Cheat at chess?

DISCLAIMER
This blog didn't mean to hurt someone it was written as a blog and a news.
Source: Indian express

Weeks after his loss to teenaged US Grandmaster Hans Neimann, world chess champion Magnus Carlsen said it was easy to cheat in chess. Going beyond simply hinting at his opponent’s use of unfair means, Carlsen on Tuesday (September 27) released a strongly-worded statement about cheating being “an existential threat” to the game.

Carlsen said that while he wanted to continue playing chess, he did not want to play against those who have cheated in the past and alleged that Neimann is likely to have cheated more than he has publicly admitted. With these claims, the focus is back on the matter of cheating in chess – one of the several questions the sport is facing these days.

Is it that easy, as Carlsen says?

Digital chess engines, data clouds, personal server space, and high-tech miniature wireless devices have been handy tools to hoodwink judges and arbitrators. The new-age cheaters have come a long way since the days when Anatoly Karpov would allegedly be tutored about his next moves by the colour of the drink he would be delivered. While cheating in over-the-board chess remains difficult, more so since players are scanned by electromagnetic wands these days, the scrutiny in online tournaments is less intense. The easy availability of a free-to-download chess app that gives the ‘best moves’ option for all situations has sickeningly levelled the playing field. Now even a novice, aided by an app, can beat a world champion 10 times in 10 games

Most cheaters use a chess engine to analyse game positions. To stop this from happening, tournament organisers have a software that detects if a player was toggling between programmes. But in case a cheater is operating the chess engine on a different device, it becomes impossible to detect.

Is it possible to know if a move has been made by a human or a computer?

Yes and No. In his book The Art of Cheating in Chess, Grandmaster Bill Jordan touches on this issue. “A high correlation between the moves of a human player and an engine could indicate cheating. To prevent a correlation from being found, the cheat may only use an engine to help in a few critical positions. Even using an engine to help in just one critical position, could help a player win a game against an opponent of roughly equal strength, especially if the players are strong.”

How scientific is this process?

Globally-renowned chess cop Professor Kenneth Regan explains. Called to check if Neimann had cheated during his game against Carlsen, he gave the American GM a clean chit. In a 2015 Ted Talk, he explained the process. “Computer programmes don’t just play better, they also play differently. So, I use data to analyse patterns. I vandalised half a million games over 30 million, all from real competition, not simulation. This includes the entire history of top-level human chess and computer chess. These reveal a pattern not just for chess but also cheating,” he had said.

So should online chess be taken seriously?

On this issue, Jordan mentioned chess.com, the website on which Neimann confessed that he had cheated in what he called “random games”. “I have heard tens of thousands of accounts on chess.com have been closed recently due to computer cheating. The bottom line is that it is easy to attempt cheating with online chess. Consequently, online chess is best taken not too seriously and online events should not have prize money. Another issue is there is a perception that cheating has happened when it has not.”