Does using COW constitute cheating in Daily chess?
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manassasguy
Mar 19, 2023
0
#1
I use Chess Opening Wizard (COW) to keep a database of my openings and what would have been better opening moves. I use Stockfish to analyze openings and then use COW to record best moves in my openings. Then I use COW to study and prepare for games.
Would using COW during a Daily game constitute cheating? It is a database, but includes results based on Stockfish.
Mar 19, 2023
0
#2
manassasguy wrote:
I use Chess Opening Wizard (COW) to keep a database of my openings and what would have been better opening moves. I use Stockfish to analyze openings and then use COW to record best moves in my openings. Then I use COW to study and prepare for games. Would using COW during a Daily game constitute cheating? It is a database, but includes results based on Stockfish.
It sounds like you should not use your COW database for Daily games. Let's look at the Fair Play Policy:
- You may use Opening Explorer or other books without engine evaluations in Daily chess only (not in Online / Live play)
It sounds like your database has a substantial amount of Stockfish input. Is there a version of your database or a way to filter out Stockfish-recommended moves? If so, that would be the way to go if you want to use it as a resource for Daily chess on Chess.com.
Mar 19, 2023
0
#3
Thanks Alramech. I was going by the chess.com What counts as cheating on Chess.com? which states you can use books and opening databases. Surely many books show theory that is based on using chess engines to determine best move. The link I provided states "You may NOT use any [opening databases, game records] that also use an engine to evaluate the best moves!" COW includes a built-in chess engine that one can use, but I'm wondering if it's OK to use my previously determined analysis (like one might find in a book or video) that's captured in the COW database (i.e., not using the built-in chess engine to analyze ongoing game). It's an ambiguous point in my opinion---I just don't see the difference from using books that provide theory based on chess engines. I'm wondering if there's a way to get an "official ruling" from chess.com on this. I'm playing my first Daily game and have avoided using COW till I can get this question answered.
Mar 19, 2023
0
#4
manassasguy wrote:
Thanks Alramech. I was going by the chess.com What counts as cheating on Chess.com? which states you can use books and opening databases. Surely many books show theory that is based on using chess engines to determine best move. The link I provided states "You may NOT use any [opening databases, game records] that also use an engine to evaluate the best moves!" COW includes a built-in chess engine that one can use, but I'm wondering if it's OK to use my previously determined analysis (like one might find in a book or video) that's captured in the COW database (i.e., not using the built-in chess engine to analyze ongoing game). It's an ambiguous point in my opinion---I just don't see the difference from using books that provide theory based on chess engines. I'm wondering if there's a way to get an "official ruling" from chess.com on this. I'm playing my first Daily game and have avoided using COW till I can get this question answered.
If your database has numerical evaluations, it should not be used. If it's very deep and is mostly engine lines, it's risky to use.
Mar 19, 2023
0
#5
Engine evaluations is not the same as engine-generated variations that you have picked.
For example, an engine evaluation would be the centipawn number at the end of a line you have hand-picked after being generated by the engine. If your database does not include those numbers then I would guess it's ok.
I would dare say most publications on chess at the high level, including books, articles and analysis carried out on games from databases, already curate their lines and comments with an engine before publishing, so you wont escape engine-generated or engine-approved lines.