Cheaters Beware - You Will Be Caught

Cheating is unfortunate, but I for one do not really think that you can prove whether or not it has happened in most instances.  If you are playing in a OTB tournament then cheating is much harder to accomplish (although I have heard the tell-tale chess computer beeps coming from bathroom stalls).  With OTB tournaments there is money on the line and titles such as "best in class" etc. so there will always be those who feel that their is incentive to cheat.  Cheating in OTB tournaments often involves sandbagging, which for those who don't know the term is deliberately losing in tournaments (usually the cheap local ones) to get your rating artificially low and then when they go to a large tournament they hope to make a killing by dominating the other players in the lower section they play in.  A sandbagger could potentially win hundreds of dollars or more by doing this.  USCF would of course like to stop sandbagging, but it is virtually impossible.  Did that master that you beat lose deliberately to lower his rating or did he just blunder?  Hard to prove one way or another.  And was that 1200 player that beat you really just a 1400 level player sandbagged his way into your section?  Weak player can play extremely good games, they just are not consistent about it.  Strong players can blunder, and any player is not at his best if he/she finds their way into an opening that they don't know very well, or perhaps worse, is just not suited to their style.  All of this makes it hard to prove or enforce cheating in OTB tournements and sandbagging is just a reality in OTB tournaments. 

As far as I can tell, these are not really issues with internet chess.  We don't take home lots of money if we place first in our section in the internet chess tourney. The best that a cheater can hope to accomplish is to win "bragging rights", though I am not sure who they would brag to (certainly not someone who knew their actual abilities).  Unless you can find ALL cheaters, and PROVE that they did in fact cheat, I think it is counter productive to throw people out for this. 

They should perhaps be thrown out for berating their opponent, being noisy in OTB tournaments, and other obnoxious behavior, but even this is something of a gray area since some people do not have any manners whatsoever and other people are easily offended.  These last issues are the psycological warfare side of chess and since chess is the quintesential game of the mind then maybe it is inevitable that you will have to contend with mind games in chess.  I think that the most obnoxious behavior that I have ever witnessed in an OTB game was a player in a strong section who constantly picked his nose.  I don't know whether any of his opponents complained to the tournament director or not, but I doubt that this player picked his nose just to psyche out chess opponents, he probably just didn't have any social graces.  The best way to combat pyschological chess is with pychological chess--finger cots anyone.

Is it possible to cheat, not by playing a game, but by manipulating your rating?  Noticed one of our members had a 200+ point shift in one game and 30 to 60+ increase in point shifts while beating much lower ranked players.

Just curious---

 I agree!!!!

Well, the rating on chess.com is only for chess.com right?

I mean it not a FIDE or USCF rating is it?

Don't get me wrong, I still value my chess.com rating, however, I am not sure how it ties in with the other world chess organizations rating systems. 

Thats a great idea!  I'm going to try it OTB.  Just like in 'Chess Fever'

I am amazed at the lengths folks will go through to boost their ratings. The funny part is, the ratings on most chess sites have no real value. I have played on a number of different chess sites. Most of those were real time sites. I discovered early on how the cheaters on many of them work. They would go for the sucker's mate and if you didn't fall for it, they would mysteriously "lose" their signal. Of course that was in the days of modems and unreliable phone lines.

I would get a bit mean when someone would start out with the sucker's mate. I would tell them once they took their Queen out "show me someone who is using a sucker's mate opening and I will show you someone who is going to have their head handed to them in a basket". It was amazing how quickly they would "lose" their signal!

I like this site because my friends and I (all working with families and limited time) can lengthen the move times instead of having to arrange for mutual time together. I take the ratings on any chess site with a grain of salt. The internet seems to REALLY bring out the cheaters so I keep that in mind.

               As a new member,should we feel sorry for the cheats? Do they sleep 

              well at night? Suggest a medal,(KING SIZE)          

What is the point or joy you would get out of cheating except to  prove a fact that you are really an arrogant, ignorant, pea-brained person who is in dire need for attention and this is the only way you can get or find it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!