FIDE World Cup 2023 | Quarterfinal Open | Semifinal Women | Game 2

FIDE World Youth U16 Olympiad - ROUND 6

𝐆𝐌 𝐇𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐮, 𝐍𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐯𝐬 𝐆𝐌 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐚, 𝐅𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐥 𝐇𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐮 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐂𝐡...

FIDE World Youth U16 Olympiad - ROUND 4

The Dark Side of Chess: Cheating in chess and how to detect someone who does!

  With the recent Lawsuit and Scandal with Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann has brought insane attention to the chess community. Many people are wondering, How do you even cheat, or How can you know if you’re playing against a cheater?

Well, the definition of cheating in chess is being, having assistance from some third party, such as an engine, to have an unfair advantage over the other player. This problem has become super-relevant, especially in online chess. 

So whether you are a chess player, a tournament organizer, or just a fan of the game, read on to learn more about the dark side of chess!

HOW DOES CHEATING OCCUR (IN ONLINE AND OTB)

Before we discuss how, let’s have a quick history lesson about the rise of Chess Engines. In 1997, Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov, proving that a robot could defeat the best of the best in chess. However, the bot was limited to only the IBM team.

Nowadays, it takes 10 seconds to access a robot, stronger than Deep Blue, Or any chess player in the World. Because of this widespread accessibility, many players benefited from its insight, but also, many players used it to Win Every game.

Cheating, in online chess, is Very Simple, Very Easy, and Very difficult to detect! You just look at a screen next to you, and copy the moves the engine makes. As for OTB (over the board), it can be done via a vibrator. 

A partner of yours, standing in the audience, could then tell you the move on the phone, and the vibrator would tell you using something like Morse code. Another way would be going to the bathroom, hiding a phone in there and using that phone to access an engine.

HOW TO SPOT A CHEATER (IN ONLINE AND OTB)

In Online Chess, the only way to spot a cheater is through consistent cheating. If you look through their games, and the past 4-5 games are 95+ accuracy, it is most likely they’re a cheater. 

Another form is through time usage. Consistently playing moves within 7-15 seconds, especially simple or obvious moves would likely mean they’re cheating.

As for OTB Chess, things are much trickier. The best way to tell if someone is cheating, in OTB chess, is via the opponent’s concentration. If the opponent looks like they’re not concentrating, making difficult-to-find moves without paying any attention, it could be possible they are a cheater.

However, in OTB Chess, it’s much more difficult to prove anything and come to definitive conclusions. But also, Cheating in OTB chess is much more difficult to do, making it less likely. Magnus Carlsen vs Hans Niemann proves just how difficult this is to prove.

CONCLUSION

Cheating is definitely wrong, however, people on Social Media like to believe that it happens more than it actually does. Cheating in Chess is very rare, however, if you notice these types of behaviours, the best thing to do is to report them and let the organization's professional anti-cheat team deal with them.

Of course, these are the most common ways to detect if someone is cheating, however, please note that even though they may be playing like this, it doesn’t automatically make them a cheater. As I said, if you think you’re playing a cheater, the best thing to do is to report them.

So, to end this blog post, tell me, have you ever encountered a cheater in chess before?

FIDE World Cup 2023 | Quarterfinal Open | Semifinal Women | Game 1

FIDE World Cup 2023 | Round 5 | Tie-Breaks

FIDE World Cup 2023 | Round 5 | Game 2

When should you actually learn Openings in Chess?

  Openings are one of the most important fundamental parts of the game. It’s even 1 of the 3 phases of a game of chess (Openings, Middlegames, Endgames). And, while they are important, sometimes, their importance is overrated.

One example would be the Sicilian Defence. An extremely powerful opening, yes. But its sheer difficulty to learn makes it a massive time investment. And without strengthening the other 2 areas, Middlegames and Endgames, all that invested time, and perhaps money, would go to waste.

So, that begs the question, when should you actually learn Openings in Chess?

Point 1/3: Why are Openings even important?

Take a look at this position, and ask yourself, who is better?

Obviously White, right? Well, White is better because their pieces are more active and more centralised, which is the point of openings. Openings in chess are opportunities that allow you to develop, centralise and make your pieces super active.

But, sadly, this is a dream position, which can almost never occur. This is why it’s so difficult to learn openings and their variations. There are a lot of different possible moves they can play, developing differently, playing differently, and even traps! This brings me nicely to my second point:

Point 2/3: Complicated Theory

Let’s start with, What Is Theory? - Theory is objectively, THE BEST move in a common position reached thousands of times.

With that in mind, did you know that the Sicilian, the Berlin or the Giuoco piano have theory all the way beyond move 30? This is because these are, super powerful, super versatile openings that, if played incorrectly, will give the other player a massive advantage.

 Notice how I am in the Openings Database. This has been played hundreds of Times, by GMs all over the World.

This means that learning certain openings can cost up to months of learning theory, and may cost quite a large sum of money to learn. And, to add some salt to the wound, Openings like The London System, or the Vienna are Super simple and still usable, up to a very high level.

So, Should you even learn these openings?

Point 3/3: Should you even learn them?

Yes. But only when you’ve reached 2000 rated, in my opinion. I can assure you with 100% certainty that learning these super-powerful openings will NOT help you, below the 2000 ELO range. 

It does not make sense to pour months into these powerful openings when they will only make a tiny difference. But when you reach 2000+ rating, this 2% more power will help you in your games, and be the difference, between Winning and Losing.

So, please tell me in the comments below, what your ELO is and are you interested in learning these super-powerful openings?

We look forward to seeing you again!