More Cheating in Chess...
News came on October 14th at 7:03 am from Chess24 Twitter account that Krill Shevchenko during the Spanish Team Chess Championship was alleged to have been caught waiting for a certain stall in a bathroom where it was found there was a phone with his suspected handwriting on to not touch. Found here.
FIDE Commission states there will be an investigation here. Go ahead and check that out for more information.
This issue has been on my mind since I saw it. I have been ruminating upon these cheating in chess scandals that seem to keep rearing their ugly heads. I am curious as to what makes someone want to cheat let alone actually participating in such an action in an Over The Board event. Fame? Fortune? Glory? All reasonable responses as to why someone might turn to cheat but certainly not condoned in any fashion, however, I think it’s another one that drives people to it. Pressure!
Pressure to perform. To win. To rise to the top. Could come from any angle really. Sociological. Societal. Parental. Public's perception of you. Interesting to think about nonetheless.
I believe there should be a fairly strict policy within the chess governing bodies at the top levels similar to how professional sports handles it. I do believe in second chances for everyone as well. First time offense could be met with fines and temporary bans. I am left thinking how much is enough? Fines are one thing in Pro Sports but when you make the money some of these top athlete's do it’s a slap on the wrist and not enough to dissuade them from doing it again really. In chess it is different I think. At least a little bit since this is a cerebral sport over a physical one. So the question is how does it compare to professional sports? Using a chess engine for your game would be like allowing bionic limbs, an exoskeleton if you will, for enhancement in Baseball or Cycling. At least that is the comparison I would use that makes the most sense in my mind.
Is using a chess engine the same as doping even if used sporadically? You can hear from many of the top players that even using an engine one time during the course of the game in a critical position is enough to change the course of the game. So I say no, since using a chess engine is not performance enhancing. Now using some sort of focus medication might be considered the same. So what do we do about someone caught using a phone with Stockfish on it?
For me I think you have to look at it from the sanctity of the game. So severe punishments should be enforced and deter or at least have the potential subject really question if this is something they want to do at the risk of said punishment. I am not sure what the most adequate penalties should be at this point. What do you all think?
Hi - further to this thread on cheating - did you listen to the C-squared podcast on November 4th? An interesting episode, interview with David Smerdon (an Australian Grandmaster) who ran an interesting and comprehensive experiment on OTB cheating. The section on David's experiment starts at about 22m https://c2pod.com/episodes/this-grandmaster-ran-the-worlds-largest-chess-cheating-experiment
A very interesting area, and you raise a lot of key questions as to - what do we mean by cheating, and how to deter people from doing it. The people at chess.com define cheating (or suspicious activity, in their parlance) as 'any move which is not your own'. This clearly outlaws the use of engines, but also one might argue, coaching and tutorials from other players. Chess.com use algorithms to detect 'non-human moves' and close the accounts of people who flout these rules. However, in practice - you get one warning but you're allowed to open another account. 2 strikes and you're out. But the consequences arent serious for the majority of players on chess.com,people aren't playing for money, mainly for rating points and certain league championships. But at a professional level, I think that the penalties should be severe. Consulting an engine over a critical move, even just one, can make the difference between victory and defeat, and result in winning (or losing) competitions, which bring money, status and crucially, invitations to further tournaments. Hans Niemann has been severely punished for cheating (when he was 12 years old) and perhaps his punishment and demonisation by chess.com and the St Louis chess club was overly harsh,however this action may have deterred others from also bending the rules. I believe that, as in other sports, there should be proper efforts made to ensure a level playing field for all.