I don't see how you could detect someone cheating online. When I lose I just look back to see where I went wrong, usually it's obvious before the game is over. To actually accuse someone of cheating when you can't prove it is just redundant. There's no money involved here so it really doesn't matter anyway. Whoever is cheating to win knows they're not really winning no matter what their rating says. As for Fritz, it's a tool for learning the game, I play against it all the time to sharpen my game and to store my completed games, whether online or not. I think its amazing that I can look back on a game I played 5 years ago and remember being in that exact position. I might use Fritz to help me figure out what I should have done after the fact, but only if I can't figure it out for myself. That's what it's for. I'd prefer to ask Kasparov but thats not an option. Plus if you get beat by a human, a computer, or a dog, there are lessons there to be learned, ultimately it makes you a stronger player. You learn and grow but the cheat doesn't.
Chess Engineers
I thought there are tools for catching cheats. How do ICC, Playchess etc detect if you are using an engine? I'm not saying we blindly accuse anyone, there must be telltale signs of engine use in ther games.
Yes if they are running software on the same computer I guess your right there ought to be some way of finding out, whether that violates privacy or what I don't know. Then again there's nothing to stop someone using another computer to run their engine. I can't get to grips with why anyone would want to cheat in the first place. A friend of mine did that to me about a year ago when he thought I wasn't looking. I didn't mention it because he screwed up his position even more by cheating. LOL. So did he cheat me or did I cheat him? I guess he cheated himself. I often wonder how he'd justify the win had the game went in his favour as a result of cheating.
Some interesting info has been posted on my blog about some engineers and how one of them has not lost to people banned for engine use - he must be using a stronger engine then. There are also examples of from "zero to hero" chess experiances, how do you become that strong without assistance?
Chess engineers must view online Chess as sort of impersonal and figure its ok to cheat if its improving their game and nobody knows about it. Other than self improvement I can't see the point to doing it. I don't think its about ratings or winning games or tournaments. Outside of professional Chess ratings don't seem to mean much.
I mean if there's a really strong player who finds himself in a position that's a bit out of his depth, can't decide what is the best move, he may consult the software for a 2nd opinion. If he takes the advice of the software then he is cheating.
On the other hand he is seeing more of this position than his opponent and learning more win lose or draw as a direct result of cheating.
What do you guys think of chess engineers? How can we detect chess engineers? Does anyone have any tools for automated analysis of games to detect cheats?