Cheating in chess

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Cheating in chess is any behavior outside the rules of chess intended to give an unfair advantage to a player. Cheating can be done many ways, including collusion with spectators or other players.^[1] Cheaters may use technology such as chess computers and wireless communication devices. Cheating occurs in both friendly games and competitions.

1 History
- 1.1 Automaton hoaxes
2 Collusion
3 Touch piece rule
4 Cheating with technology
- 4.1 Communication with an accomplice
5 Rating manipulation
6 References

[edit] History

Cheating at chess is almost as old as the game itself, and may even have caused chess-related deaths. According to one legend, a dispute over cheating at chess led King Canute to murder a Danish nobleman.

[edit] Automaton hoaxes

Rather than the modern problem in which humans cheat by surreptitiously reproducing the play of machines, in the 18th and 19th centuries the public were hoaxed by the opposite deception in which machines reproduced the moves of hidden humans. The first and most famous of the chess automaton hoaxes was The Turk (1770), followed by Ajeeb (1868) and Mephisto (1886).

[edit] Collusion

Over the years there have been many accusations of collusion, either of players deliberately losing (often to help a friend or teammate get a title norm), or of players agreeing to draws to help both players in a tournament.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis claim that Soviet chess masters may have colluded in world chess championships held from 1940 to 1964. ^[2] ^[3] The study argues that the Soviet players agreed to draws amongst themselves to help their chances. While it is generally believed that these agreements happened at times, opinions differ over how effective their agreements were. The most famous alleged instance, the 1962 Candidates' Tournament is discussed further at the World Chess Championship 1963 article.

[edit] Touch piece rule

In tournament chess, there are certain "touch piece" rules. Often these are difficult to rule on, because the only witnesses are the two players involved.

In one famous instance, Garry Kasparov changed his move against Judit Polgár in 1994 after momentarily letting go of a piece (a violation of the "touch piece" rule). Kasparov went on to win the game. The tournament officials allegedly had video tape proving that his hand left the piece, but refused to release the video evidence and allow Polgár the win. Also against Polgar was the fact that she waited one full day before issuing her complaint.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Cheating with technology

Technology has been used by chess cheats in several ways. Perhaps the most common form is to use a chess program while playing chess remotely, usually through online chess servers. Or, to boost ratings on a chess server, a competitor may sign on through a different IP address to play and lose against themself. Electronic communication with an accomplice during face-to-face competitive chess is another reported technique.

[edit] Communication with an accomplice

One of the earliest known cases of using technology to cheat was at the World Open in 1995 where a person suspected of using a computer and an accomplice won a prize at the tournament and beat at least one International Master in the process. However, the person was not awarded a prize when he failed to give his identity to the tournament director or show he could solve a simple mating position.
In 2006, an Indian chess player was banned from playing competitive chess for ten years due to cheating. ^[4] During the Subroto Mukerjee memorial international rating chess tournament at Subroto Park, Umakant Sharma was caught receiving instructions from an accomplice using a chess computer via a Bluetooth-enabled device which had been sewn into his cap. ^[5] ^[6] The accomplices he had been communicating with were outside the location at which he was playing, and were relaying moves from a computer simulation. Officials became suspicious after Sharma made unusually large gains in rating points during the previous eighteen months, even qualifying for the national championship.^[6] Umakant began the year with an average rating of 1933, and in 64 games gained over 500 points to attain a rating of 2484. Officials received multiple written complaints alleging that Umakant's moves were in the exact same sequence suggested by the chess computer HIARCS 10.^[5] Eventually, in the seventh round of the tournament, Indian Air Force officials searched the players at the top eight boards with a metal detector and found that Umakant was the only player who was cheating. Umakant's ten-year ban was imposed by the All India Chess Federation (AICF) after reviewing evidence presented by Umakant himself and the electronic devices seized by the tournament organizers.^[4] The penalty was considered harsh, especially considering that those in other sports who have been found to be doping and match fixing did not receive such lengthy suspensions.^[7] When officials were asked about the suspension they stated, "We wanted to be frank and send a stern message to all players. It is like cheating on exams."^[7]

Veselin Topalov, recently the top rated player in the world, has been on both sides of allegations of computer assistance: he has been accused of cheating at the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005, and accused his opponent Vladimir Kramnik of receiving computer assistance at the FIDE World Chess Championship 2006.

In April 2008, M Sadatnajafi, an untitled Iranian player (rated 2288 at the time), was disqualified from the Dubai Open after he was caught receiving suggested moves by text message on his mobile phone while playing Grandmaster Li Chao.^[8] The game was being relayed live over the internet and it was alleged that his friends were following it and guiding him using a computer.^[8]

[edit] Rating manipulation

Ratings manipulation occurs when game results are determined before the game starts or by falsifying tournament reports. The most common type is called sandbagging, where a person plays in lower entry fee tournaments and loses to lower their rating so they can play in a large money tournament in a lower section, and increase their chance of winning. Sandbagging, however, is very difficult to detect and prove, so USCF has included minimum ratings based on previous ratings or money winnings to minimize the effect. The most notable example of ratings manipulation involves Romanian Alexandru Crisan, who falsified tournament reports to gain a Grandmaster title and ranked 33rd in the world on FIDE ratings list. A committee overseeing the matter recommended his rating erased and his Grandmaster title revoked, but this has not happened.^[9]