There will be a “Chess Cheating Town Meeting” at the Marshall Chess Club this Monday, headed by NM Jon Jacobs – A panel discussion and public forum about ways to safeguard both professional and amateur chess competitions against cheating.
Monday, December 4th, 8:00-11:00 P.M.
– Prepared remarks from panel speakers: est. 8:00-9:00 P.M.
– Q&A from audience and panel: est. 9:00-11:00 P.M.
* Is it possible to stop the cheating problems in chess?
* If caught, what should be a fair penalty against the cheaters?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
* Is it possible to stop the cheating problems in chess?
Yes, it is. All it takes is the exact same technology used on airports. Since it is unlikely that the congress will make a law that it is illegal to bring certain devices to chess competitions, FIDE may have to step in.
* If caught, what should be a fair penalty against the cheaters?
Banning the person from chess competitions for a certain amount of time.
Gabor
How about officialy sponsored cheating like in the old Soviet times and recently in Elista? I don’t see what can be done about it.
as we all know theres not much money in chess so at average weekend tournys who could afford expensive detection equiptment. so the only thing i can think of is if you get caught make it a lifetime ban hopefully that will be enough of a deterent. cuz how can you stop someone from going to the bathroom?
It’s impossible to stop cheating at the average tournament level; technology is simply moving too fast and the means to defeat it are beyond the average organizer.
The way to handle cheating is to impose severe sanctions on those caught to preserve the integrity of the game. Baseball serves as an example: MLB is utterly ruthless when it comes to any hint of a gambling scandal.
Cheating is when you don’t deiver a mate in one. Computers don’t cheat, so let’s learn from them.
Why would anyone be interested in cheating issues? Isn’t it wasting time?
Yes you guys have made very good points. They made a very serious attempt to stop cheating at the World open this year but allbeit, there was still some cheating, most of which was caught but unfortunately too late. I wish them all the best in coming up with new ways to stop people, but as anonymous spoke of, the bathroom break is the biggest problem. After all now we all know there is pocket computers almost the power of some normal pc’s. At tournaments like this you almost have to have someone watching restroom activity the whole time. As for penalties, yeah I think it wouldnt be exaggerated and unfair to impose a lifetime ban. Hey, if you make the bed lay in it!
The USCF obviously doesnt care. The person they caught and forfeit at the world open has had nothing done to them and probably wont. This is sad to see a grandmaster post this as a topic and not write to the USCF about it.
What has the title come to?
>>How about officialy sponsored cheating like in the old Soviet times and recently in Elista? I don’t see what can be done about it.
>>
Good point, and very true. Topalov’s behavior was a form of cheating, and certainly against FIDE Ethics rules, yet nothing was done to him.
The FIDE Ethics Code is quite explicit:
Rule 2.2.9: Players or members of their delegations must not make unjustified accusations toward other players, officials or sponsors. All protests must be referred directly to the arbiter or the Technical Director of the tournament.
Rule 3.2: 3.2 Anyone acting in contravention of this code can be excluded from participation in all FIDE tournaments or from specific types of tournaments for a period of up to 3 years. Weight shall be given to the type of violation and to any previous violations in decided upon the length of the exclusion period.
By all rights, Topalov should have been suspended from rated play entirely for some length of time, yet got away scot free simply because he was Kirsan’s friend. I would submit, and the ACP agreed that this kind of behavior is not only an illegal attempt to upset one’s opponent, but also damages the credibility of the game in the eyes of the world every bit as much as the World Open case did.
What can be done to protect players from this kind of abuse, and what should be done to the perpetrators? How long a suspension do you think Topalov deserves for a first offense?
A certain amount of cheating should be tolerated and expected. If a player is smart enough to outwit the tournament organizers and his fellow players, great! So a player might cheat for a few tournaments but it is hardly likely they will be able to make a career of cheating at chess. I can’t imagine the self esteem would be so good just serving as a piece mover for some computer time after time.
Sure it is easy to stop cheating: make the players play in the nude!
Too bold for you? Ok, make the participants play in swimming pools!
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/2226/Greek/dionysis.html
>> How long a suspension do you think Topalov deserves for a first offense?
I think Topalov deserves returning to him his chess crown which was stolen by Kramnik in his famous internet-equipped toilet.
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I think Topalov deserves returning to him his chess crown which was stolen by Kramnik in his famous internet-equipped toilet.
>>
No you don’t.
“I believe that [Kramnik’s] play is fair, and my decision to continue the match proves it. We are humans, and sometimes we make mistakes.” — Veselin Topalov, 10-4-2006
So, that’s settled. Now, the question is what penalty Topalov deserves for making the unsubstantiated charge. Since you offer no defense, I take it you think he deserves the full 3 years?