06-06-2013, 09:43 AM
Imagine a hypothetical situation where you are in the last round of a tournament, and anything but a loss will guarantee you winning the tournament and collecting a prize of £5000. A player graded 300 elo below you sits in front of you and emphatically demolishes you, claiming the £5000 prize. This, after already having done the same to lots of other players much stronger than he. Later analysis of the games suggests a very strong matchup with a top Chess engine.
I'd be surprised if your opinions would be so diplomatic if you were put in such a situation Phil and Walter. It's very possible that he's a genius who has just come out of nowhere. But it's far more likely he is cheating, and it just cost you £5000. You'd be very pissed off, and rightfully so.
And if this situation isn't resolved then I believe it could send Chess down a similar road to cycling. Players will find more ingenius methods of receiving computer help in order to win money and titles, knowing that the Chess community will do nothing without actually witnessing the cheating first hand. And you'll have the same doubts as you do in cycling: "...player x won that tournament", "...yea but he was probably cheating". The whole game becomes sadly pointless, and OTB becomes as ruined by cheating as online Chess largely is.
I'd be surprised if your opinions would be so diplomatic if you were put in such a situation Phil and Walter. It's very possible that he's a genius who has just come out of nowhere. But it's far more likely he is cheating, and it just cost you £5000. You'd be very pissed off, and rightfully so.
And if this situation isn't resolved then I believe it could send Chess down a similar road to cycling. Players will find more ingenius methods of receiving computer help in order to win money and titles, knowing that the Chess community will do nothing without actually witnessing the cheating first hand. And you'll have the same doubts as you do in cycling: "...player x won that tournament", "...yea but he was probably cheating". The whole game becomes sadly pointless, and OTB becomes as ruined by cheating as online Chess largely is.