bots

not relevant to CBE.

Hi, your concern is valid, but it's not unique to playchess.com; the Playchess platform is still operational, with 800+ players online at any given time, according to their live stats. It's several hundred GMs using it, including Kasparov, and uses client-side monitoring software to detect cheating (unlike some other platforms). The "99% figure" is likely "hyperbolic", the "substance" is that's a real problem: online chess has an "epidemic-level" cheating issue across ALL platforms. The problem is not "Playchess specific": probably it's proportionally similar issues, but smaller user base makes it feel more pronounced. People leave not just bots, but also UI, community size, features, and alternatives. No major online chess platform has solved this problem perfectly, each has "trade-offs" between accessibility, anti-cheat measures, and user experience. Playchess.com is not dying, but it faces "challenges", just like all the other platforms. Ciao

Hi, you're right about the problem, but the situation is more complex, and your solutions are too risky without safeguards. A sudden "cold turkey" approach could kill the patient before the cure takes effect. If Playchess.com removes bots and player count drops dramatically, as you acknowledge, the platform becomes less attractive for tournaments, matching, and community features. Below a threshold, even genuine players leave due to long wait times and limited opponent variety: "critical mass" is essential for online platforms, and "temporary dips" could become permanent if competitors offer better experiences. Regardless of "bot policy", Playchess.com is facing an "uphill battle" because competitive landscape has changed: Lichess has captured much of the market, and Chess.com dominates with community and aggressive anti-cheat investment. In my opinion, a better path could be a "phased" and transparent approach that builds trust while maintaining platform viability. As I see it, instead of complete bot removal (but some bots will always slip through; detection is not perfect), we should consider a gradual transition: start with one "bot-free zone" as an experiment, measure player migration patterns, and expand based on data, not assumptions. One could establish a "tiered system" (or "banded system") where verified human players compete separately from bot-assisted games. A transparent dashboard (showing anti-cheat stats in real-time) and a partnership model (working with chess organizations for verified player zones) could also be effective complementary measures to the tiered system. Ciao