Cheating at Chess

[ArtK78]

A great article about some recent chess scandals.

 

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8362701/the-evolution-cheating-chess

 

I am sure it is just a matter of time before something like this happens at bridge.

[gwnn]

nanoseconds LOL.

 

edit: OK they think the engine evaluates every position in a few nanoseconds, but that's not really what the sentence says.

[Phil]

A great article about some recent chess scandals.

 

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8362701/the-evolution-cheating-chess

 

I am sure it is just a matter of time before something like this happens at bridge.

 

So a junior chess player brought an electronic device into a tournament to record moves, or do his homework, type recipes or text with his girlfriend. Turns out he used the device to CHEAT. Who knew?!

 

Chess admins must be the naivest people on the planet.

[jonottawa]

"Is Bridge next?"

 

Next? I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least one cheating pair in every national event ever held. That's why the sooner we move to electronic play (I wonder if they'll allow revokes and leads out of turn when that happens) the better.

 

I found this article really interesting. I even learned a new word, "patzer". I'm surprised I've never heard it before.

[billw55]

So a junior chess player brought an electronic device into a tournament to record moves, or do his homework, type recipes or text with his girlfriend. Turns out he used the device to CHEAT. Who knew?!

 

Chess admins must be the naivest people on the planet.

I doubt that. Cheating at chess is old news, even cheating with computers. I guess they prefer to give players the benefit of the doubt, until there is evidence. But that does not mean they are naive.

 

Although, I admit I am surprised that the device is allowed at the table at all. Gosh, ACBL bans cell phones at nationals, this seems basic.

[billw55]

Next? I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least one cheating pair in every national event ever held. That's why the sooner we move to electronic play (I wonder if they'll allow revokes and leads out of turn when that happens) the better.

If you consider driving off a significant portion of players to be "better" then you may be right.

[cherdano]

Yes, if computers continue to improve, and so do bridge programs, then in 20 years, for THE FIRST TIME EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME, someone might cheat at bridge.

[Fluffy]

you dont need to tap into your computer to cheat at chess, Mihai Suba told me a couple of years ago about a local player in Spain who suddenly started to improve his ELO rating, and was found with a device attached to his ear, with an observer teletyping the position to another with a computer who would send the messages to the player at the table.

[billw55]

During the Karpov-Korchnoi title match in 1976 (? - not sure exact date), one entourage accused the other of passing coded messages to their payer via the flavor of yogurt delivered to the table. The response, as I recall, was to hire witches to cast curses on them. I'm not making this up.

[barmar]

you dont need to tap into your computer to cheat at chess, Mihai Suba told me a couple of years ago about a local player in Spain who suddenly started to improve his ELO rating, and was found with a device attached to his ear, with an observer teletyping the position to another with a computer who would send the messages to the player at the table.

That was mentioned in the article, wasn't it? He tried to claim that it was a hearing aid, but the officials checked it out and found that it was a receiver.

[Zelandakh]

During the Karpov-Korchnoi title match in 1976 (? - not sure exact date), one entourage accused the other of passing coded messages to their payer via the flavor of yogurt delivered to the table. The response, as I recall, was to hire witches to cast curses on them. I'm not making this up.

Here is a link to the wiki article. I think you are making it up about the witches though - certainly not something I have heard about. The Karpov team did have someone in the front row staring intently at Korchnoi through the matches though; I suspect this is the origin of your curse idea.

[Trinidad]

Ahh... Karpov-Korchnoi... Those were the days...

 

Rik

[kereru67]

20 years ago even weakish chess players like me could beat computers, and cell phones were bulky and mostly used for business. So there wasn't really much concern about using computers to cheat. These days anyone with a smartphone can run a program strong enough to beat Magnus Carlsen. Cell hones are now banned in chess competition - in high level tournaments at least, if your phone goes off during a game you'll be instantly forfeited (in lower level tournaments you might get off with a warning). And if you're spending a lot of time in the rest room, people are going to get suspicious.

 

As far as I know bridge programs haven't quite reached that point yet.

[gwnn]

I went to the club yesterday and I noticed that opponents often ruff their partners' tricks, underlead aces, bid ridiculous slams, miss games when they have 28+ hcp's, maybe they should stop trying to cheat with GIB and try to think for themselves.

[billw55]

Here is a link to the wiki article. I think you are making it up about the witches though - certainly not something I have heard about. The Karpov team did have someone in the front row staring intently at Korchnoi through the matches though; I suspect this is the origin of your curse idea.

I stand corrected.

