Poll about Playchess machine room (too much Rybka ?)

[M ANSARI]

Actually the Playchess room is a place where proper book is the great equalizer. You can have the best hardware in the world and it won't help one tiny bit if you are using the wrong book. I actually think it is an extremely valuable place to test chess opening theory. It is also gives an incredible amount of data about different engines ... and how they handle different positions ... and will expose bugs or weaknesses in engines. I just wish there would be a way to easily download all those games. Maybe CB should have them available for download or even for sale. I must say that I personally enjoy looking at a loss from Playchess and trying to "fix" or refute a certain line in my book ... I am sure many others share the same view.

[Steve B]

I think that around 10% are real computer chess freaks,testing books,new opening lines,practising their chess abilities,etc.

I think that guesstimate of 10% is probably correct
from time to time i enjoy playing unrated 2,5 and 10 minute games(time allowing) in the Playchess Cafe Room and it is amazing how hard it is to get an "honest game" with the other player not cheating with an engine of some sort
this makes no sense to me as the games are unrated and for casual play
mu guesstimate is that the cheating(using an engine) incidence ratio is about 75% in the cafe if not higher
what thrill does someone get to use an engine under the cover of darkness in an unrated casual game?
my guess is that many who do this are very poor chess players themselves and so they cheat with an engine which in some way makes them feel more proficient in the game because they are operating the engine or setting the engine up to play on auto?
it should be noted that when i used to be a member of ICC it was pretty much the same situation and this is not an issue that pertains to only Playchess but basically all online chess servers

Pathetic Regards
Steve

[Uri Blass]

Actually the Playchess room is a place where proper book is the great equalizer. You can have the best hardware in the world and it won't help one tiny bit if you are using the wrong book. I actually think it is an extremely valuable place to test chess opening theory. It is also gives an incredible amount of data about different engines ... and how they handle different positions ... and will expose bugs or weaknesses in engines. I just wish there would be a way to easily download all those games. Maybe CB should have them available for download or even for sale. I must say that I personally enjoy looking at a loss from Playchess and trying to "fix" or refute a certain line in my book ... I am sure many others share the same view.

I do not play in the engine room but I read that some people developed killer lines beginning with moves like 1.h3

It can work only if you know the opponent and can predict his moves when the opponent is out of book.

I believe that you may get good chances to win with better hardware assuming that you play the first moves of the opening as human in order to throw the opponent out of book.

Uri

[Dr.Wael Deeb]

Actually the Playchess room is a place where proper book is the great equalizer. You can have the best hardware in the world and it won't help one tiny bit if you are using the wrong book. I actually think it is an extremely valuable place to test chess opening theory. It is also gives an incredible amount of data about different engines ... and how they handle different positions ... and will expose bugs or weaknesses in engines. I just wish there would be a way to easily download all those games. Maybe CB should have them available for download or even for sale. I must say that I personally enjoy looking at a loss from Playchess and trying to "fix" or refute a certain line in my book ... I am sure many others share the same view.

I do not play in the engine room but I read that some people developed killer lines beginning with moves like 1.h3

It can work only if you know the opponent and can predict his moves when the opponent is out of book.

I believe that you may get good chances to win with better hardware assuming that you play the first moves of the opening as human in order to throw the opponent out of book.

Uri

Yes,but it's a very delicate line between throwing your opponent out of book and blowing off your own position....in other words,you must be aware of what you're doing

[Philippe]

Another possibility, but fastidious, is to use the "Ignore that user" when you see a rybka module.

[Dr.Ex]

I think that around 10% are real computer chess freaks,testing books,new opening lines,practising their chess abilities,etc.

