There you go you can chat to your hearts content about whether databases are cheating I am not tracking this thread
DATABASES: cheating or not
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of course they're not, I know everyone is entitled to their opinion but if you want them to be illegal then play live chess or OTB chess. The whole point of correspondance chess is that you can use databases, books etc to help you.
I was shocked to learn that some correspondence chess tournaments actually allow use of computer programs!
As far as the type of correspondence chess we play here on chess.com, I agree with Keegan. The rules of turn-based chess on chess.com are quite explicit - use of books, databases that do not contain computer evaluation numbers (like the one at chessok.com - that one is not allowed) are part of the game. Those who don't like those rules can play live chess or play on another site that has rules more to their liking.
The only database I personally use for games here is the chess.com database. There aren't any computer games in it. One can argue that in more recent games, some of the players may have used computer games to prepare, but that's not a valid point. There is no way to tell if they did or didn't for one thing, and anyway, they certainly didn't when they played the actual games. I typically run out of database moves by move 5 anyway and certainly by move 8. Those moves are really just the main lines in standard openings, so for me, it's a lazy shortcut to looking up the actual opening in the ECO, which I also do sometimes. It's most definitely not OTB, and never was intended to be.
Simple and true. I don't mean this as an attack to anyone, but I find that the vast majority of people who do not like databases are...well...weaker players. I think there might be a relation to the two things.
The ability to play a game of correspondence chess without continuous reference to databases is what separates us from the animals.
This is a continuation from group notes about whether databases are allowed or not ... I am sick of getting alerts about "Databases are not cheating but I believe it is"