I have been to tournaments where nothing electronic is allowed in the playing hall. I have been to a tournament where someone was in a bathroom stall on a cell phone talking to someone, going over the first 11 moves of a game, and then proceeds to say: "So what move should i play now?"
I went to the TD, and was told "There is nothing i can do since i didnt hear it" I said they are stil in the bathroom...nothing was done.
Anytime you involve the human element things can and will go wrong.
sorry i dont want to interrupt u but can i say hello?
I have been to tournaments where nothing electronic is allowed in the playing hall. I have been to a tournament where someone was in a bathroom stall on a cell phone talking to someone, going over the first 11 moves of a game, and then proceeds to say: "So what move should i play now?"
I went to the TD, and was told "There is nothing i can do since i didnt hear it" I said they are stil in the bathroom...nothing was done.
Anytime you involve the human element things can and will go wrong.
That's crazy!
If they don't allow electronics how do they enforce it?
hey
I have been to tournaments where nothing electronic is allowed in the playing hall. I have been to a tournament where someone was in a bathroom stall on a cell phone talking to someone, going over the first 11 moves of a game, and then proceeds to say: "So what move should i play now?"
I went to the TD, and was told "There is nothing i can do since i didnt hear it" I said they are stil in the bathroom...nothing was done.
Anytime you involve the human element things can and will go wrong.
That's crazy!
And the thing is, the guy is a well known, well respected NTD. While i still enjoy seeing him, and i enjoy the tournaments. I have lost a bit of respect for him.
I have been to tournaments where nothing electronic is allowed in the playing hall. I have been to a tournament where someone was in a bathroom stall on a cell phone talking to someone, going over the first 11 moves of a game, and then proceeds to say: "So what move should i play now?"
I went to the TD, and was told "There is nothing i can do since i didnt hear it" I said they are stil in the bathroom...nothing was done.
Anytime you involve the human element things can and will go wrong.
That's crazy!
And the thing is, the guy is a well known, well respected NTD. While i still enjoy seeing him, and i enjoy the tournaments. I have lost a bit of respect for him.
Maybe he's on chess.com...
Well let's be honest. There is no way to prevent someone who is determined to cheat. Only way to do this would be forcing players to play naked and not be allowed to leave the board at any time during the game (and even that might not be enough). Like you said, everyone has a chess engine nowadays and using one is extremely simple. The only issue left is finding a way to use the engine without getting caught. If that person has someone willing to use the engine, then the only thing left is how to transmit the moves. If there are spectators allowed in the playing hall, then learning some simple system to transmit the moves visually is simple enough. If not, then you could use some sort of transmitter like an earplug (those things can be very small) or if you're really dedicated, some sort of vibrating device to morse code the moves. I guess on an amateur level there isn't always enough resources to follow players closely enough that one couldn't simply text message from the bathroom.
So basically only realistic way to prevent cheating is go through the games afterwards with an engine, and if some player has high enough accuracy compared with engine (or absurdly rapid rating progress) to ban these players afterwards. Of course you can do half measures like not allowing phones in the playing hall, but I don't see how this would stop anyone willing to do at least a bit of work to get the cheating done.
Luckily I doubt that too many chess players have friends willing to spend their time to help someone cheat in an amateur tournament. Of course on a higher level play with cash prizes this could be a bigger issue.
But nowadays cheating in chess is just as simple as someone hinting you the answers after using Google in a quiz show.
Maybe we should worry less about others cheating and just play to the best of our ability. The vast majority of the time, it isn't some secret conspiracy that beat you, here or elsewhere. It is the poor moves that were played by you.
The only place it really matters is when significant money is on the line. That rarely happens in chess anyway (never to me).
Say someone does illegally get the best of you. You lose a few rating points. If you were rated correctly, your score will right itself soon enough. You are now getting more points for beating weaker players.
Hopefully, this thread gets locked soon, like cheating threads do around here.