I think that guesstimate of 10% is probably correct
from time to time i enjoy playing unrated 2,5 and 10 minute games(time allowing) in the Playchess Cafe Room and it is amazing how hard it is to get an "honest game" with the other player not cheating with an engine of some sort
this makes no sense to me as the games are unrated and for casual play
mu guesstimate is that the cheating(using an engine) incidence ratio is about 75% in the cafe if not higher
what thrill does someone get to use an engine under the cover of darkness in an unrated casual game?
my guess is that many who do this are very poor chess players themselves and so they cheat with an engine which in some way makes them feel more proficient in the game because they are operating the engine or setting the engine up to play on auto?
it should be noted that when i used to be a member of ICC it was pretty much the same situation and this is not an issue that pertains to only Playchess but basically all online chess servers

Pathetic Regards
Steve

Get a real account and play in the main room. If you play as a guest it's your fault.
A guest player never has to worry about his account getting deleted.

[Harvey Williamson]

I think that around 10% are real computer chess freaks,testing books,new opening lines,practising their chess abilities,etc.

I think that guesstimate of 10% is probably correct
from time to time i enjoy playing unrated 2,5 and 10 minute games(time allowing) in the Playchess Cafe Room and it is amazing how hard it is to get an "honest game" with the other player not cheating with an engine of some sort
this makes no sense to me as the games are unrated and for casual play
mu guesstimate is that the cheating(using an engine) incidence ratio is about 75% in the cafe if not higher
what thrill does someone get to use an engine under the cover of darkness in an unrated casual game?
my guess is that many who do this are very poor chess players themselves and so they cheat with an engine which in some way makes them feel more proficient in the game because they are operating the engine or setting the engine up to play on auto?
it should be noted that when i used to be a member of ICC it was pretty much the same situation and this is not an issue that pertains to only Playchess but basically all online chess servers

Pathetic Regards
Steve

Get a real account and play in the main room. If you play as a guest it's your fault.
A guest player never has to worry about his account getting deleted.

Steve has a 'real' account with a real rank and a serial number and plays real Chess - what makes you think he does not?

[Dr.Ex]

I think that around 10% are real computer chess freaks,testing books,new opening lines,practising their chess abilities,etc.

I think that guesstimate of 10% is probably correct
from time to time i enjoy playing unrated 2,5 and 10 minute games(time allowing) in the Playchess Cafe Room and it is amazing how hard it is to get an "honest game" with the other player not cheating with an engine of some sort
this makes no sense to me as the games are unrated and for casual play
mu guesstimate is that the cheating(using an engine) incidence ratio is about 75% in the cafe if not higher
what thrill does someone get to use an engine under the cover of darkness in an unrated casual game?
my guess is that many who do this are very poor chess players themselves and so they cheat with an engine which in some way makes them feel more proficient in the game because they are operating the engine or setting the engine up to play on auto?
it should be noted that when i used to be a member of ICC it was pretty much the same situation and this is not an issue that pertains to only Playchess but basically all online chess servers

Pathetic Regards
Steve

Get a real account and play in the main room. If you play as a guest it's your fault.
A guest player never has to worry about his account getting deleted.

Steve has a 'real' account with a real rank and a serial number and plays real Chess

Great, if he has already an account he just has to switch rooms. I very much doubt there are many cheaters in the main room.

- what makes you think he does not?

He wrote he plays games in the Playchess Cafe Room. Most players there are guests.

[Harvey Williamson]

Great, if he has already an account he just has to switch rooms. I very much doubt there are many cheaters in the main room.
.

You would be surprised.

[Mike S.]

The first rule to avoid cheaters is: avoid guests. Since they are guests, some of them don't care for nothing.

(Guests can find opponents among the other guests.)

Even better: Avoid pawns too, if you get enough opponents from the higher ranks.

Recently, I have the impression on servers that there is massive rating deflation in the lower rating ranges, ~1600 and lower, because of more and more players start to cheat. In other words, you meet more players with small ratings but god-like playing strength (at least in the 2nd half of the game), but also more players which seem clearly underrated. That would be logical because their rating drops due to the cheaters who play at 2500+ Elo level but have low ratings when they just started to cheat.

I know that some players say, just play and ignore the opponent's rating. But that is not realistic. A loss against a 1300 doesn't feel like a loss against a 2300, even if all the moves were identical.

(I cannot comment about 1800+ rating ranges.)