Why me and playing Internet chess are finished!

Whatever floats your chess boat

Heh, people posting on a thread to complain about people complaining. How ridiculous, not to mention hypocritical. sittingpawn is the perfect example of people getting pissed off on online forums when there's clearly no need to be. Coming in and reading a thread you know you'll be annoyed about, just to get your self-righteous rhetoric going...

And gumpty, I'm sorry I didn't realise you were quitting all your games, thought it was just my tournament. Sorry to hear you're going. Though if you want to avoid the cheaters you may consider to playing unrated games only, as you tend to find cheaters won't bother with those as they hold their completely fictional rating with such high regard (personally I think it would get rid of 90% of cheaters if chess.com gave people an option to edit their own rating, so these guys could write in 999999 and save themselves a lot of time wasted).

 

Anyway, good to know you'll still be about.

awww man, that is a touch dissappointing - like letting the terrorists win or something. Or cutting of the nose to spite the face... despite the face? Which one is it?

This is exactly the worst possible result of these incessant paranoid cheating threads... well, I have faith in the ever-shifting nature of the human psyche, so I'm silently placing a wager with myself that you'll be up and playing games with people in a little under 2 months - once the drama of the declaration dies down, and the initial forrays of game offers come from close friends, you'll find yourself once again playing those good old coorespondence games! Oh yes, I can see it now, Gumpty will be back, and the world will be mine! Mwahahahaa! Or just Gumpty will be back, one of the two!! Bwahaha.

You can't quit us that easily, my tattooed, English fellow.

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I play at Schemingmind .com. Great site but I like this site more! My rating there is about 100 points less than here. I play both sites with OTB play. That is I do no research but occasional do the use the analyze feature here to get to move pieces looking for the best moves. Otherwise I just play same as OTB with really long clock time.I do understand gumpty's complaint as I feel exactly the same way. I left other site a few years back because cheating was pretty bad there.

To gumpty, I will play you unrated  game anytime you want.One look at my games will quickly reveal I never cheat.I despise cheaters!!--SIXGUNS

Gumpty,

i'm imagining you're rant except that instead of "chess"... i'm substituting "intravenous drugs"... I'm having a problem figuring out how to replace the "Cheater" concept with something more appropriate in the underground narcotic world....

However....the end result of both stories will be the same. tell him arnie.

you'll be back.

I'm new to chess.  Obviously, people can cheat at internet chess.  This doesn't bother me.  I don't cheat.  I just want to play and improve my game.  If another player uses a 2500 strength computer program to cheat, his rating will go to about 2500.  If another player uses an 1800 strength program, his rating will go to 1800.  I would prefer to play against a human than a computer, but as long as the player's rating is well established then I know what I'm up against.

I suspect cheating only really becomes an issue for very serious players.  In that case, serious players should consider playing only other serious players who have a real-world reputation and a good name to uphold.

Am I missing something?

People can cheat randomely throughout the game for help with a move or two here or there.. that would not make there rating too high?

Just a thought :)

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I'm sure that's how most cheats do it, so it's not so obvious.

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nope. you're spot on.

Centaur has become the word for human + computer chess and is perfectly acceptable when both players are aware.  But if your opponent uses an engine covertly and his/her rating on chess.com is therefore higher than it would be otherwise, does that really matter?  So you lost to a centaur instead of an unaided human.  It's still chess, you can still enjoy your wins and learn from your losses (and you will enjoy more and learn more if you play without an engine).  To bail out of internet chess because some opponents use an engine means you are too concerned with egos: yours and your opponents.  Focus on the game and you'll be a lot happier.

But can he not focus on the game while playing against computers (saving time) or OTB elsewhere?

In chess I don’t really care what’s sitting across the board from me. I still have a good time playing the game.

You could just get so good that you can beat computers...

Some people keep saying the cheats are at 2000 plus in the ratings.

Well they only get there by playing from lower rankings and cheating their way up. Ergo, cheats exist at every level of the game.

Also, some will lose games to disguise their actions, or stay at a lower ratings level so they can do better in the tourneys.

