OTB Cheats !!

http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7051

It's all rather odd. Wouldn't they have been asked to show ID when registering for the tourney ? What was the point of the fraud, to win about 30 US $ ? Would they not have been allowed to play if they gave their real names ?

Sounds like a joke.

The only explanation I can come up with is that they were stuck there and needed the money for the taxi back to the hotel or something. I think condemnation could wait until we know the facts of this case, or if it happened at all.

This can happen more often than you think.  I played the same guy twice at a Houston tourney over a one year span with different names.  It was in the U1400 section and he was 1500+ rated after winning the first time under "one name" and 1 year later,  sandbagged as somebody else <1400 to win the second place section prize!. I reported this to the TD later on (realizing what had happened after the event when I entered my games in my database but surprisingly didn't find his name, even though I KNEW I played the guy!) , not sure if they ever pursued this, given that the event was already over.

To Fezzik's point, the big money should move over to the open and >2000+ rated sections ... that ways, a sandbagger/con artist would be more easy to spot, plus he wouldn't be ripping the organizers off for too much at the lower sections.

Here is my solution:

I am pretty sure that, the last time I played in a tournament, I was asked to show ID, even though the organizer knew me personally.

I have been playing tournament chess since 1973 and don't recall ever being asked to show any ID.  It sure appears that they should do so these days however.