In the US at least a lot of crimes are "payable" by either paying a fine OR doing jail time (each day in jail counts towards x dollars of the fine). Maybe FIDE could adopt this in cases of banning players for so long ie for x number of dollars the fine is reduced by x number of wks, months, or whatever. Of course who knows what FIDE would use the $ for so I'd like to see a stipulation it goes into a players fund of some sort (ie to help out impoverished IMs and GMs with severe medical expenses etc). As for lifetime bans that should be an option available to FIDE after all "cheating" is a broad term and no one penalty will be appropriate for every individual case.
Are we doing enough to stop cheating?

The whole issue of fines, penalties, bans etc. is really a none issue...if there is not the political will to catch and punish cheaters. Currently, it is so easy to cheat OTB that its a joke. Phones are still allowed and used, bathroom breaks are ill-supervised, everyone mingles with everyone else, sending and receiving messages can be done pretty easily with appropriate codes, games are still being sent out live rather than delayed etc.
Even with the recent cheating occurences there seem to be no "will" to really prevent cheating, and enforcing any penalties written on paper.
We cannot go to "B" before "A"...and my main point is that there is no real want to catch cheaters.

You are correct there are indeed limits to policing, just as in the real world, but this is no argument against vigorous attempts to control the cheating vice. We cannot live in an ideal world on or off line. We must decide if we choose to go or stay. The amount of cheating I encounter does not affect my enjoyment of playing chess. There is always a danger of paranoia especially when loosing.
[Please be careful. This topic is about real world cheating otherwise it would be locked. Moderator]

...I don't believe it's taken seriously, I think "the powers that be" believes that cheating in chess is a small matter, and not worth the time, effort nor cost to correct it...it seems that their policy is more akin to "let's pray that no one intends to cheat in this tournment"...no future thinking...no pro-active approach...only piece meal policies to give the impression that something is being done.

Something serious needs to be done... 100% agree with myrook. Ban for life!
Get caught cheating...gone! .....Ban for life! ....... A 2 year ban would only encourage cheaters to be more careful. Once caught, it's over for them any way!
Cheaters deserves nothing less than a life time ban. How can anybody bring such a noble game into disrepute?

Something serious needs to be done... 100% agree with myrook. Ban for life!
Get caught cheating...gone! .....Ban for life! ....... A 2 year ban would only encourage cheaters to be more careful. Once caught, it's over for them any way!
Cheaters deserves nothing less than a life time ban. How can anybody bring such a noble game into disrepute?
I still think that the punishment could not realistically be so severe, since there is also a possibility of false accusations and politics - at least in big tournaments and world championship matches... this could even tear apart some federations - if a part of it does not believe that some respectable GM cheated and they continue playing with him and organize tournaments on their own, etc... it's a recipe for disaster. So I agree with one of the previous posts that such bans should be enforced only after/if the act is repeated in the future - and the punishment for a single cheating act should be something less - but also severe enough to discourage people from trying to cheat.

There was a forum topic on this I saw yesterday, which partly inspired me to ask the question in my recent Chess News video on our YouTube channel... but I can't find that forum anywhere, so I just figured I post a new topic ...
So, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uiyc_lGHdw&list=UU5kS0l76kC0xOzMPtOmSFGw&index=1&feature=plcp
are we doing enough???
I personally feel a lifetime ban for almost anything is a little harsh, but maybe I am a softy??? I would be in favor a a "title stripping" and a 3 year ban (maybe 2 years with rehabilitation requirements).
Whatcha guys think of that?
[Please be careful. This topic is about OTB cheating otherwise it would be locked. Moderator]
define what you mean by cheating? in chess its almost impossible to cheat...thats why chess is such a good sport for kids because you learn lessons by losing fairly...

define what you mean by cheating? in chess its almost impossible to cheat...thats why chess is such a good sport for kids because you learn lessons by losing fairly...
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LOL What planet are you from?

define what you mean by cheating? in chess its almost impossible to cheat...thats why chess is such a good sport for kids because you learn lessons by losing fairly...
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LOL What planet are you from?
haha, maybe from Mar.

do you know what i feel like is cheating? when low rated players like myself are trying to follow openings that are provided by chess.com (which i think is fantasitc) and the other player does not follow the opening and does some random move that throws me off leaving me confused on what to do!!!!! thats cheating haha
Haha! excellent!
:) Chris, this is such a sweet comment. haha Man, I wished i knew all the openings by the book but I don't. How can that be cheating? I have learned a few things about openings, and one is....I can't remmber each opening..there's too many! Don't hate me for it. :p

do you know what i feel like is cheating? when low rated players like myself are trying to follow openings that are provided by chess.com (which i think is fantasitc) and the other player does not follow the opening and does some random move that throws me off leaving me confused on what to do!!!!! thats cheating haha
This is hiiarious.

Corrijean, thanks alot! :) It really doesn't matter if ppl think I'm a woman or a man, MOST of the time. I reckon a picture of a rock doesn't help any. haha

Are you new here? I think Optimum is not a dude.
Lol !!! That was so good. That was really funny, Chris! :)

Just so everyone knows, the topic of this forum (created by yours truly ) was actually NOT "Chess.com Cheating"... We have talked about those issues in the past, we will continue to address them, we are aware that there are members who cheat on here, and we are constantly doing the best we can to clean that stuff up... BUT the topic was Over the Board, tournament chess.
In any case, that seems to be lost now . Have fun!!!
Danny
do you know what i feel like is cheating? when low rated players like myself are trying to follow openings that are provided by chess.com (which i think is fantasitc) and the other player does not follow the opening and does some random move that throws me off leaving me confused on what to do!!!!! thats cheating haha