Is there cheating on Chess.com?
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AidanHeim
24 days ago
0
#1
Is anyone running into people cheating on chess.com sometimes I feel like people take forever to move and then make the best move possible…
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#2
There is definitely cheating, but it's more of a problem at the higher elos (upwards of 2000), and the website has advanced its anti-cheat quite a bit over the last year. You will get a elo refund and notification thereof if someone youve played in the last few months was banned, and its extremely difficult for lower elo players to skirt detection. I wouldn't imagine that a noteworthy number of your opponents are cheating, I see it once every hundred games or less, granted that I'm in a different rating range.
ItsTwoDuece wrote:
There is definitely cheating, but it's more of a problem at the higher elos (upwards of 2000), and the website has advanced its anti-cheat quite a bit over the last year. You will get a elo refund and notification thereof if someone youve played in the last few months was banned, and its extremely difficult for lower elo players to skirt detection. I wouldn't imagine that a noteworthy number of your opponents are cheating, I see it once every hundred games or less, granted that I'm in a different rating range.
No.....
Cheating is all over the elo spectrum and not just centered around higher elo's. No... There is no advanced Anti-Cheating software in effect, ( that may have been the case before IDK... ) but unless the cheater is reported several times and someone from Chess.com looks at the cheater, only then do they get banned. (at that point they just get another email, and come back, usually with a fake profile from somewhere outside the USA)... My advise ... do not play anyone with a profile outside the USA
In December... 50 GM's got caught cheating here...
Independent studies have the cheating at 1 out of 4 games or higher (that someone is using a tabbed opening browser, or salting in engine moves)
Welcome to the world of Internet chess... these rating are not real.... It's why (every couple of months ) we see a thread tilled I'm 2000 elo and lost to a 1200 elo in OTB tournament.
Yes.
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#6
If I would think for a long time (for example in a daily game) against a beginner in a relatively simple, straightforward position, I would expect myself to find a decent move / plan. Of course it depends on what you consider to be "Thinking forever" and which time control you are playing.
Note: Discussions about cheating are not allowed in general forums.
24 days ago
0
#7
The perception of cheating levels is orders of magnitude more than the actual amount. The vast majority of games and players are clean.
https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com
https://www.chess.com/article/view/online-chess-cheating
https://www.chess.com/article/view/chesscom-update-april-2026#FairPlay
The site closed over 130,000 accounts in March for fair play violations and has a full team of staff working on reports along with some automated systems for detection.
https://www.chess.com/article/view/fair-play
https://www.chess.com/cheating
That said, discussions of cheating, potential cheating, or cheat detection are not allowed in the general forums. If you would like to discuss join the following club
https://www.chess.com/club/cheating-forum