Why you should never cheat (from an ex-cheater)

To put it briefly and simply, I was an idiot during that time. I had been playing for a few months at that point and had made quite a bit of progress. But, as is usually the case, there are also down phases, especially in the beginning!

So, I saw myself losing more than 200 ELO points in 2 days, dropping from 800 to 600 ELO. Although this is actually quite normal within this range, I didn't really want to accept it and decided to get some help from an engine from time to time.

In short: it became an addiction to always ask an engine if my strategy was correct or not. And it feels like you're actually learning something from it. Spoiler alert: you're not. In fact, I would even say that you get worse. This might sound unbelievable, but I want to explain why I think so.

You think you're learning by using the engine, especially if you can understand why the best move is indeed the best. In reality, you would never find it on your own! This leads to you blundering quite often when you start playing without the engine again. The engine constantly has an overview of the entire board, something even a player like Magnus Carlsen cannot do. When I started playing without the engine again, I was constantly blundering because I hadn't made mistakes for such a long time.

I'm not saying that you lose your basic understanding of chess. But the fact is, while you were focusing only on what the engine does and why it’s the best move, your opponent had to keep an eye on the entire board, not just the area you're focusing on.

You also lose your sense of time management! You’re not as fast as a computer. However, if you're used to having your moves calculated in 1 second, you tend to think less and make the first move that comes to mind. This might be correct for bullet chess, but in all other formats, no one rushes you. Sometimes you have to think for half a minute or even 2 minutes, and that's how it should be. Only when you see a tactic and then play it will you really learn from it because those brilliant moves will be etched into your brain!

Apart from the fact that anyone who cheats is acting immorally and dishonestly, please always keep that in mind. Don’t be that person, and be fair to other players who are trying their best to improve.

As much as you don't want to hear it, it is noticeable! When you play with an engine, it’s evident right after the analysis. Just as an inexperienced beginner like me can recognize it, so can an algorithm like the one on chess.com. Trust me when I say it will catch you!

I wish you much fun on your journey, and if you have used an engine and now want to stop, I’d love to hear your comments and future suggestions. If you continue to use the engine, I respectfully ask that you never visit my profile again.

DanielSparklyOfficial