Hi,

A website I frequent is considering challenging ChessForums.org to a game, at some point in the near future. You guys may or may not accept the challenge, of course, but just in case it ever does happen I have a question about rules.

Basically, I assume that something like Fritz is not allowed in a correspondence game between this site and another site. Is that right?

Thanks,
Tom

That is correct. Any outside "help" while playing a game of chess, regardless of time constraints, would be considered cheating.

Of course, it is hard to tell whether an opponent is cheating in an environment like this, but I'm sure that FICS, ICC, Chesscube, etc. have some way of scanning for any players who are using a computer program to suggest moves to them.

This inter-website chess game is intruiging. Please post again if you get more info about it.

Hi,

I'm glad you said that. It seems that a lot of people feel that computer checking is acceptable with correspondence games, but I'm really not a fan of it.

Basically, the website is TribalWar Forums. It's not actually a chess website — it's one of those online-gaming forums — but it seems we more than a handful of talented chess players there. One forum member claims to be a FIDE Master with a 2300 rating. Personally, I'm only about 1600, but I'm improving.

I'll post here if we decide to challenge ChessForums.org.

Regards,
Tom

I'm sure Showalter will chime in here, but from what I understand, it's regular practice to "check" your moves with engines in correspondence chess. I myself don't like the idea, either, but I guess it is what it is.

I personally check games *after* they are played, but that's just me lol.

IECG allows engine use and everybody there uses one. That means that whatever rating you start at (i.e. any acceptable rating you have) you won’t get very far because it’s basically engine vs. engine even at lower levels. I’ve played 1600’s and 2200’s there and couldn’t tell the difference!

Other sites (CCLA, ICCF as well as turn based sites) officially ban their use but make no effort to ferret out users. One exception is Red Hot Pawn and they claim to have a foolproof method of detecting them but I've seen 1200's banned so I’m skeptical. My best guess for most sites: 2000-2300 half the players use engines. Over that, everybody. I also realize that there are a lot of good players out there who are legit...I know one 2300 OTB who now plays mostly CC and is a CC IM but he's also skilled in point 2 below.

So with about half my opponents probably using engines why don’t I use one, too? 1) it’s no fun. 2) I’m not good enough to direct the game into channels where engines do not evaluate the position correctly or don’t play well. This is where the top CC players excel and is the reason the rest of us can’t compete on their level. 3) I don’t have the patience to let an engine run for several hours to select a move and finally, 4) I’m just a patzer playing for fun so whether my opponent is a 1000, 2600 or an engine, I really don’t give a rat’s derriere.

I do miss the old postcard days when you knew your opponent’s real name and where he lived. It was also fun to occasionally play a well-known master because in those days, with the paucity of OTB events, a lot of them played postal chess. Thus I was fortunate to have played (read lost) to a few “name” players from a bygone era.

I've learned a lot, especially about openings, from doing this. And it's nice if I find out after a game that every move I made was highly rated by Fritz. Not so long ago, I would struggle to play a game without at least one major blunder, but gone are those days, thank goodness!

Okay, we've got some good players together, and we are officially challenging ChessForums.org to a game. I hope you guys are not too busy. Please let me know.

Kind regards,
Tom

Most chess playing websites do not allow Silocon. More than several websites have software that checks games, and is able to determine if software by one player or the other was used.
In "postal" type games you can use Opening books, material, and probably
Chesslive.de or Chessgames.com. A computer is not playing the game for you.

Just bumping this post in case it was missed by anyone. Please ignore this if there's no interest.

Thanks

Sure, I'd be interested. The Correspondence tourney isn't working out that great, but a chess game between sites is always fun.