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I used to cheat on chess.com. It started as a small bit of cheating here and there, just checking every now and then if the move I was going to make was the bes

I used to cheat on chess.com. It started as a small bit of cheating here and there, just checking every now and then if the move I was going to make was the best. Of course, the computer always had a better move and then I examine the line and told myself I probably would have thought of that! Like a drug, it escalated and I was checking moves all the time. I was never caught but I was ashamed and just stopped playing. Actually, more than ashamed, cheating took all the joy out of it as it felt like a job, switching tabs, and you don't get the dopamine hit when you think of a great line yourself. I uninstalled scid vs pc and opened a lichess account and never cheated on that. Though lichess tells me loads of opponents I've played have been banned for cheating. I never suspect a thing.

sfblah 6y ago
I recently quit online chess completely. The last straw was lichess sending me a warning because I pointed out to a guy he was obviously using an engine. The cheating just got tiresome. I’m going to go back to playing over the board with actual people.
ritchiea 6y ago
Lichess will flag your account as a cheater w/o notifying you so that your opponents see the flag and avoid games. I know this because a friend of mine who is an average player got flagged that way after a stretch of games he won handily, including one against me where I checked computer analysis and noticed he made zero incorrect moves. A red flag popped up next to his screenname, I asked if he was aware of it and he said he couldn’t see it and got no notification of it. I love the shadow flag method for cheaters because opponents can avoid games with them and the cheater may never figure out what the problem is.
- bufferoverflow 6y ago
  They should pair cheaters with cheaters.
  - thope 6y ago
    this is how it works, there is a whole alternative lichess universe where shadow-banned users play each others.
  - grecy 6y ago
    Number of players: 0
busyant 6y ago
I cheated on Lichess--once. Story: I got paired with someone rated 400 points higher than me (no idea why). The dude was destroying me, but somewhere in the middlegame, he let his guard down and exposed himself to a mate-in-one. For once in my life, I saw the mate and I won. The dude was FURIOUS. He immediately asked for a rematch and I said I had to go. Then the insults came ("chicken shit", etc.). He even messaged me a few times over the course of a few months (same kind of name calling) and challenged me a few times. Eventually, I thought, "You know what will really upset him? If I accept a rematch and win again." So, I accepted one of his challenges and I used a computer. Obviously, he lost and he was FURIOUS again. Not my proudest moment, but I enjoyed it while it was happening. But yeah, regular cheating just kind of takes the joy out of the competition.
- sbierwagen 6y ago
  >I got paired with someone rated 400 points higher than me (no idea why) If you haven't played in a while, then glicko will give you a wide ratings deviation, and pair you against much stronger or much weaker opponents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glicko_rating_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glicko_rating_system
  - bonzini 6y ago
    Or the guy was tilted and intentionally looked for weaker opponents.
- egsmi 6y ago
  That has happened to me more than once too. I usually take the rematch because I can often win the second game too, I’ll guess 15% of the time. Almost always the better player is trying an opening trap which is dubious but will cause me to loose in the first 10 moves if I miss it. So I just make really sure to look for tactics extra carefully in the opening. If I survive I can often win. And if I loose I get to learn a new opening trap. :)
- autokad 6y ago
  on lichess, after every game I use the analysis tool to see all the good moves I missed, and sometimes play out alternate endings. my game has improved a lot because of it, but people get furious with me because I don't accept rematches. If I rematch, I wont have the game fresh in memory and miss the opportunity to learn
Waterluvian 6y ago
I learned the “it sucks all joy out” lesson as a child when I cheated my entire way through Goldeneye 64. I got to the end and felt so unfulfilled. I discovered that you’re better off walking away from a game that feels so insurmountably difficult rather than cheat a bit or a lot. “I’m not going to finish so why not cheat to see the ending?” Was always disappointing. I’d rather that mountain still exist off in the distance that I’ll never summit.
- glerk 6y ago
  Cheating in a solo game is not as bad as cheating in a competitive game where you are misrepresenting your abilities to other players.
- supersrdjan 6y ago
  When I was a kid my dad prohibited me from using cheats in Civilization I :D And if I remember well, the cheats were readily available through a toggl in the dropdown menu
ALittleLight 6y ago
My game of choice is Go rather than Chess, but this seems similar. When I was young I hated playing games against the AI. It always felt unreal to me and there was no satisfaction in it. Now, I immensely prefer playing the computer - it goes at my pace, I can get up and leave, I can take all the time I want for my move, and if I do something dumb I just undo back to where I feel comfortable and play better. When I get legitimately stuck I ask the computer for advice. In this way, I basically always win against a superior player. It may not be ideal for practice, but I just play for fun and find it satisfying to win.
FreshFries 6y ago
I used to play Battlefield (an FPS) a lot. Organised games ranging from 5 vs 5 up to 32 vs 32. The one sure way to find / detect players with cheats was... to use the same cheats. It saved my sanity but cost me the joy of playing. I now can't play FPS's anymore but am limited to MMO's :(

sfblah 6y ago

I recently quit online chess completely. The last straw was lichess sending me a warning because I pointed out to a guy he was obviously using an engine. The cheating just got tiresome. I’m going to go back to playing over the board with actual people.

