Use of Stockfish mid-match in the CWC

I'm not sure Atrophied should set the standard for others to follow.

I agree with lovlas #13, that while the rules are in place, players can do whatever they want in their breaks.

However I am strongly in favour of only one break per match per player, as Oblio19 suggested in posts #16 and #17.

40 minutes (or more in case of a 5-5 tie) is way too much for a match that lasts 60-80 minutes in total.

@lovlas the people who set the standard are JannLee, TwelveTeen, mastertan, HighContrast, Mugwort, penguingm1, opperwezen, yasser-seirawan ... none of whom take breaks in the middle of matches to check the engine, only to take care of family matters or bathroom breaks. What the Atrophied story shows is even a player who had been tempted to look at the engine in non crazyhouse matches had not done so in the middle of a crazyhouse cwc series. That says something about the crazyhouse culture for playing games straight or almost straight often for hours.

But to repeat, the issue is not what is allowed in breaks. It is the length of those breaks the reason for those breaks and what is permitted mid match.

I've yet to see any of them chime in. It makes little sense to me that crazyhouse and chess should have different morals. As long as the rules allow players to take 10min breaks after every two round I don't see a reason to try to limit how players spend those minutes.

@lovlas This thread isn't about limiting use of engine in breaks. It's about use of engine within the match itself and whether the rules about breaks should be changed so that a break can only be called for other reasons (once called of course players could check using engines).

Opper (on discord) and Mugwort have chimed in. The rest haven't but as a fan I watch their games and they play continuously for hours without consulting the engine often repeating lines which are not sound.

That's the same thing. You want to restrict the use of breaks.

What's gonna stop a player from requesting a break for personal reasons and then preparing?

By having a rule that matches have to be played continuously if possible with breaks allowed in an emergency in case of external factors (during which time there is no way of stopping people consulting an engine). That way breaks would be allowed but discouraged. Also by having a rule that you are not allowed to look at a previous game or your opening prep in analysis board while playing the next one. Could these rules be gamed by those who want to break them? For sure, but we need to play in good faith.

Rules that demand that users act in good faith with no way of enforcing them are bad rules. People like Atrophied are prime examples why these rules do not work.

Rules shouldn't be designed for everyone according to how they should be designed for those inclined to cheat... there will always be ways of people to cheat. That doesn't mean everyone should be allowed to cheat to reach an even playing field.