Cheating at online chess: Here is a scenario:

I'm not encouraging cheating or attempting to give anybody ideas, but I was wondering,

If a player was to use an engine for every other move (i.e. play on a separate computer, on a separate site, like Chess.com)
Would the bots and moderators be able to catch it, or stop it? I am extremely skeptical they would.

The reason I ask is, I suspect a lot of players assume that a cheater is someone who is using an engine for every single move,
whereas I get a feeling there are players out there using engines incrementally, which is also cheating. If you are going to answer, some insight would be nice!
Please don't cheat. Thanks.

I agree - some cheaters aren't dumb enough to play engine moves one after another. - I report them, and never see that they got caught. - It's a problem. I think that's why people play bullet.

Or you could challenge a GM as white on one server, black on the other. Just relay the moves back and forth as the middleman. You'll lose on one server, but rack up rating points on the other.

Probably though anybody who thinks they can get away with cheating in the first place isn't gonna be clever enough to vary their attack (so to speak).

Why would you want to know? Are you going to cheat?

Why mind cheaters! I don't mind playing with them from time to time (it's not like every other opponent is one of them). First of all it's a challenge. Secondly after losing a lot of points you get to play weaker players (auto pairing), which is good way to really practice what you have learned recently (maybe some cheaters unknowingly taught you valuable lessons). At the end of the day by not cheating and just playing anybody you will be the one who's actually skilled (if not titled). I even stopped reporting them. And yeah, you're right, the bots or moderators won't be able to "catch it, or stop it" - because one random cheated move is quite like normal human move (it is irregular though). Just have fun!

Why couldn't a talented 12-year old put together a front end which accepts moves from 'an operator' ( this operator might be local or remote ... ), then submit this move to an entire list of engines ... the list being limited only by raw cpu avail and the imagination of 'the inventor' ... next some middleware would be very craftily made to select moves from the list provided by the engine cadre ... let's say each engine supplies its best top 5 moves, or whatever ...

If properly done, I can't see how any 'statistical detection system' could possibly identify the method ...

Especially if one were to use random older version of the engines, salt the middleware result with a couple awful 'human moves' under the right conditions, etc, etc, and then at the back end the move comes out ...

Sort of like what happens to us when we have to use the bathroom, I guess ...

I propose essays at the end of every game and before the next game can be played. When you finish a game, you must write an essay explaining your moves. This will stop cheating in its tracks.

@juliegirl1999 said in #1:
> If a player was to use an engine for every other move (i.e. play on a separate computer, on a separate site, like Chess.com)
> Would the bots and moderators be able to catch it, or stop it? I am extremely skeptical they would.
The Lichess system would most likely detect a repetitive fluctuation in skill between moves and ban the user.
For example, blunder, great move, inaccuracy, great move, mistake, best move, etc.
I doubt the developers would let such a simple tactic slide by.