Cheats exist everywhere, in all walks of life.Let them have their hollow, empty victories and get on with your life. 'Cheats never prosper' may not be entirely true, but, ultimately, they will have achived nothing they can be proud of.

Good luck to you Gumpty, never played you, but have read your words many times here and am glad I will be able to continue to do so.

i get what you saying, if I get a feeling Im playing a program I resign my game, if I want to play a program Ill play against the comp, playing against a person is more thrilling then that

Gumpty, I'm disappointed. I played an interesting game with you and you have just thrown me into trash can with the games you decided to cut. Sorry, man - just my feelings.

I've said before that I don't think I run into many cheaters at my rating level because most will quickly propel themselves to a level that is out of my league. 

Even if I'm mistaken about that, this site has provided me with access to more quality players than I've ever faced, a fantastic community and knowledge base that has given me access to an almost unfathomable wealth of material, plus I've benefited greatly from interaction off the board with some great people.  All of these things I get here for free.

As a direct result of having access to everything chess.com provides, my game has improved dramatically in the year or so since I first signed up.  In my opinion these benefits easily outweigh any perceived drawbacks that may come with the territory, and given that you are a premium member Gumpty, you should be able to derive substantially more value from this site than I can.  All of that aside, even if the reservations you have prove insurmountable for you, there are sub-communities within chess.com (like the CoT, for example) where you can be assured of an honourable game.

How can you tell if someone is cheating?  One time I played a 1100 player who played a flawless game but I just assumed that maybe he had a bad patch or timed out a lot or something.  I had my suspicions but gave the benefit of the doubt.  So how can you tell?

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sorry but he's FAR from spot on.... If cheaters hd established ratings that matched the strength of their programs then i would still be playing. What is the fide for ryba 3 on a fast cpu? about 3100? ok, so maybe that eventually some people will get to that here, but i think the top rated player here is around 2700? most are round the 2300-2500 mark, many gain a point or two each game, it could be years before they have a true rating at that rate. Also the people who use program assistance (at least most of them) aren't STUPID, they know when and where to use and when and where not to....maybe its just when things get really tactical, maybe its just that vital tournemant game, but not many will use a program for all their moves, but rather intermittently when they choose. Also i have noticed an increasing number ofplayers who rise and rise through the rankings and then suddendly go from beating 2400 players to losing to 1200's in 9 moves (an example), these people are fully aware that they may draw attention to themselves and are clever enough (sort of) to cover their tracks. I can refer to an incident a few months back where i played a girl (well the profile said girl) on here, and got wiped off the board twice with ease, this 14 yrs old girl was playing like a GM, i was totally outclassed. I ran her mjoves through some software and alas they all matched up. I reported her to the staff here and duly she was banned (no complaints so far, the staff were really good at this), but my point? her rating at the time was 2000 ish, NOT 2500 or 3100, it was 2000, so players like myself around the 2000 mark were losing heavily in games and points by playing her and people like her. To summise, if cheaters had acurate ratings it wouldnt be so much an issue with me as it is, but the fact is, that getting a rating up to 2600 can take months or years, and by then ,many players have suffered from their abuse. Also when players get caught , how many do you think create another account and come back again? then the process is repeated again and again. The people who i feel sorry for in all this? they are the [players who try SO hard at their game, resist the tempation to cheat, and then have their confidence knocked (if not destroyed) and wrongly so, by these cheats. A player may be left thinking that he is no good , or is wasting their time trying to improve after one of these encounters with a 3100 computer in disguise as a 1800 player. The answer? there isnt one, other than not playing, and although i knoweyou may think its a drastic measure, i stand by my decision, and once my current team matches and the COT tourn which has just started finishes, i will no longer play internet chess. Its not chess.com 's fault at all, i feel sorry for any site like this, having to deal with such problems, but the problem is there and will stay there, its not going away quick. Imust add that fortuneatly, here at chess.com, there is so much other chess related shenanigans going on, one doesnt need to play games here to improve their game, or have fun :-)

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this guy understands perfectly, nice one mate.