Cheating My Way to the Top!
I've only been a member of Chess.com for a couple of months and I would say that I'm like everyone else, I didn't read the fine print before I gave them my money and they didn't refuse my money while insisting that I read the fine print first.
That said, I think everyone just knows that cheating is wrong! Of course, using a chess program to figure the moves out for you is wrong. However, once the game is completed you can download the PNG and analyse the game step by step. Learning openings and endings is part of the game and using a computer to review a game that is already completed can be beneficial.
I was NOT aware that having two accounts under different names was cheating. I can understand it now that I've read about it but I would never have considered opening more than one account myself. I have enough to think about with the one.
I'm writing about this because I was playing a game against a higher ranked player and really enjoying it. He hadn't made his move in more than a day and the clock was ticking so I clicked on over to his home page to see what was up and perhaps drop him a note. There was a large banner on his home page which said his account had been closed for cheating. It didn't specify how he was cheating, just that he got caught cheating. "Well", I thought, "that's really a shame."
So, today I won our game due to time and received a good spike in my rating. Wow, what a way to climb to the top! I think the sysops of the site should do one of two things: 1. Cancel all ongoing games once an account has been closed without any ratings adjustments, or 2. Give me a list of ALL high ranking members who are under the suspicion of cheating. I'll start games with all of them and when their accounts get suspended I'll advance my way to the top! Shouldn't take more than a week!
Cheaters never win.