Has a ranked player ever been caught cheating during an OTB game?

Hi guys,

I´m pretty much fresh at this site and never have played chess at tournaments therefore OTB etc don´t mean a thing to me, I am here to pass time and enjoy using my brain whilst playing with people from all over the world. I know this site doesn´t allow the use of chess engines during the game and does it´s best to catch cheaters but when I see the number two is a 24 year old believing he´s a Jedi Master, come on.

 This seems quite possible to me and makes me wonder how long before they have metal detector scans of people before they are allowed to go to the bathroom ?  If my opponent goes to the toilet too frequently ( especially when its his move ) I would be very suspicious.

if they new they used metal detectors why couldn't they cover the computer in a coating that made it undetectable. like when you put a mobile phone(cell phone) in a room with lead paint on. if somebody tries to call you then it won't reach though but that is to much trouble just to win a couple of tournaments isn't?\

I sometimes go to the toilet quite alot during games, but that has to do with a medical condition rather than cheating.

I wonder if any of my opponents suspects foul play?

Cue jokes in bad taste :)

fun thread!

i downfall that has come up is that if you are playing a GM that has created their own engine and if they use that engine against them then  wouldn't the master and notice how they are cheating and find a way around  them 

My iPhone plays a wicked game of chess. Well, it's Fritz Chess, tChess Pro and Shredder that do the wicked, but it's good chess. When I play through GM games, it's amazing how often the little SOB comes up with the move the GM plays.

When I load difficult problems into the application, and press OK for it to find a solution, it usually solves very tricky tactical multi-ply problems in maximum two-three seconds. Stuff I use a long time on myself.

So - let's not fool ourselves. Many will be wondering how to use this kind of assistance when they're playing OTB. And somehow me have to keep OTB decent (even SuperGMs are accusing one another of cheating. Topalov/Dainalov claimed Kramnik was using Fritz 9 in Elista.)

Correspondence Chess is a game of engine and engine. It would be sad if OTB formats were threatened with the same.

One solution is to reduce the thinking time. Blitz OTB makes using engines impossible; same would go for Rapid. You don't spend much time wandering about during a Rapid game. But the classical format could be threatened if engines become used.

You don't need much help. Anand has said that if he could get two-three hints at critical stages during a game, he would be invincible. In San Luis, many were convinced that Dainalov was gesturing hints to Topalov - that's a controversial accusation, and may be influenced by people wanting to get back at the two of them for the mess they created in Elista, but then again ...

The use of DTG-boards with instant transmission of moves may make it easier to cheate at the top levels, since the job of getting the moves to the engine becomes easier. It's then a question of getting the recommended line back to the player, and there are lots of ways of doing that.

We may have to accept delayed relays of moves from tournaments. A fifteen minute delay would make it very difficult for anyone relying on help from outside during classical play. So then it's a question of finding out whether someone can cheat in situ, but that's difficult. You'll be seeing metal detectors and other ways of keeping that in check.

But I do think that iPods, etc. will be banned. Consider someone having a very special tune playing on their ipod - where they have read the lines of various openings, with variants, into the ipod - and are playing this instead of songs. When you know what line you are in, you pick that "song" - and just let it go on repeat until you're through the opening.

Technology is both good and bad.

I'm pretty sure lead is a metal and would only help to set the detector off 

If you want it to stop receiving signals like in your cell phone analogy, the metal detector is the thing that would have to be covered in lead (or whatever special substance you're thinking of??) ... good luck with that

Someone listening to an IPod while playing against you, even though it might not be cheating (but to my knowledge is forbidden in most Open tournaments), it's surely a sign of direspect to you. You have grounds to claim that it's annoying. You should politelly ask your opponent not to listen to it and if he refuses, complain to the judge. You don't have to be the nice cool dude

I've never heard of IPods being banned in open tournaments... in fact you often see kids listening to them.  I only find it annoying when it's turned up loud enough to hear, at that point I do complain and they do have to turn it down, but if I can't hear it I don't care.

Electronic equipment is banned. That should include iPods. But of course,it depends on the tournament director.

I would not accept it. Just the scenario I described would be enough reason.

Imagine someone reading through a number of lines, with variants. You can cover a lot in a few minutes. You do that for a number of openings, and pick the one that applies to what you're playing. If you want, you can have quite a battery of lines and variants.

My iPhone can be used for Skype-calls, same with an iPod Touch (as can other handhelds, so let's not just blame Apple). So - I could have someone calling me who was following my game on the internet or sitting in the audience section, and is supplying me with moves.

Technology is at a state where it's both presenting fantastic opportunities to chess, but also creating a problem.

 Steinwitz said:

Correspondence Chess is a game of engine and engine.

Perhaps I'm one of the fortunate few, but of all the Online games I've played up till now and lost, I'm sure my opponent used nothing more than the analysis board, which I also used.

Notwithstanding tradition and the current Rules of Chess, I wonder what the arguments are against both players having access to an analysis board, such as that on this site, during an OTB match - other than the obvious fact it would greatly affect the need for "natural" visualization skills.

@rubygabbi

I'm certain there are many honorable correspondence chess players ... but what are the chances that there isn't any use of engines, given that you have the privacy of your own dwelling, many hours/days, and nobody observing you?

 Zero chances, I sadly admit.

Still I'd like to hear some opinions about the use of an analysis board in OTB.

In the second largest scholastic tournament in my state, there was an incident with cheating. It may seem silly to cheat in a scholastic tournament because normally the only thing at stake is a trophy, but we're fortunate in my area that one of the school systems pays to send a couple of top players and teams from the tournament to Nationals.

Many of you who played as kids know what scholastic tournaments such as these are like. The players in class C or higher generally play against sub-1200 players for the first couple of rounds and upsets are rare until the last two or three rounds. In the fourth round out of five, there were eight players still undefeated. Seven were 1400+ and the last one was in the 400s. My friends and I were a little surprised, but the only major upset he had to pull was against a 1200, which could easily be a fluke. At the time, the most we made of it was to rib the 1400 guy playing the 400 because he'd had a pretty soft schedule (playing 1200, 600, and unrated) and then along comes this 400 guy, who dropped a piece against the 1400 and gave him another easy round. After the round, I found that this 400 had been listening to an Ipod (or perhaps Mp3, I don't know) and a TD asked him to remove it for this round.

Later, the 1400 who played the 400 saw the game the 400 beat the 1200 with. His words about the game were along the lines of "He beat him with a beautiful GM-like attack". I later found that the 400's wins were wiped out - evidently the evidence was considered sufficient, although circumstantial unless the TD knew something I didn't.

Interestingly, this incident ended up benefitting me. The 1400 who easily crushed the 400 kept his win, as it was certainly too late to repair the round. This meant four players were left undefeated: a 2000, a 1600 who had taken a roughly year-long hiatus for medical issues, myself (rated at the time around 1700), and the 1400. If the 1400 had not played the 400, he might have lost or drawn and changed the pairings at the top. As it is, I played the 1400 instead of the 2000 (who I would have played if there had only been three undefeated players or the fourth undefeated player had been rated above me) and won, tying for first and guaranteeing a free trip to Nationals. The 400 has not played since, although he didn't play much to begin with.

At any rate, this makes it seem as if it's certainly possible to cheat without numerous suspicious "bathroom breaks".

Steinwitz, eh?

i will work on it

Well, if too many bathroom breaks make you suspicious, there's only one way to 'cure' that - DO NOT ALLOW BATHROOM BREAKS! The players will have no choice but to relieve themselves before games and maybe try to drink less water.