"Correspondence chess is just pushing buttons" - Nigel Short

So you're back...

Strong players have developed a good feel for what human play is, compared to engine play.

So they can smell a rat.

Respect for this guy who had at least a sense of guilt and the intelligence to stop playing CC chess. Unfortunately, it looks like most banned cheaters here just create a new account and start again...

Some even post in the forums to explain that cheating doesn't exist or can't be reliably detected...

I find it hard to believe there would be much variation in player strength if it was just pushing buttons.

CC is already dead as a purely human endeavour. There's no place where you can play CC with the guarantee you'll only play humans. Just the way it is.

I just play CC like normal chess, I don't get the difference. Ok you get more time, but do what?? Strategy doesn't change.

Computers are impacting chess in a very negative way not only in CC but in OTB. They ban cell phones from tournament halls not because of the noise but because of computer assisted players. The more money is involved the more incentive to cheat. Computers are making this easier and easier for a resourceful thief to carry off.

Unless they are wanding players as they enter the playing area, I don't see how they can prevent cheating with certainty. Then there's the bathroom break problem...

Perhaps we'll start seeing more post-mortem analysis to check for cheating. It seems you could definitely catch class players that way.

Count me among those who would like to take a good, hard look at Michael De La Maza's games during his "400 points in 400 days" run, ending with a $10,000 prize at the 2001 World Open, then he never played competitive chess again.

you are not allowed to use engines in correspondence chess, you can consult databases and books but no engines.  What you are referring to is centaur chess where engine use is permitted and can be used by humans.

Yes you are, on professional correspondence chess (ICCF https://www.iccf.com/). Which is was Short was talking about, of course he wasn't talking about chess.com.

Centaur chess is OTB chess with assistance from computers, I'm talking about correspondence chess, not OTB.

Chess engines are definitely segmenting the community. There are those who want to "solve" lines and engines are definitely a huge boon for them. I have zero problem with people who use engines in this way.

For legitimate players, engines are a great way to analyze your games and improve your gameplay provided that the engine depth is set to "human-like" levels rather than the maximum. What's the point of knowing what the best move is 20 moves out when no human is capable of remembering all of the variations necessary to get to that point?

And, of course, engines are godsends for cheaters. To protect OTB play, we will continue to stay on top of current electronic developments to ensure cheaters don't sneak into OTB tourneys undetected and keep them relegated to online play.

I really enjoy correspondence (online) chess, and have played over 250 games of it on chess.com. I really don't think I've encountered cheaters, and at around the 1400-1600 level I wouldn't expect to.

I love using the explorer function here to get past the opening, and I often go then to chessgames.com to play over a number of games in the lines I'm considering.

I have NEVER used a computer for my moves, as I cannot imagine how that could be fun for me. It would be nothing more than watching a GM play my game for me. How dull.

I used to play CC but after the computers started to gain ground in the '90s I stopped. I just am not wanting to play against a machine with or without human assistance.

CC, or what is called Online Chess here at Chess.com is a great learning tool. In fact. I would go as far as to say using it as such is the only benefit it has.

For me correspondence chess closer to otb chess, I have noticed with high blitz rating have a low correspondence rating, quick with mouse and no thought of the moves. There move that require time and you can ruin a wonderful position because time; I had one that I analyze throughly and was able to draw, if it was blitz I would lost, I also learn a lot from this endgame, I share this endgame with some Fide experts, they thought I was lost but I show the white could draw with exact move order. I guess cc can improve your otb game, it is helping me getting stronger in analyzing a position. For cheaters they only hurt themself, how can you become strong by using a engine and when a cheater win, it was really their chess program not their thayt won their game, there is no satisfaction in that kind of win. 

Correspondence chess is no diffferent than any other type of chess games.  We all have our preferences.  I personally think correspondence chess is a great way to improve your game.  But then if i was a GM, i might feel the same as he does. 

Correspondence chess has more to do with the artistic side of chess.OTB chess is war,just my opinion..

Short at it again.

Latest new in chess magazine has article by Short with the headline

"Correspondence chess serves no purpose"

He been complaining about correspondence chess for years, you could equally ask what purpose does Short serve. 

As a hobby if the contestants enjoy it then it has a purpose. What purposes does Short have? Apart from being an overweight grump who thinks his opinions matter.   As someone who has beaten him in a simil I have seen his grumpiness first hand.  

He is a windbag of the windiest proportions, from mocking Wesley So , to his ludicrous comments about women to this latest manifestation of his idiocy.  What purpose does Nigel Short serve. Hilarious.