Unfortunately this will be forever a problem. There is not a system which ban 100% a cheater. Unfortunately there are idiots who obviously don't like chess and enjoy cheating only to have an high rating near their name, so also people who didn't cheat can be banned.
The CC court of justice
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I think pre-computer age world class CC players have set benchmarks for how good people can play CC chess unassisted by an engine.
Don't worry, it's normal for some of your moves to match the #1 choice. It's when you're playing better than previous CC world champions that it becomes painfully obvious what's going on... and no amount of "you didn't see me do it so you don't have hard evidence" can weasel your way out of that.
I have a different idea about catching a cheater.
(well, of course it's a different idea! I thought it up myself!)
It's based on hard fact. They would ask the person in question "Why did you move such and such?"
Even I can give a detailed synopsis explaining my moves. (even if they ARE dumb, sometimes) but I would venture to say that if a person is using an engine (what's a Fritz? The Cat?) they probably couldn't come up with a reason to have done what was done.
PLUS, in lines that vary, an engine answer would be a single line where a person's answer would take in variables such as if the Rook moves here, then ... , or if the Bishop goes there ... , or, if I say "Look! An Eagle!" and point up, my opponent will look to where I point and I can move the pieces all over!....
(wait. Forget that last)
There has been at least one fellow here that had no qualms with cheaters. (I don't know what he used for his analysis of who is and isn't) but scut fargus said he didn't care if the opponent was using a computer.
Here's what I don't understand. Cheaters care about having a high rating next to their name. Why does anyone else care? If I play a "cheater" then I'm being challenged more than the person in question would have been able to challenge me and therefore I learn more. Why should I care if I lose? Why should I care if my rating goes down? I'm here to play chess; to learn and improve. I'm not here to get my rating up. It's just a website.
Today I lost a friend again. He was a teammate in my Pirc group and was accused of cheating and banned from CC. His account is closed , and I lost one of my few trophees.
Now of course it is a sad given that some players might/will use an engine in a rated game , but I am afraid there is not much we can do about it.
It all has to do with proof. To close someones account , CC needs a definite proof that the person was cheating.
To really proof that someone used an engine to come up with his/her move(s) is that CC has to show :
Technically , CC won't have problems gathering (automated) info about the first 3 items , but the last ones can not be checked.
What it boils down to , is that CC can have at most a suspicion , but never hard evidence.
I worry about this. When , after the event , I put the game on Fritz to do an analysis , I find I mostly played one of the top moves Fritz came up with. I think I am worth about 1900+ rating and because I didn't play that many games yet , my rating has rocketed from an initial 1200 to 1800+ by now. I had a 10 game winning streak , I must have been suspicious.
Now my question in this thread is twofold.
I would like to know how other players think about it . Do they also believe we should abolish this CC law because it is legally unjustifiable.
I would like the STAFF to give it's opinion on the matter too.
I really think this should be a public debat and not a private, individual matter with the Staff or CC.