My opponent just left our game. After waiting for some time, I was given the option to either claim a win or call the game a draw.
I was pretty sure that my position was better, but didn't trust my calculation. So I had the ingenious idea to let the computer tell me whether my opponent had any saving moves and then decide accordingly. The game was promptly forfeited: "cheat detected".
It's clearly my own fault for being stupid, but at the same time, I wish there had been a button to let the server decide what to make of the game.
I was just trying to be nice.
Am I alone in thinking it's a little weird to put a disconnected player at the mercy of their opponent? (See Art 12.2, 12.7 and 13.4 of the FIDE Laws of Chess: if you leave the venue, the arbiter can decide the game)
TL;DR: Lost a won game b/c I checked whether I should call it a win or a draw when my opponent had left. Now I'm bitter.
It's your opponent's fault for leaving the game. I just always take the win in that case. If they don't want to lose, they shouldn't leave the game.
But is it? I've lost games to this because I lost my internet connection.
The game was not over and your opponent still could come back so checking the engine was "cheating" - it was absolutely wrong!
The problem is that there is no way to differ good or bad intentions for such cases: if you open analysis board during an unfinished game you will get immediately forfeited by automatical cheat detection. :<
Once happened, you are not marked as a cheater or anything - please dont worry much about it for now and DONT DO IT AGAIN!
There is a timer when opponent leaves the game after which you can either claim a win or call the game draw.
Btw. you can even wait for a while longer after this timer expired, giving your opponent more time to reconnect.
You are probably not alone with your thinking and with your suggestion (but I am not supporting it!)
I remember back then, on FICS, there were adjourned games: if someone lost connection, the game got postponed and when they came back online, there was a notification about them being back and either side could offer to "resume" the game.
People abused this a lot. They disconnected from lost games and were not resuming them.
Or they suddenly resumed/resigned them all when their ratings were low.
Those games were "hanging in the air" and one had to request adjucation for them.
If the game was clearly won (say above +5 advantage) it was done automatically after the adjudication request.
Otherwise a human had to take a look (as you say, arbiter) and make a decition on the game.
It caused a lot of work for the administration of the site.
I think the way lichess handles it is great!!!
If someone disconnects early and you want to be nice you can choose to take a draw.
Imho, people are responsible for their connection - so I always take the win in such cases. :0
Hope you are no longer bitter and that helps :-)
Thanks for your thoughts, Funkmaus. I realised how stupid it was to open the analysis board as soon as I did it. In my head, the game was already over. I agree that if my opponent had come back, I would've had to resign.
Actually, this might be an adaption worth considering, no? Only consider it cheating once your opponent comes back online? Ach, I'll have to simply accept my mistake but it's bugging me.
Well I dont see a point of analysing unfinished games, if you are referring to me.
You say above you would resign if they came back - why would you want to bring yourself in this stupid sutiation?!
Too curious how you are doing?! Claim win/take draw - game over - and now you can examine the position with or without engine. Or just play another game - luckily, here is always a new challenge around. :-)
I am strongly against your suggestion.
@bearnee I can see the game in your history. It's hilarious that it says "Cheat detected, White is victorious" and also "computer analysis available"
:D
No, sorry, I think you missed my point. I ofc don't want this situation to occur, but it did occur because it's easy to think the game is over when you're asked "how would you like the game to end?". It's not about being "too curious". I merely didn't want to abuse my right to claim a win. So basically I tried to be sportsmanlike and slipped into being a cheater even though my actions had no effect on the game.
That's why I think the game should only be forfeited once there is a possibility for your analysis to have an effect, i.e. when your opponent reconnects before you can claim a win or a draw. I do realise it's an edge case and can easily be avoided by not being a buffoon though. Probably not worth fixing, but it does feel bad.
@bearnee I entirely get your point.. My point was a sideline, it's amusing that the cheat detection system helpfully mentions on the game log that the analysis that caused the cheat abort is available to view on the game log.
As for your main point, what would you have done if you had checked the analysis, seen how to get a mate in 3 or 4 moves and then just before you clicked the "claim victory" button your opponent had logged back on, said "sorry my computer crashed, now let's carry on"?
@jimster99 haha, nooo, I knew you were joking and thought it was funny too. That's why I gave you a heart. My post was directed at Funkmaus. You posted while I was writing my reply to her.
As to your question, I honestly can't say because I didn't have an elaborate plan. It was a decision I made in a couple of seconds. I thought I was winning but didn't trust my calculation. So instead of hitting the "claim victory" button I thought I should check if I'm missing something.
My best guess is that, had they returned, I would've told them I messed up and either resigned or drawn. But I didn't consider that possibility. I take cheating seriously which is why I'm troubled by the verdict I received. None of my moves were influenced by an engine.