 

It seems my memory was a bit off. It wasn't witches, it was psychics/hypnotists/mystics, attempting (or accused of such) to psychically disrupt/hypnotize contestants or opposing psychics. Good times all around.

 

http://www.mark-week...ss/78kk$01.htm

[nigel_k]

Two things struck me about this:

 

1. If the guy had just done it so a record of the match was at the front and the other stuff hidden behind, he would probably still be happily cheating his way to victory.

 

2. A 16 year old winning more than his rating would suggest is hardly enough to justify suspicion. Doesn't everyone with a high rating get it by starting out with a low rating and beating higher rated players?

[EricK]

Two things struck me about this:

 

1. If the guy had just done it so a record of the match was at the front and the other stuff hidden behind, he would probably still be happily cheating his way to victory.

 

2. A 16 year old winning more than his rating would suggest is hardly enough to justify suspicion. Doesn't everyone with a high rating get it by starting out with a low rating and beating higher rated players?

Yes, but they still make bad moves. Nobody with a lowish rating can replicate a long series of computer moves except by cheating. So it is generally easy to tell when somebody has cheated in this way - often you can even tell which program they used. The other give away is that they won't be able to explain what they were thinking about during the game. Most chess games end with a post-mortem where the players discuss what they might have done, and what they saw and didn't see. Someone relying on computer moves will find it very hard to take part in a convincing post-mortem.

[semeai]

If the guy had just done it so a record of the match was at the front and the other stuff hidden behind, he would probably still be happily cheating his way to victory.

 

The program is apparently approved only because you can't change programs while using it. You need to enter a result for the game to quit the program. I don't know all the details, but see here, in particular the USCF Approval link down at the bottom.

[gwnn]

It's quite amazing that the developer of the software can say 'it cannot be rigged' with a straight face. Of course he needs to do so but still wow. Hackers continue to break into bank accounts, CIA databases, etc.

[dwar0123]

It's quite amazing that the developer of the software can say 'it cannot be rigged' with a straight face. Of course he needs to do so but still wow. Hackers continue to break into bank accounts, CIA databases, etc.

Of course he needs to do so but still wow.

 

wow

[semeai]

It's quite amazing that the developer of the software can say 'it cannot be rigged' with a straight face. Of course he needs to do so but still wow. Hackers continue to break into bank accounts, CIA databases, etc.

 

It does sound like it can't be that hard. That said, it sounds like maybe the kid just had Fritz running and wasn't using the game record program and nobody noticed earlier.

[gwnn]

Yes that's most likely but it almost defies belief. My opponent is tapping his tablet continuously and I don't bother to look at his screen?? Maybe I'm rude or paranoid but that would be the first thing I would do when I'm bored/see I'm losing, just try to see what he's up to.

[gwnn]

BTW a very famous (for chess players at least) recent case is written up here:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7094

 

The most important part being that apparently the coach of the national team of France was signalling moves by staying at some boards for a longer than usual time as:

Arnaud Hauchard had two phones on him, his and that of Sebastien Feller. He would consult them at the bar and then come back to the playing hall. The moves were transmitted to Feller as follows:

 

• The opponent of Vachier-Lagrave was A and 1
  
• The opponent of Fressinet was B and 2
  
• The opponent of Tkachiev C and 3
  
• The opponent Feller D and 4
  
• Feller himself was E and 5
  
• Tkachiev was F and 6
  
• Fressinet was G and 7
  
• Finally Vachier-Lagrave was H and 8
  

Arnaud Hauchard would move around the tables and stop for some time behind different players, e.g. behind the opponent of Tkachiev and then behind Fressinet to signal the square c2. Incidentally it is usually sufficient to signal the destination square – a 2600+ (or even much weaker) player is easily able to determine which piece should be moved there.

Feller, the GM who was not punished for cheating, continues to deny all allegations.

[dwar0123]

BTW a very famous (for chess players at least) recent case is written up here:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7094

 

The most important part being that apparently the coach of the national team of France was signalling moves by staying at some boards for a longer than usual time as:

 

Feller, the GM who was not punished for cheating, continues to deny all allegations.

I can't imagine bridge culture is any more noble then Chess's culture, yet still I find it hard to believe highly regarded members doing such abhorrent things.

 

 

I don't deny it or even really doubt it, just makes me sad.

[CarlRitner]

Perhaps some do it just to see if they can get away with it, undetected.

 

In chess any outside observer can see all the pieces (complete information) and consult a computer.

In bridge this would be difficult to do (unless it's VuGraphed) but then who/what do you consult, and how to do it quick enough?

 

Better to hack the deal machine/network.