Online Cheaters

[AdminX]

What percentage of online chess players do you think cheat?

By your standards of course ... As I know some have a different definition of how they define cheating. I define it as using any outside assistance during a game (book, computer or otherwise). Correspondence players need not reply.

[Steve B]

What percentage of online chess players do you think cheat?

Good Question
i occasionally play unrated blitz games on Playchess and over the years i have played on Fics and ICC
i think cheating is rampant on all of the various Chess Servers and no one server is worse then the other
i remember a thread here years ago where Dr. Robert Pawlak(author of "The Chess Software Book" and noted computer chess authority) discussed an article he wrote for Chess Life mag ..where he estimated that the cheating incidence rate for "Standard" games was about 30% across all servers
from my experience of the latest few years in unrated blitz games i would say about 65% are cheating with computers(using computers to generate the move without declaring themselves as a computer account)
amazingly this includes those playing as unregistered guests

Steve

[swami]

Impossible for people to cheat when time control is either 3+0 or 1+0 (these are the most popular time controls as far I know)

So, I'd estimate probability of 5 out of 1000 in blitz 3+0, and 0 out of 1000 in bullet 1+0

[yanquis1972]

wow, i play on playchess sometimes and never considered or felt like i was playing a computer (unrated blitz as guest). i never seem to win though, outside of a few games, i just assumed it was because im playing blitz (never do that irl) + have no opening theory, everyone there seems fairly solid. but if theyre comps using books that might explain that. i have always wondered why if its guest accounts a lot of them arent patzers like me.

[swami]

wow, i play on playchess sometimes and never considered or felt like i was playing a computer (unrated blitz as guest). i never seem to win though, outside of a few games, i just assumed it was because im playing blitz (never do that irl) + have no opening theory, everyone there seems fairly solid. but if theyre comps using books that might explain that. i have always wondered why if its guest accounts a lot of them arent patzers like me.

Lots of Patzers with guest accounts. I played many games and I beat them all. Yesterday, today, a week before. They play like a 1500.

Players in Main Playing Hall - a real challenge.

[Steve B]

Impossible for people to cheat when time control is either 3+0 or 1+0 (these are the most popular time controls as far I know)

So, I'd estimate probability of 5 out of 1000 in blitz 3+0, and 0 out of 1000 in bullet 1+0

i have had a Sysop watch me play 4 minute blitz games and he confirmed the opponent was using an engine
one tell tale sign is when i get mated
the move comes in instantaneously almost the second i release the mouse

Steve

[swami]

Impossible for people to cheat when time control is either 3+0 or 1+0 (these are the most popular time controls as far I know)

So, I'd estimate probability of 5 out of 1000 in blitz 3+0, and 0 out of 1000 in bullet 1+0

i have had a Sysop watch me play 4 minute blitz games and he confirmed the opponent was using an engine
one tell tale sign is when i get mated
the move comes in instantaneously almost the second i release the mouse

Steve

Which server? It must be an engine vs human match. It's impossible to let human use engine to play against human in ICC or playchess and improve the human rating. The software doesn't allow that.

[Steve B]

Impossible for people to cheat when time control is either 3+0 or 1+0 (these are the most popular time controls as far I know)

So, I'd estimate probability of 5 out of 1000 in blitz 3+0, and 0 out of 1000 in bullet 1+0

i have had a Sysop watch me play 4 minute blitz games and he confirmed the opponent was using an engine
one tell tale sign is when i get mated
the move comes in instantaneously almost the second i release the mouse
sometimes i even ask the player if they used an engine and occassinaly they admit they do..its unrated and i would never complain to a Sysop
as i play sometimes i watch the announcements on the server
there is an announcement almost every 30 seconds that someones rating has been deleted due to using software


Steve

[Steve B]

Impossible for people to cheat when time control is either 3+0 or 1+0 (these are the most popular time controls as far I know)

So, I'd estimate probability of 5 out of 1000 in blitz 3+0, and 0 out of 1000 in bullet 1+0

i have had a Sysop watch me play 4 minute blitz games and he confirmed the opponent was using an engine
one tell tale sign is when i get mated
the move comes in instantaneously almost the second i release the mouse

Steve

Which server? It must be an engine vs human match. It's impossible to let human use engine to play against human in ICC or playchess and improve the human rating. The software doesn't allow that.

what rating??
i said i play UNRATED games
Steve

[swami]

there is an announcment almost evert 30 seconds that someones rating has been deleted due to using software

Can't be 30 seconds else we'd be seeing red bold fonts messages every once in a while.

I believe there is an announcement of this kind in red font at the probability of every one and half hours in playchess, or sometimes once every two hours, or maybe never in few hours time you logged in.