? A new account gets to 1600 in less than a week? Quite odd. I could get to 1250 within a week, but 1600? Not really. The account isn't specially labeled or anything; it's just a random person online. Could they be the next Magnus Carlsen? Maybe. But practically speaking, I don't think so. 

An online friend of mine also agrees with many of these. Here are some statements (originally from @qepx):

"he was on a losing streak (6 in a row) yesterday and might just be doing particularly well today. You got ahead in the start of the game, but made some mistakes along the way. Then the brilliant move just looked like it came out of a puzzle. It's possible, though, I get why you could be suspicious."

(This first statement references my game against the user in question.)

"I don't know how he would've seen a brilliant move so fast
Sometimes it's instinctive though even though it might be hard to see for other people, idk"

"Maybe he was cheating and trolled you in the opening by making bad moves too"

"It's really hard to tell in this instance, because I think it's possible it is a solid winning streak."

"Definitely. And that's one easy way to do it, if I played with +3 advantage against stockfish, stockfish would probably still win lol" 

(when asked about if the user in question was trying to trick the algorithm by pretending to "think")

"he also didn't seem to have to think at all for the inaccuracy on [move] 13 - should be a time that someone would typically spend one minute or so to reason
I might accidentally make that sequence on bullet though but this isn't bullet"

"Very likely a cheater."

So, to recap why I believe the user is cheating:

-suspicious time usage: spending an unnecessary amount of time on "obvious" moves while randomly premoving seemingly "strange" moves raises suspicion 

-calculation skills: I don't think any 1600 could find a mate in 5 that fast, but I guess there is a very minuscule chance 

-win rate: a 70% win rate is quite suspicious for anybody, even grandmasters 

-tricking the algorithm: pretending to "think" on "obvious" moves while actually cheating and playing a dubious opening to avoid detection is a possibility

-the account itself: made less than a week ago (as of the time I'm writing) which is another common factor of general cheating suspicion

What do you think? If you think he's cheating, let me know. If not, still let me know. I want to read your relevant comments. 

A big thanks to @qepx for assisting me in this. 

Evidence feed may be released soon and should include the user in questions' games, images of his profile, and the like.

Goodbye for now...