Like you said, everyone has a chess engine nowadays and using one is extremely simple. The only issue left is finding a way to use the engine without getting caught. If that person has someone willing to use the engine, then the only thing left is how to transmit the moves. If there are spectators allowed in the playing hall, then learning some simple system to transmit the moves visually is simple enough. If not, then you could use some sort of transmitter like an earplug (those things can be very small) or if you're really dedicated, some sort of vibrating device to morse code the moves. I guess on an amateur level there isn't always enough resources to follow players closely enough that one couldn't simply text message from the bathroom.
Thanks for the advice!
No electronics are allowed first of all. In crappy tournaments there are no metal detectors. In cooler ones there is. Bathrooms are inside the playing hall so technically no electronics can get there. If you somehow messup and start playing like a machine and win people will notice it. If you play like a machine the whole game people will notice it.
The prices you get are not worth the technology involved to cheat. The higher the reward the more security there is. And once they catch you...
you are banned for life and maybe will receive free violence.
Maybe we should worry less about others cheating and just play to the best of our ability.
Yeah, because everyone knows the best way to solve an issue is to ignore it, right? *Sarcasm*
Something does not exist if you are not aware of it.
A chess engine is overkill. Are you really playing your opponent or are you playing a 2600 rated with fake ids who is playing in place of a 1600?
Yeah, if you're determined to cheat, and if you're smart about it, you can get away with it. Even without having any electronics on your person.
But there's little incentive in a tournament where the top prize might be 100 or a few 100 USD.
Plus most people are too stupid, too lazy, or both to cheat without getting caught.
So really, you don't have to worry about it unless you're playing in something like millionaire chess, where all the lower sections are won by people who were painfully obvious sandbaggers, for example.
most people are too stupid, too lazy, or both to cheat without getting caught.
That is actually a bad thing. You can only count the caught cheaters (how else would you know they were cheating), so if you do not know many "smart" cheaters getting caught, then that does not necessarily mean the "smart" cheaters are very few/don't exist.
most people are too stupid, too lazy, or both to cheat without getting caught.
That is actually a bad thing. You can only count the caught cheaters (how else would you know they were cheating), so if you do not know many "smart" cheaters getting caught, then that does not necessarily mean the "smart" cheaters are very few/don't exist.
Yeah, but also, part of being a smart cheater means you don't cheat all the time, and you don't necessarily win the tournament. You don't even necessarily win the game you're playing.
The closer to B.Ivanov you are, the most obvious you are i.e. you can't go around playing #1 engine moves all game and beating GMs.
As the president of the World Naked Chess Federation, I'm here to tell you my organization offers the solution mentioned upthread. I'm cooking dinner now and am just a little too busy to link to my chess album.
Maybe we should worry less about others cheating and just play to the best of our ability. The vast majority of the time, it isn't some secret conspiracy that beat you, here or elsewhere. It is the poor moves that were played by you.
The only place it really matters is when significant money is on the line. That rarely happens in chess anyway (never to me).
Say someone does illegally get the best of you. You lose a few rating points. If you were rated correctly, your score will right itself soon enough. You are now getting more points for beating weaker players.
Hopefully, this thread gets locked soon, like cheating threads do around here.
Ensuring fair play and preventing cheating is a major topic in every sport. You act like it's a question that shouldn't be asked?
With a chess engine in everyone's pocket these days, how is cheating prevented? Are players searched? What about hiding a phone in the bathroom? What about an assistant in the audience evaluating moves and casually whispering (g5) as you walk by him to the bathroom? Are their metal detectors? Electronic detectors? Are people in the audience allowed to have phones? Are they searched? Etc.
I read about a time where the location of where a friend was sitting in the stands was the clue to where the next move should be.
I could imagine a chess player wearing some kind of vibrating device and getting moves in code.
It just seems like their are so many ways to cheat. Just curious as to how it is prevented, and if people think that enough is being done?