Heard of the eNotate devices.
Perhaps explains why demand is high for them? :-)
Agree is daft of USCF to sanction electronic devices. Totally unnecessary & a pencil does indeed suffice.
http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/chess-notation-devices
I gotta go along with IM pfren on this one, although I'm not sure I would characterize USCF as stupid even if they're wrong about allowing any electronics at all in chess tnmts.
I also agree with FirebrandX, 16 yrs is plenty of time to figure out the difference between right and wrong.
He should be made an example, because he is damaging chess world-wide, and it is not fair toward those who play following the rules. I also hope his school takes more strong measures against him, to teach once for all that our society cannot accept these behaviors.
Now all chess players will be labeled as cheaters, which will raise the paranoia also online.
Wasn't any record kept of the past games by his opponents so, they could analyze those. His mother sounds like one of those all too common delusional idiots who think their brats can do no wrong.
Not having attended any chess tournaments, wouldn't people have seen he was accessing another program, by looking over his shoulder? Or, is the argument that he was getting the moves sent to him through the approved software?
Not having attended any chess tournaments, wouldn't people have seen he was accessing another program, by looking over his shoulder? Or, is the argument that he was getting the moves sent to him through the approved software?
Likely he had it set to a simple board diagram that looked similar to the eNotate diagram (both already use the same piece design). Then from there, you can set the engine to make the move in the diagram without any analysis showing up, and you just play whatever move it shows. Somebody walking by would never know the move in the diagram was played by the engine instead of the human. Fritz GUIs are very customizable this way.
I see. Well, it's easy to fix, ban electronic support.
Monroi should only be allowed since it does not have the processing power to load fritz.
Well I hope he gets his lifetime ban.
I played a guy at the club who brought one of those devices. After 5 moves he became so frustrated with it that he shut if off and got out the paper scorebook.
Really, now. How long does it take to record a move by writing it down, 2-3 seconds?
Well, that is why the kid got eventually caught. It was because what he was doing wasn't all that covert. If the cheaters want to be really covert, then they won't get caught, its not like they do strip searches at tournaments or anything.
Think of this:
1) A contestant gets one of those "spy" catalogues or any catalogues of survelliance equipment manufacturers that sells to law enforcement for undercover operations. He buys one of those tiny "pin" cameras and sticks it on himself somewhere. (Could be hidden in a pen, eyeglasses, lapel pin, etc) They transmit color high resolution live images wirelessly to a remote location and are undetectable by the untrained eye.
2) Have a cohort at the remote location monitoring the game via the live feed. The cohort advises the contestant on his next move either using an engine or just superior chess knowledge.
3) The cohort at the remote location who is actually choosing the moves "taps" out the next move in alebraic notation in morse code to a little radio-controlled "thigh tapper" that's strapped to the contestant's thigh under his trousers. Anyone that's seen the cheating scene in Casino (1995) will recognize what I'm referring to. There was a similar thigh-tapping cheating code device featured in the card game scene of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).
So all the contestant has to do is train himself in morse code, practice interpreting those "taps" on his thigh properly, and keep the hidden camera unobstructed and voila, that's a lot slicker than some kid tapping away at some palm pilot for an entire chess game.
Oh yeah, that would be totally awesome. Like how Reggie Jackson was programmed to assassinate Queen Elizabeth in Naked Gun (1988).
man,really sad....so young and stupid !
Well, that is why the kid got eventually caught. It was because what he was doing wasn't all that covert. If the cheaters want to be really covert, then they won't get caught, its not like they do strip searches at tournaments or anything.
Think of this:
1) A contestant gets one of those "spy" catalogues or any catalogues of survelliance equipment manufacturers that sells to law enforcement for undercover operations. He buys one of those tiny "pin" cameras and sticks it on himself somewhere. (Could be hidden in a pen, eyeglasses, lapel pin, etc) They transmit color high resolution live images wirelessly to a remote location and are undetectable by the untrained eye.
2) Have a cohort at the remote location monitoring the game via the live feed. The cohort advises the contestant on his next move either using an engine or just superior chess knowledge.
3) The cohort at the remote location who is actually choosing the moves "taps" out the next move in alebraic notation in morse code to a little radio-controlled "thigh tapper" that's strapped to the contestant's thigh under his trousers. Anyone that's seen the cheating scene in Casino (1995) will recognize what I'm referring to. There was a similar thigh-tapping cheating code device featured in the card game scene of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).
So all the contestant has to do is train himself in morse code, practice interpreting those "taps" on his thigh properly, and keep the hidden camera unobstructed and voila, that's a lot slicker than some kid tapping away at some palm pilot for an entire chess game.
******
There was cheating very similar to this in open chess events in the 1990's. I've said it in a similar thread. If anyone can dig up a game where a guy under the nome de plume of John Von Neuman goes 1/2 1/2 with GM Helgi Olaffson then that was a game mentioned in a British chess magazine article once on cheating OTB.
In fact I have found the game in question:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1148914
That is it. I remember the BCM magazine and the game.
When we get the inevitable technology of devices that are physically integrated - eg you swallow a tiny "internet pill" - even nudity will not solve the problem.
So I've been looking at Clark Smiley's tournament history, and it appears he started cheating well before he was finally caught. In the span of 7 months, he went from 1200 to what would have been about 2000 by the time he was finally caught cheating. That's unheard of even for child GM prodigies, who usually take about two or three years to make that same leap.
Might slightly disagree here, but it actually can be done (and not just by GM prodigies) in under a year if the player really applies themself. I know I took about 2.5 years to do it from my first rated game (and honestly, I didn't apply myself that much), but also know 1 player in particular who did it in 10 months with effort.
My point is, I wouldn't put too much stock into that, although I can agree it should raise a slight flag because of how he was below 1200 for so long and all of a sudden shot up.
Yeah, agree with firebrand on those points. Kid obviously knew what he was doing. LOL at idiots who say it's "hack-proof" whatever that means. But it's the rhetoric you'd expect from a business man who's protecting his investment.
A life ban would be a good message to send... and certainly no skin of the kid's nose, as he doesn't play anyway.
If prize money is involved, doesn't it amount to criminal fraud?
Not any more than any other cheating in sports where prize money is involved.
Cheating at casinos is a crime in Nevada. But that was a law specially passed at at the behest of the casino industry. Back in the "old days" cheating at casinos wasn't a crime. The casinos would just handle cheaters privately.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8362701/the-evolution-cheating-chess