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So many people are cheating nowadays. What happened?

I did an experiment and cheated myself. I bought a ROM that allows me to autoplay at whatever rating I choose. I set it to 2200 and played some bullet games. I'm rated around 1900 so I played people around that level. The 2200 rating bot went 3-4-8. 4 of the draws accepted a draw after 5 moves each. 3 of the 4 losses, there were at least 36 moves made in 3 seconds of game time. He had :59 seconds left and I had :58 after 36 moves. Those 3 games all had the same move set. I then upped the rating of my bot to 2500, which is the max, and it went 5-0-10. All 10 of the draws were the same game. So clearly a lot of people are using the same bot at max level. It's ridiculous.

I did an experiment and cheated myself. I bought a ROM that allows me to autoplay at whatever rating I choose. I set it to 2200 and played some bullet games. I'm rated around 1900 so I played people around that level. The 2200 rating bot went 3-4-8. 4 of the draws accepted a draw after 5 moves each. 3 of the 4 losses, there were at least 36 moves made in 3 seconds of game time. He had :59 seconds left and I had :58 after 36 moves. Those 3 games all had the same move set. I then upped the rating of my bot to 2500, which is the max, and it went 5-0-10. All 10 of the draws were the same game. So clearly a lot of people are using the same bot at max level. It's ridiculous.

Cheating is really bad chess tactic but you to exaggerate in event.

Cheating is really bad chess tactic but you to exaggerate in event.

Where did you buy the ROM and how much did it cost? Asking for a friend

Where did you buy the ROM and how much did it cost? Asking for a friend

I guess cheating is easy, and catching them is hard on a free server like Lichess.

A good server, but for money, is ICC.

(Yes, I'm a salesperson sent from ICC; you guessed right, teenagers.)

I guess cheating is easy, and catching them is hard on a free server like Lichess. A good server, but for money, is ICC. (Yes, I'm a salesperson sent from ICC; you guessed right, teenagers.)

@yossso1234 said ^

ICC

Cheating is bad, but referring cheaters to the International Criminal Court is a bit of an overreaction.

@yossso1234 said [^](/forum/redirect/post/PS1g5bmY) > ICC Cheating is bad, but referring cheaters to the International Criminal Court is a bit of an overreaction.

Game rules tend to define the bare minimum of what is expected of us, but they do not define decency. Character comes into play when we hold ourselves accountable for our actions, even when no rule requires us to.

Nowadays, risk management seems to have replaced our sense of right and wrong, good and bad, naughty and nice. The focus has shifted from what is right to what is safe: avoiding consequences, staying out of trouble, and making sure no one is watching. When the only thing preventing someone from cheating is the possibility of being caught, something important is missing. That is where character matters.

For some, rules have become little more than scarecrows. And with how easy it is for some to start a new account, walk away, or simply try again, the consequences are probably meaningless to them. When rules are the only thing standing between us and poor choices, there is little left to guide us when those rules no longer seem to matter.

Cheating is now just another chess variant.

(1996) Fischer Random ... (2022) Double Fischer Random
(1998) Advanced Chess ... (2026) Double Advanced Chess

Double Advanced Chess: A form of Advanced Chess in which engine assistance is intentionally asymmetric between the players, as specified by the variant rules.

Once asymmetric engine access becomes a rule, using the engine isn't cheating anymore. It's playing Double Advanced Chess.

Game rules tend to define the bare minimum of what is expected of us, but they do not define decency. Character comes into play when we hold ourselves accountable for our actions, even when no rule requires us to. Nowadays, risk management seems to have replaced our sense of right and wrong, good and bad, naughty and nice. The focus has shifted from what is right to what is safe: avoiding consequences, staying out of trouble, and making sure no one is watching. When the only thing preventing someone from cheating is the possibility of being caught, something important is missing. That is where character matters. For some, rules have become little more than scarecrows. And with how easy it is for some to start a new account, walk away, or simply try again, the consequences are probably meaningless to them. When rules are the only thing standing between us and poor choices, there is little left to guide us when those rules no longer seem to matter. Cheating is now just another chess variant. (1996) Fischer Random ... (2022) Double Fischer Random (1998) Advanced Chess ... (2026) Double Advanced Chess Double Advanced Chess: A form of Advanced Chess in which engine assistance is intentionally asymmetric between the players, as specified by the variant rules. Once asymmetric engine access becomes a rule, using the engine isn't cheating anymore. It's playing Double Advanced Chess.

Ethics are what you do when nobody is watching

Ethics are what you do when nobody is watching

@Toscani

You're right and it's worth remembering that a cheat is just the servant of an engine, mindlessly transcribing engine moves (or using a ROM (Really, a ROM? What do you plug it into?)) while the honest player still gets the benefit of playing a tough game against Stockfish.

@Toscani You're right and it's worth remembering that a cheat is just the servant of an engine, mindlessly transcribing engine moves (or using a ROM (Really, a ROM? What do you plug it into?)) while the honest player still gets the benefit of playing a tough game against Stockfish.

Cheating is now just another chess variant.

(1996) Fischer Random ... (2022) Double Fischer Random
(1998) Advanced Chess ... (2026) Double Advanced Chess

Double Advanced Chess: A form of Advanced Chess in which engine assistance is intentionally asymmetric between the players, as specified by the variant rules.

Once asymmetric engine access becomes a rule, using the engine isn't cheating anymore. It's playing Double Advanced Chess.

The game can be rated, but it should be rated as Double Advanced Chess, just as Fischer Random has its own rating rather than pretending that a Chess960 result is simply another classical chess game.

That would allow us to do something useful with what would otherwise be called cheating: make the rules explicit, make the asymmetry explicit, and measure the results honestly.

The problem was never that the rules were unclear.

The problem was pretending that everyone was playing by the same rules when they weren't.

Cheating is now just another chess variant. (1996) Fischer Random ... (2022) Double Fischer Random (1998) Advanced Chess ... (2026) Double Advanced Chess Double Advanced Chess: A form of Advanced Chess in which engine assistance is intentionally asymmetric between the players, as specified by the variant rules. Once asymmetric engine access becomes a rule, using the engine isn't cheating anymore. It's playing Double Advanced Chess. The game can be rated, but it should be rated as Double Advanced Chess, just as Fischer Random has its own rating rather than pretending that a Chess960 result is simply another classical chess game. That would allow us to do something useful with what would otherwise be called cheating: make the rules explicit, make the asymmetry explicit, and measure the results honestly. The problem was never that the rules were unclear. The problem was pretending that everyone was playing by the same rules when they weren't.

Shock! Horror! There are cheaters!
Is the city where you live in free of crime? Why should an online community be any different?
More than 70 million in the USA have a criminal record i.
e. roughly 1 in 5. That gives you an idea of how common it is to break the laws.

Shock! Horror! There are cheaters! Is the city where you live in free of crime? Why should an online community be any different? More than 70 million in the USA have a criminal record i. e. roughly 1 in 5. That gives you an idea of how common it is to break the laws.

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