ritchiea 6y ago

Lichess will flag your account as a cheater w/o notifying you so that your opponents see the flag and avoid games. I know this because a friend of mine who is an average player got flagged that way after a stretch of games he won handily, including one against me where I checked computer analysis and noticed he made zero incorrect moves. A red flag popped up next to his screenname, I asked if he was aware of it and he said he couldn’t see it and got no notification of it. I love the shadow flag method for cheaters because opponents can avoid games with them and the cheater may never figure out what the problem is.

bufferoverflow 6y ago
They should pair cheaters with cheaters.
- thope 6y ago
  this is how it works, there is a whole alternative lichess universe where shadow-banned users play each others.
- grecy 6y ago
  Number of players: 0

busyant 6y ago

I cheated on Lichess--once. Story: I got paired with someone rated 400 points higher than me (no idea why). The dude was destroying me, but somewhere in the middlegame, he let his guard down and exposed himself to a mate-in-one. For once in my life, I saw the mate and I won. The dude was FURIOUS. He immediately asked for a rematch and I said I had to go. Then the insults came ("chicken shit", etc.). He even messaged me a few times over the course of a few months (same kind of name calling) and challenged me a few times. Eventually, I thought, "You know what will really upset him? If I accept a rematch and win again." So, I accepted one of his challenges and I used a computer. Obviously, he lost and he was FURIOUS again. Not my proudest moment, but I enjoyed it while it was happening. But yeah, regular cheating just kind of takes the joy out of the competition.

sbierwagen 6y ago
>I got paired with someone rated 400 points higher than me (no idea why) If you haven't played in a while, then glicko will give you a wide ratings deviation, and pair you against much stronger or much weaker opponents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glicko_rating_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glicko_rating_system
- bonzini 6y ago
  Or the guy was tilted and intentionally looked for weaker opponents.
egsmi 6y ago
That has happened to me more than once too. I usually take the rematch because I can often win the second game too, I’ll guess 15% of the time. Almost always the better player is trying an opening trap which is dubious but will cause me to loose in the first 10 moves if I miss it. So I just make really sure to look for tactics extra carefully in the opening. If I survive I can often win. And if I loose I get to learn a new opening trap. :)
autokad 6y ago
on lichess, after every game I use the analysis tool to see all the good moves I missed, and sometimes play out alternate endings. my game has improved a lot because of it, but people get furious with me because I don't accept rematches. If I rematch, I wont have the game fresh in memory and miss the opportunity to learn

Waterluvian 6y ago

I learned the “it sucks all joy out” lesson as a child when I cheated my entire way through Goldeneye 64. I got to the end and felt so unfulfilled. I discovered that you’re better off walking away from a game that feels so insurmountably difficult rather than cheat a bit or a lot. “I’m not going to finish so why not cheat to see the ending?” Was always disappointing. I’d rather that mountain still exist off in the distance that I’ll never summit.

glerk 6y ago
Cheating in a solo game is not as bad as cheating in a competitive game where you are misrepresenting your abilities to other players.
supersrdjan 6y ago
When I was a kid my dad prohibited me from using cheats in Civilization I :D And if I remember well, the cheats were readily available through a toggl in the dropdown menu

ALittleLight 6y ago

My game of choice is Go rather than Chess, but this seems similar. When I was young I hated playing games against the AI. It always felt unreal to me and there was no satisfaction in it. Now, I immensely prefer playing the computer - it goes at my pace, I can get up and leave, I can take all the time I want for my move, and if I do something dumb I just undo back to where I feel comfortable and play better. When I get legitimately stuck I ask the computer for advice. In this way, I basically always win against a superior player. It may not be ideal for practice, but I just play for fun and find it satisfying to win.

FreshFries 6y ago

I used to play Battlefield (an FPS) a lot. Organised games ranging from 5 vs 5 up to 32 vs 32. The one sure way to find / detect players with cheats was... to use the same cheats. It saved my sanity but cost me the joy of playing. I now can't play FPS's anymore but am limited to MMO's :(