In the new year, I will no longer play rapid chess games at CHESSCom.
There are too many cheaters, as on other chess platforms—lots of banal or smart cheaters.
I've been playing rapid chess there for 6 months. My username is "Mikromeister".
When I reached a rating of 2000, I noticed that many of my opponents were cheating.
Databases and chess machines were used.
For months, my rating has been swinging back and forth between 2250 and 2150.
I only achieve success when the cheaters are somehow asleep, and the normal chess players appear.
I just don't enjoy it. I can play against the chess engine without an internet connection as well.
I don't learn much there, either. My opponent makes careless moves in the opening, and in a complex endgame, already in a losing position, he turns on the chess machine.
Every day, I have encountered cheaters. The record was 4 cheaters in a row.
By my estimate, CHESSCom detects maybe 1/5 of the cheaters. Since there are so many cheaters, it is perhaps economically disadvantageous for the paid platform to punish them all.
Or it will be difficult to prove the fact of smart cheating.
In any case, I am absolutely fed up with what is going on there. Play without me.
I know how they are doing this today, but I will not describe that technique.
***
On the morning of 01 January 2025, I still played two games. Nothing has changed. Every second player with a rating above 2000 plays at the level of international master.
I do not want to participate in such a grand collective self-deception.
CHESSCom Coerces Me to Play Chess
Above, I complained about a massive amount of cheaters using opening databases and chess engines during the rapid games.
For some reason, there were more cheaters than usual during the holidays, and I lost about 100 rating points in a few weeks.
The cheaters may have tried to achieve a higher rating before the end of the year 2024. I do not know.
Some of the readers of my post in my CHESSCom blog were sceptical, writing:
"This didn't make much sense to me."
However, I have not played rapid games on CHESSCom in the new year. Despite my passivity, I have received four messages from CHESSCom. As compensation, my rating has been adjusted, and I have got back 8 + 11 + 10 + 11 = 40 rating points.
Unfortunately, the adjustment announced does not show up in my rating. To add these 40 points to my current rating, I will probably have to play one more rapid game on CHESSCom.
In such a way, CHESSCom - the only chess platform that announces that Magnus and Ella are together - forces me to play at least one more chess game against the possible cheaters to get back my points grabbed by the cheaters.
However, perhaps I can regain my points even if I abort the next game I have started.
We shall see.
***
Yes, indeed, I got back my rating points grabbed by the cheaters only as soon as I started a new game against a potential cheater.
***
Meanwhile, some cheaters are losing some games because they do not look at the position on the board and trust one's chess engine in one's mobile phone. If they misread the engine's text, they make such blunders that no everyday chess player can do.
Not a Single Game
I have downloaded all the rapid games I have played on CHESSCom.
The PGN-s are incorrect, and I must handwrite approximately 30 games I have played and commented on there.
After all, CHESSCom is a paid service.
I made my commented game collection, "Two Knights Defence", which includes 65 rapid games invisible.
Why should I share my opening theory analyses for free with opponents who cheat and use materials and chess engines during rapid games?
I shall no longer play a single chess game on CHESSCom due to the frequent occurrence of cheaters.
I will also cancel my subscription.
I will review the study materials as long as I can still use the platform. Some seem useful and interesting, even for experienced players.
