Sunday, April 15, 2007
You can't read an article about chess and not hear about who the latest cheater to infest the chess world is. It's such a concern that the U.S Chess federation held a meeting with the sole intent of determining what kind of policies they could develop to curb this growing problem. The goal was to implement policies that wouldn't treat all players like cheats, but still be a deterrent to anyone that may be considering it. To see more of the official stance please get a copy of the March issue of Chess Life.
But you're reading this because you want to know what the real answer is and fortunately for you I have it.
First, its ridiculous to consider asking tournament directors to police 200 people. They just don't have the manpower or the equipment necessary to perform any kind of mainingfull survaillence. Most of the tournaments I attend have one maybe two directors and they have enough problems dealing with typical issues as is. The other problem with asking our tournament directors to do this is that they will find cheaters whether they exist or not. My Grandmother told me once that if you look hard enough for something you'll see it even if it's not there. I think there is wisdom in this advice and we see evidence of it with the finger pointing that's going on at some of the major tournaments. Tournament directors are not police officers and we shouldn't expect them to be.
Secondly, I'm not convinced that there is a punishment that the USCF could levy that would mean a heck of a lot to anyone below the IM level. Players that are cheating at the class level obviously don't care about the game so banning them from tournament play is probably irrelevant. Legal action such as jail time maybe a legitament threat, but according to the lawyer that attended the USCF meeting this kind of crime is a low priority to law enforcement. The proverbial slap on the wrist appears to be the only punishment that the USCF can levy.
So if we cant stop them and we cant punish them if we could catch them what option is there for our beloved sport. Before I give you the answer here are a few facts that will assist in my answer:
9th Annual Foxwoods Open
U1600 $5000-3000-2000-1000-700-600-500-400-300
U1300 $4000-2000-1500-1000-700-600-500-400-300
Chicago Open
U1700 $5000-3000-2000-1000-700-500-400-300
U1500 $4000-2500-1500-1000-700-500-400-300
U1200 $3000-1500-1000-800-600-500-400-300
35th Annual World Open
U1600 $20000-10000-5000-3000-2500-2000-1500-1000-800-700
U1400 $12000-6000-4000-3000-2500-2000-1500-1000-800-700.
U1100 $7000-4000-3000-2000-1500-1000-900-800-700-600
The data above is from three of the biggest tournaments that I am aware of. You can see that these particular tournaments are exactly the type that is most susceptible to attracting cheaters, and they attract cheaters for one simple reason. There is a boat load of money at stake. Now I absolutely believe that the open section should have very large prizes since this is where professionals play, but why in the world are there tournaments where a person U1100 can walk away with $7000! A person that is a legitimate U1100 player barely can keep the rules of the game straight. So here is my solution to this cheating problem, get rid of these undeserving prizes. Remove the temptation. I know that we might see a small decline in the participation at tournaments like these, but I know that the majority of class players are not in it for the money. There is no way an U1100 player is making a living at chess so their motivation for playing is rooted in something else. These players play because they love the big tournament atmosphere and they love the game. These players will always come back. Now you might think that all I've done is move the cheaters from the lower levels to the Open section. That assumption is absolutely correct, but this also makes it possible to identify anomalies more easily. A TD can see things that are obviously suspicious. If there is a guy rated 1800 knocking off IM's and GM's we probably have a problem.
We should also require identification to play and register for tournaments. This will actually serve two purposes. First, it just makes sense to guarantee that the person registered as John Doe is actually John Doe. I know that some of the big tourneys do require ID, but we need do this at all of them as normal operating procedure. Secondly, this will allow us to compile a national cheaters database. We can't stop them if we don't know who they are.
But you're reading this because you want to know what the real answer is and fortunately for you I have it.
First, its ridiculous to consider asking tournament directors to police 200 people. They just don't have the manpower or the equipment necessary to perform any kind of mainingfull survaillence. Most of the tournaments I attend have one maybe two directors and they have enough problems dealing with typical issues as is. The other problem with asking our tournament directors to do this is that they will find cheaters whether they exist or not. My Grandmother told me once that if you look hard enough for something you'll see it even if it's not there. I think there is wisdom in this advice and we see evidence of it with the finger pointing that's going on at some of the major tournaments. Tournament directors are not police officers and we shouldn't expect them to be.
Secondly, I'm not convinced that there is a punishment that the USCF could levy that would mean a heck of a lot to anyone below the IM level. Players that are cheating at the class level obviously don't care about the game so banning them from tournament play is probably irrelevant. Legal action such as jail time maybe a legitament threat, but according to the lawyer that attended the USCF meeting this kind of crime is a low priority to law enforcement. The proverbial slap on the wrist appears to be the only punishment that the USCF can levy.
So if we cant stop them and we cant punish them if we could catch them what option is there for our beloved sport. Before I give you the answer here are a few facts that will assist in my answer:
9th Annual Foxwoods Open
U1600 $5000-3000-2000-1000-700-600-500-400-300
U1300 $4000-2000-1500-1000-700-600-500-400-300
Chicago Open
U1700 $5000-3000-2000-1000-700-500-400-300
U1500 $4000-2500-1500-1000-700-500-400-300
U1200 $3000-1500-1000-800-600-500-400-300
35th Annual World Open
U1600 $20000-10000-5000-3000-2500-2000-1500-1000-800-700
U1400 $12000-6000-4000-3000-2500-2000-1500-1000-800-700.
U1100 $7000-4000-3000-2000-1500-1000-900-800-700-600
The data above is from three of the biggest tournaments that I am aware of. You can see that these particular tournaments are exactly the type that is most susceptible to attracting cheaters, and they attract cheaters for one simple reason. There is a boat load of money at stake. Now I absolutely believe that the open section should have very large prizes since this is where professionals play, but why in the world are there tournaments where a person U1100 can walk away with $7000! A person that is a legitimate U1100 player barely can keep the rules of the game straight. So here is my solution to this cheating problem, get rid of these undeserving prizes. Remove the temptation. I know that we might see a small decline in the participation at tournaments like these, but I know that the majority of class players are not in it for the money. There is no way an U1100 player is making a living at chess so their motivation for playing is rooted in something else. These players play because they love the big tournament atmosphere and they love the game. These players will always come back. Now you might think that all I've done is move the cheaters from the lower levels to the Open section. That assumption is absolutely correct, but this also makes it possible to identify anomalies more easily. A TD can see things that are obviously suspicious. If there is a guy rated 1800 knocking off IM's and GM's we probably have a problem.
We should also require identification to play and register for tournaments. This will actually serve two purposes. First, it just makes sense to guarantee that the person registered as John Doe is actually John Doe. I know that some of the big tourneys do require ID, but we need do this at all of them as normal operating procedure. Secondly, this will allow us to compile a national cheaters database. We can't stop them if we don't know who they are.
Labels: Chess Cheats
