Has anyone ever legitimately cheated in a tournament by moving the pieces around when people were distracted.
I know every move is recorded and narrated as they play but that wouldn’t stop someone really desperate.
Wouldn’t that be extremely obvious, first of all to the other player ?
You might be able to catch a low-level player like that, but grandmasters know exactly where everything is on the board.
And broadcast delays only help if the engine is being run by a confederate watching the game. If a cheater can hide a communications device on (or in) their person, then they can hide the computer itself on their person, as well.
Also they could make it two-way, informing their confederate about their opponent’s moves as they happen. (Kegels?)
What? I’m just trying to control my incontinence and increase my sexual stamina!
I just need some walnuts cracked open
Not in a tournament, but I always love the video of a street hustler trying to swindle an extra knight off of GM Maurice Ashley. He didn’t fall for it…
Money move at 2:20 (should be linked to the move).
That’s some great trash-talking on the part of Ashley.
“I think I can manage this position” (with the GM being a pawn and a bishop up)
“Mate in 23”… “Three?” “23”
“That’s game”… “Only now? I thought it was over already.”
“I’ve heard of this rule called pawn takes pawn en passant.”
Yes indeed.
Also most tournament players (not just Grandmasters) are analysing the position whilst they stroll around the playing hall.
I’ve given simultaneous displays against 20 players and I have spotted when somebody has moved out of turn (my opponents are asked to move only when I arrive at their board.)
I’m also certain that experienced players can remember the position from a serious game almost perfectly - but struggle if pieces are randomly placed.
(I reckon this shows that such players remember chunks of positions and relationships between them…)
I’ve never seen that happen, but I was in a really knotty one-game-a-week tournament once when I thought for a good 20 minutes, and then found a great knight move that flipped the position to my advantage, and went on to win the game.
The next week my opponent came by my table and said “do you realize you moved a knight diagonally last week?” I was horrified and told him we should notify the tournament Director and get the game reversed, but he told me he didn’t care that much. I looked at the game that night, and yes indeed, my brilliant move was also completely illegal.
My wife and I (both very low level players) always have to be on the alert for pieces moved by the dog’s tail as he walks by looking for attention. “Wait a second! Why do I have two black-square bishops?”
Clearly a pawn underpromotion. 
Heh–I wonder if it’s something like how you can memorize the first quote below much more easily than the second:
Niemann is lagging now in the US Championship, with a low tournament performance rating relative to his actual rating, but I don’t find that particularly dispositive… whether he’s been cheating or not, he’s under a lot of scrutiny and pressure.
I’ve been listening to chess podcasts while painting the house…obviously this is a hot topic, and at this point I am ambivalent as to whether he’s cheated OTB. But in some sense it doesn’t matter, because I have no doubt he won’t be playing in any more tournaments that don’t have a time delay.
( I tried to upload an image of the standings but it failed, clearly I have no idea how discourse works)
Rank after Round 7
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | USA | 2763 | 5,5 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 2 | 9 | GM | Robson Ray | USA | 2690 | 4,5 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | 10 | GM | Swiercz Dariusz | USA | 2652 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 4 | 8 | GM | Dominguez Perez Leinier | USA | 2747 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1,5 |
| 5 | 2 | GM | Sevian Samuel | USA | 2684 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 | GM | Liang Awonder | USA | 2608 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1,5 |
| 7 | 5 | GM | Xiong Jeffery | USA | 2690 | 3,5 | 0 | 3 | 1,5 |
| 8 | 6 | GM | Shankland Sam | USA | 2712 | 3,5 | 0 | 3 | 1,5 |
| 9 | 4 | GM | Yoo Christopher Woojin | USA | 2563 | 3,5 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 10 | 12 | GM | So Wesley | USA | 2774 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| 11 | 1 | GM | Lenderman Aleksandr | USA | 2535 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2,5 |
| 12 | 11 | GM | Niemann Hans Moke | USA | 2699 | 2,5 | 0 | 4 | 2,5 |
| 13 | 14 | GM | Aronian Levon | USA | 2755 | 2,5 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 14 | 13 | GM | Moradiabadi Elshan | USA | 2534 | 1,5 | 0 | 4 | 1,5 |
Yeah, Niemann is underperforming his rating, but it’s not unusual. He has 3 points from 8 games, when his expectation would be 4/8. Levon has 3/8 and his expectation is 5/8; Wesley has 3.5/8 and his expectation is also 5/8. They’re both underperforming by more than Hans is.
Niemann won the last three rounds, is ranked 7th, and is slightly overperforming at +0.13.
He and Caruana are the only players with 4 wins.
| Rank | Name | Score | M/F | Rating | TPR | W-We | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Caruana, Fabiano | 8.0 | M | 2763 | 2782 | +0.33 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 2 | GM Robson, Ray | 7.5 | M | 2690 | 2764 | +1.17 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 3 | GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier | 7.0 | M | 2747 | 2719 | -0.35 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ |
| 4 | GM Liang, Awonder | 7.0 | M | 2608 | 2732 | +2.08 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 |
| 5 | GM So, Wesley | 6.5 | M | 2774 | 2691 | -1.28 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | GM Shankland, Sam | 6.5 | M | 2712 | 2691 | -0.28 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 7 | GM Niemann, Hans Moke | 6.5 | M | 2699 | 2704 | +0.13 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | GM Xiong, Jeffery | 6.5 | M | 2690 | 2698 | +0.17 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 9 | GM Sevian, Samuel | 6.5 | M | 2684 | 2691 | +0.18 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | GM Aronian, Levon | 5.5 | M | 2755 | 2628 | -2.05 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 |
| 11 | GM Swiercz, Dariusz | 5.5 | M | 2652 | 2654 | +0.00 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GM Yoo, Christopher Woojin | 4.5 | M | 2563 | 2596 | +0.38 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ |
| 13 | GM Lenderman, Aleksandr | 4.5 | M | 2535 | 2608 | +1.01 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | GM Moradiabadi, Elshan | 2.0 | M | 2534 | 2422 | -1.49 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Niemann is suing Carlsen, unsurprisingly. The link below is directly from a Niemann tweet.
Hmmm…no less than $100 million dollars sought as remedy.
This might be an interesting one. Is analytical circumstantial evidence of widespread cheating sufficient proof of widespread cheating to evade libel/slander charges? I guess we’re going to find out.