Chess is Booming... And Unfortunately, so is Cheating
By Ezekiel McClintock
By Ezekiel McClintock
Chess has taken the world by storm in the past few months. Whether it's a friend, family member or a hustler in Imperial Beach, someone you know has probably gotten into the game recently.
The cause of the unprecedented growth of the age-old pastime can't really be put down to one factor. Sure, the holiday season is a part of it. People staying indoors might have nothing better to do than fire up a blitz match or dig up that old chess set their family has had for years. One of the most popular social media posts of 2022 featured Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi playing a game of chess. Since then, chess streamers and creators have come out with lots of new collabarations and content.
Because of this, not only has chess experienced a massive growth in players, but it has also experienced a massive growth in cheaters. Millions of cheater accounts have been banned since the rise of chess, and the problem is only getting worse. If cheaters continue to be relevant in the chess conversation, it will ruin the credibility of the community and of chess as a whole. People will start thinking the game is solved and it will become stale quickly.
Furthermore, the lawsuit involving current world champion Magnus Carlsen and rising super grandmaster Hans Niemann has brought worldwide attention to chess cheating. Specifically, a number of Reddit memes about Hans using various cheating devices hidden in unsightly body cavities during over-the-board tournament play.
When the two players met in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, an event in the Grand Chess Tour, Niemann, the lowest-rated player in the field and a last minute replacement, shocked spectators by ending Carlsen's 52-game unbeaten streak with a win with the black pieces. Upon their next meeting in an online tournament, Carlsen played one move against Niemann, resigned, and abruptly turned off his webcam. He then withdrew from the tournament, and in a later statement indicated that he believed Niemann cheated, igniting a scandal unlike any that the chess world has seen.
The controversy made headlines across the world for the first time since the last serious cheating scandal, the "Toiletgate" incident in the 2006 World Championship match between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov.
Recently, Hans filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com, Magnus's company Play Magnus Group, fellow grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura and several others who he alleged "egregiously defamed him and unlawfully colluded to blacklist him." Whether this will lead to any new developments remains to be seen, but I think I speak for most of the chess world when I say it probably won't end well for him, and I hope that the many cheaters that exist refrain from following his example.
But what is the real point of cheating at all online? I can understand that the anonymity of the internet and the availability of extremely strong chess engines in this day and age makes a lot of people think they can get away with cheating, especially online, and even at the highest level of tournament play.
However, while the influx of players to Chess.com has brought an uncommonly large amount of cheaters to the bullet and blitz pools, time and time again, I have played cheaters who created their accounts just a few days ago, and within a week their account is banned.
I can understand what motivates you to cheat if you're playing in a cash tournament, or one where your actual over the board rating matters, but for average, unimportant Chess.com rating? And only for a week, if even that? There really is no merit to it other than annoying the hell out of real, honest players just trying to get a few games in.
And don't even get me started on those who try to hide their cheating. If you know what to look for, the signs are unmistakable. 95%+ accuracy in every game, insane win rate, taking the same amount of time for every move even for obvious recaptures or forced moves. You make yourself look stupid. You aren't even learning anything because you just mindlessly transfer the moves from the chess engine and let it do all the work for you.
So if you know people who play chess, or if you want to take up the game yourself, just be aware of the fact that cheaters are out there, even at the highest levels. If you do happen to be a cheater, please reconsider your actions. Is it really worth it to risk your integrity and the dignity of the chess community just to gain a few rating points?
The cause of the unprecedented growth of the age-old pastime can't really be put down to one factor. Sure, the holiday season is a part of it. People staying indoors might have nothing better to do than fire up a blitz match or dig up that old chess set their family has had for years. One of the most popular social media posts of 2022 featured Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi playing a game of chess. Since then, chess streamers and creators have come out with lots of new collabarations and content.
Because of this, not only has chess experienced a massive growth in players, but it has also experienced a massive growth in cheaters. Millions of cheater accounts have been banned since the rise of chess, and the problem is only getting worse. If cheaters continue to be relevant in the chess conversation, it will ruin the credibility of the community and of chess as a whole. People will start thinking the game is solved and it will become stale quickly.
Furthermore, the lawsuit involving current world champion Magnus Carlsen and rising super grandmaster Hans Niemann has brought worldwide attention to chess cheating. Specifically, a number of Reddit memes about Hans using various cheating devices hidden in unsightly body cavities during over-the-board tournament play.
When the two players met in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, an event in the Grand Chess Tour, Niemann, the lowest-rated player in the field and a last minute replacement, shocked spectators by ending Carlsen's 52-game unbeaten streak with a win with the black pieces. Upon their next meeting in an online tournament, Carlsen played one move against Niemann, resigned, and abruptly turned off his webcam. He then withdrew from the tournament, and in a later statement indicated that he believed Niemann cheated, igniting a scandal unlike any that the chess world has seen.
The controversy made headlines across the world for the first time since the last serious cheating scandal, the "Toiletgate" incident in the 2006 World Championship match between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov.
Recently, Hans filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com, Magnus's company Play Magnus Group, fellow grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura and several others who he alleged "egregiously defamed him and unlawfully colluded to blacklist him." Whether this will lead to any new developments remains to be seen, but I think I speak for most of the chess world when I say it probably won't end well for him, and I hope that the many cheaters that exist refrain from following his example.
But what is the real point of cheating at all online? I can understand that the anonymity of the internet and the availability of extremely strong chess engines in this day and age makes a lot of people think they can get away with cheating, especially online, and even at the highest level of tournament play.
However, while the influx of players to Chess.com has brought an uncommonly large amount of cheaters to the bullet and blitz pools, time and time again, I have played cheaters who created their accounts just a few days ago, and within a week their account is banned.
I can understand what motivates you to cheat if you're playing in a cash tournament, or one where your actual over the board rating matters, but for average, unimportant Chess.com rating? And only for a week, if even that? There really is no merit to it other than annoying the hell out of real, honest players just trying to get a few games in.
And don't even get me started on those who try to hide their cheating. If you know what to look for, the signs are unmistakable. 95%+ accuracy in every game, insane win rate, taking the same amount of time for every move even for obvious recaptures or forced moves. You make yourself look stupid. You aren't even learning anything because you just mindlessly transfer the moves from the chess engine and let it do all the work for you.
So if you know people who play chess, or if you want to take up the game yourself, just be aware of the fact that cheaters are out there, even at the highest levels. If you do happen to be a cheater, please reconsider your actions. Is it really worth it to risk your integrity and the dignity of the chess community just to gain a few rating points?