https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com
https://www.chess.com/article/view/online-chess-cheating
https://www.chess.com/article/view/chesscom-update-april-2025#FairPlay
these are few important articles about cheating and how to know someone is cheating
I've played 747 online games so far.
Current ELO: 504
Win rate: 51% (377 wins)
Draws: 5% (40 games)
Losses: 44% (323 games)
Best win against: 532
Best win streak: 10
Over time, I noticed that a good filter when analyzing opponents is comparing ±50 points from your current rating. For some reason, the 200–350 range feels much harder than even the 400–500 one.
Why is that?
Many new accounts
Old accounts suddenly showing activity again
Platinum and Diamond members who don’t review their own games (which feels suspicious at best).
Whenever I suspect someone of not playing clean, I go through at least one full page of their match history, for what I understand, when someone analyze a game it became available to the whole community, so I do this so that others with the same suspicion already have a starting point.
Out of the 747 games I've played (mostly against unique opponents), I've reported quite a few players whose gameplay seemed completely inconsistent with their ELO:
Players who dropped over 400 points suddenly
People who consistently play "Best" and "Excellent" moves
Those who play crucial moves in exactly 7-8 seconds, over and over, as if they never hesitate during pressure
So far, only around 1.2% of players I’ve reported were eventually banned, but in my current rating range, I’m very wary of players who constantly score 85–90% accuracy or have too many first- and second-line moves in almost every game.
I know I’m a beginner, but I’m trying to improve and also keep the playing field fair.
Should I keep reporting these cases?
Also, what exactly qualifies as a reportable offense?
For example, if a brand-new account is winning 80% of their games, is that enough to raise a flag? Or could it just be a strong real-life player climbing the ranks and soon reaching 2000+?
Would appreciate your thoughts.
The Banned list so far.
LarryB3323 (369) - Won
JAAC95 (362) - Won
raff009889 (425) - Lost
PapiKainnn (346) - Lost
jubatov998 (204) - Lost
Legend_KAI (284) - Won
Malindu17 (270) - Lost
XStef-BreezyX (279) - Won
EpicNerdThomas (286) - Lost