Response from Caught Cheater - Worth Reading

Kupov is being dragged away from civilized society, away from babs and us other decent folk :)

Who here remebers Mendalshtam?

There was a thread about cheating some time back and Mendalshtam popped in and was horrified to learn that engine use was not allowed here because he was under they assumptions that it was, and had been using an engine himself.  Upon finding this out, Mendalshtam came forward with a very public mea-culpa and closed his account, pledging to start a new one with which he would only play fairly going forward.

While ignorance of the rules is certainly no excuse, I think that what Mendalshtam did as soon as he found out he was in breach of the terms here is worthy of the kind of praise that is being heaped on someone who, had they not been caught, would no doubt be continuing to perpetrate the deceit they'd been getting away with up until this point.

Just a little perspective.

Gotcha.  I once knew someone who on a trip to Australia was stopped at immigration and, among other questions, was asked if he had a criminal record.  His response:  "I didn't know I still needed one."

Surprisingly they didn't see the humour.

I've cheated on times, in my life(I'm 61yrs now)and caused much pain and anguish.I for one, could not cast a stone in his direction.In my opinion, he should be invited back unconditionaly; after all the only pain  caused by cheating in chess, is to our egos.

 Kupov's newest, most bestest friend!

I just turned off tracking on this thread too.  Too much heat;  too little light...

Deleted... not that there was any swearing or childish comments in it, unlike the majority of posts on this thread.  

Bye thread...

Ahhh I remember this too Grobe, although to be honest I'm not certain this story has had such a happy ending.

I remember in my messages with Mendalshtam how adamant he was about using a program to assist him.  He said he had been doing it since the early 1990's because he felt that everyone else was in turn-based chess and that it would be hard for him to change.  He told me that he could not get over 2200 here at chess.com without a program and further stated that anyone else who was over 2200 was either a real-life Master or cheating.  Obviously thats not true, but it was in his mind.

Well, now Mendalshtam, on his new account, is 2700+, so there is a decent chance his heartfelt apology meant absolutely nothing and he's back to his old ways.

Have you tried asking him if he's still cheating, & wouldn't chess.com be keeping tabs on him ?

I second the motion.

I thought you left ?

Oh, you're still here, too? :)

lol

I see that opinions can be divided into two groups:

a) What a great man! He showed maturity and apologized. He should get another chance.

b) A lowlife cheater! Apologize? No, only cheap empty pose.

Who is right? I don't know.

My opinions:

Was he really sincere?

Probably he was, he didn't want to make a public statement, he wrote private e-mail to Erik.

Did he show a grace and maturity?

Yes, but he had shown a lot more immaturity and disgrace before. I am sure he would continue cheating, if he wasn't caught.

Does he love chess?

He does for sure. But he loved his rating even more.

Should this guy get another chance?

No. At least not just now. He cheated. He should get away from internet chess for some time. If he really wants to play on chess.com, then maybe year later, with a new account and with notice like "I cheated here before, I apologize."

Is he worth to distinguish him from ordinary cheaters?

I think so. If i were staff-member, i would leave a notice on his tombstone in our Hall of Shame, something like "This user apologized for cheating".

What is the point of this story?

Cheating is addictive like bulimic binge/purging. Players with low self-esteem are hungry for wins and ratings. Occassional cheating increases to regular cheating, influence of "perfect wins" (opponent's cheating) produces new cheaters especially from immature players. It is like rolling snowball increasing to snow avalanche.

Wow, just had a look at the cheaters list..... its huge, recognized a couple of names... one called himself Cheat,

I'm not Erik's employee, no.  He's still the boss around here, and can subvert rules that apply to the rest of us.  I didn't think that was too difficult to understand.