Daily Chess Fair Play Questions

So obviously daily chess does not allow you to use an engine, but it also says that you can consult books and other resources that aren’t engine-based.
1. Does this include videos?
2. How on earth are modern books not tested with engines? Some books mention engine analysis.
3. What about notes from books and videos? I made a handy-dandy flowchart on my computer that goes pretty deep—sometimes 20 moves or more. You should see my flow chart for the Winawer!

It’s all so confusing and the fair play rules are pretty vague. Some of my notes are based on videos and how can I be sure that engines weren’t used; in fact, I’m pretty sure they were.

If someone used Stockfish for analysis in a book, then I use the book, then the cheating algorithm may think I’m using Stockfish! Now I’m terrified to use my notes.

Ugh.

No book or video will (almost never) guide you through the whole game. If you play on your own after the opening (or how far your book/video get you) you are not cheating - and you will make human mistakes.

@dave - actually, daily is supposed to mirror old-school correspondence chess mostly, where you can study the board and use anything at your disposal to find the best move. It has nothing to do with gamesmanship, so that’s why they let you use references.

It’s just that some references can go 20 moves deep or more.

And the question remains on the inherent contradiction of being able to use books and other references that likely have involved intense engine analysis when it says you can’t rely upon an engine.

Hi guys im new

 

Books/videos that are engine checked are fine. You probably should stray away from any that include concrete Analysis and numerical engine evaluations, to be safe.

I'm your guy. I play daily like I play bullet.

I guess it's a grey zone. If you looked at those lines with the engine BEFORE the game and wrote them down it should be okay... 

After all the main benefit of daily chess is practicing certain openings...

Like I said, I made a flowchart for certain openings that goes pretty deep. I guess it’s probably more obvious if you’re 30 moves in and start making move after move that’s a high depth Stockfish move.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts. 😊

you already have what you are looking for with live chess, where no resources whatsoever are allowed. daily chess is an online version of olds-school correspondence chess which has always allowed for the use of resources. of course engines didnt exist back in the day so that wasnt a problem.  so if its 'REAL gamesmanship' you seek, stick with live chess.

I think it's fine to refer to videos, books, the opening book,  your prior games and the (non-engine) analysis board in daily games.  But I think it starts to get a little sketchy to use a computer flow chart containing all the sequences you've collected over time from those sources.  I know your flow chart is a static database whereas the engine is an active program.  But you've likely created an engine-based database that spits out a move for you without any thought on your part.  Just my 2 cents for consideration.

i think you have a reasonable pov. but personally, i wouldnt mind someone who had gone through the effort of building a flow chart to reference it in a game against me. things typically get 'off book' so quickly it really only matters if both parties are using book lines. i think the point of using the flowchart is to help you memorize it. i may be wrong, but i consider daily chess more of an opportunity to practice what you are learning whereas live chess is a better reflection of your actual knowledge and ability. 

I'm not the rulemaker, but I think everyone assumes that books and videos that have been engine tested are fine, so long as they're not just a dump of engine data.  If you were putting any engine-tested ideas off limits, then you'd run into trouble with database games too, since you can bet that when MVL shows a new idea in the Najdorf or Gruenfeld, he's developed it in conjunciton with an engine.  Since it's long been accepted that part of the point of correspondence/daily is to be develop ongoing opening theory conversations, I don't think anyone will object to trying out lines that are topical at the GM level, even if engines were involved in developing those lines.

The file is probably a gray area.  I'd say it depends in part on how you put it together.  Is it just a compendium of engine recommendations?  If so, I'd recommend against it not only because it might get you into trouble but also because it's unlikely to be so strategically helpful to you as working through book recommendations or, to a lesser extent, databases.  (Engines, after all, are notoriously bad at understanding the long-term strategic considerations of opening moves, and they often recommend moves that humans don't find to be of much pracitcal help.) On  the other hand, if you've developed a repertoire of favorite lines based on prior games and on theory as found books, videos, etc, and then have worked out some particular prep beyond them, even with the help of an engine to check particular lines, then I'd argue that's very much in the spirit of daily games.

Just a quick follow up comment ... personally I think building the flowchart is a great idea!  Writing stuff down is a powerful way to analyze lines,  improve your understanding, memory, etc.  I just question whether it's a great idea to use the flowchart to generate moves during a game, without any need for thought or memory from you - not only from the standpoint of getting into a gray area of fair play, but also from the perspective of helping you improve (if that's your desire).  In any case, all the best and I hope whatever you decide serves you well.

omg u bad im htaer beter than u at roblox

I tend to not get all bent out of shape about what my opponent is or isn’t doing. If he wants to watch me play his chess engine then it must be because I am awesome.

I think that ppl can use and see the videos but for me personally "Daily is not Chess" cuz it doesn't show the real skill of the person.Ppl use books and videos in the opening but in live you have to play on your own skills, so if a person fir eg is 1100rapid and if he uses books and other stuff in daily maybe he is much higher . For me using books is also cheating only cuz if you really want to play good in the opening then why don't you learn that THEORY? But probably there are many lines which the opponent that play. So I think that daily chess is not a fair way of chess until you are not using books or other stuff 

Regarding resources like making notes, on the Notes tab of one's game, are those notes visible to both players or just to me? I have my ratty little notebook where I keep my notes about the games, but I'm feeling a little dumb for never having used the Notes tab that would literally tie the notes to the games.  Obviously since they're notes on what and how I'm playing, I wouldn't want my opponent to see them, though. So, private or public? Thx.

 

It's only visible to you.