IF people are cheating, whatever, I still learn from those games. There are times I thought someone was cheating, but I look at their record and they remain pretty consistant around 1400-1500 (my rating level) for past few months.
I'm sure it's not as bad as people think. I remember playing Playstation FPS, and literally every 4th person in the game thought people were cheating.... so I would just keep playing and not worry about it.
It isn't a bad place compared to many. Chess terrorists need to be dealt with, but this is probably the best site...
I stopped playing on Lichess 6 months ago although it is a relatively clean and well managed site. I migrated over 18 months ago from
Chess.com because IMO cheating became common. I have 4 chess programs and ample opportunity to play computer chess if I so desire. I prefer to play against human opponents because of the opportunity for social interaction and a possibility of actually winning. Even on Lichess it became frustrating that IMO probably 1 in 5 players cheated. Sometimes it seems that a few players cheat almost all the time and they will usually be weeded out. However, the hard ones to detect are those that use an engine occasionally most of the game or during a game intermittently, especially when in a in losing or complex position where they can't come up with a good move. I always analyse my games and I smell a rat when, for instance, a 1500 rated player makes just a few innacuracies, a low mistake rate and no blunders. I have reported a few players out of the 2000 or so games I have played and all of them were banned. Much of the time I can't prove my suspicions but I get a feeling of uneasiness, so much so that I am disillusioned with online chess. I will return to OTB games soon via a chess club. I returned to Lichess after an absence of 6 months but in the first game I was smashed by a 200 lower rated player. Over the 6 months absence I have completed about 22,000 training exercises and watched hundreds of YouTube videos including GM matches, classic games and tutorials. I have played 4 or five games since my return but I get the impression that cheating is still a big issue judging by the large number of posts. Maybe it will never go away as it's just a reflection of human behavior and inadequacies.
I got one notification that I had lost against a cheater und I played about 90 games. I don't believe that cheating is a big problem.
Why do people cheat? Because they are pathetic losers who are so desperate to be proud of something that they decide to take pride in something that isn't there. It is as simple as that.
After playing 26k+ games I've had no more than half a dozen notifications about losing to a cheat .
@droceretik i have seen some of your losing game against low rated player, well, they blundered a lot, you just blundered more...it is clear no one was cheating...playing with just few mistake is possible...
estragon89 I never claimed that I didn't make blunders or never lost fairly to a low rated player My modest chess ability is the main, but not the only reason why my chess does not advance beyond 1700 or 1800. Looking at a few of my games does not constitute a valid appraisal of a reasonable sample of my games nor to come to any conclusion about whether the outcome of some of my games have been influenced by my opponents engine use. Why don't you look at a 1,000 of my games and then come back with your expert opinion. I never claimed that I believed many of my losses were due to cheating but just believe that a few players use engines all the time. They get weeded out quickly. It's the stealthy ones that pass under the radar. You believe there are very few engine users on Lichess? How do you come to that conclusion? Does anyone know what is the exact extent of cheating in online chess? It's my opinion that the number of engine users is far outweighed by the number of fair players but there still are a small but significant number who tarnish the enjoyment of online chess for me.
A further problem is that engines are pocket Super-Super-GMs which are available always and everywhere. Using them gives even noobs a deceiving feeling of mastering the game and catch up with better players quickly.
Even watching the stars playing chess by using engines and despising them is a problem, yet by far a lesser one.
I think a lot of people rated around 1500 need to realise that they are this rating due to inconsistency mostly, not because they can't have matches where they will play at a 1900 level.
