Dear Dr. Unclear:

I came upon your website by entering "chess cheating" into a search engine. Actually I was searching for tips on how to cheat, or for information on how to interface a chess program directly to a chess server, so that I don't have to manually move all the pieces, but I stopped what I was doing and stayed at your site for a long time, reading most of it.

I agree with the cheaters that cheating is not really cheating. I am mainly talking about people like myself...program users, and not disconnectors. (I hate them too! ) Your rating will eventually accurately reflect what you have been doing, so you are not taking ratings points from anyone, except for when you first join a new chess server, and that is no different from a strong human.

For example, if Garry Kasparov decides to join a new Internet chess server, and they give him the standard entry-level rating, does that mean he is cheating because his real rating is way way higher? No, he will eventually get to his true level, and in the meantime people will know they are taking a risk when they see he has 0 games played. ( Most chess servers I have played on keep track of your rating, and number of games played) Zero games played could mean anything, a person with a chess program, a grandmaster, or someone playing his first game of chess in their life. You don't have to play them if you don't want to run the risk.

Also, cheating with a chess program is a game of strategy in itself. How not to get caught, which opening book to use, which chess program to use for a particular situation, which settings to use for a game. For instance, one of my favorite chess programs has anti-grandmaster settings, it will try to lure a grandmaster into the type of game where a computer can play at it's best. Another is designed strictly to beat other chess computers, which I will use if I suspect I am playing another program user. Another program is widely owned by most chess players, and they have memorized the opening book and style of play used by it's strongest settings, and so you have to change default settings to avoid being caught. You responded to one cheater by telling him he could not play without a tactically planned strategy and artificial assistance, my point exactly. There is much thought and strategy that goes into what cheaters do (if you are a good cheater) and that's why it is fun to do. I am a humble cheater, I make many mistakes but try to learn from them, and become a better cheater.

I have one name for when I am not cheating, so that I know what my true rating is, and another for cheating. Sometimes after a few hard fought honest games, I can program use, kick back, have a few beers, and get many laughs at the subtle things that can happen between a chess computer and a human. I love to watch how the two players respond to each other, it really can get comical and provide great entertainment.

I do occasionally crisscross, ( cheat under my honest name, and play honest under my cheating name) but there are good reasons for that too. Most legitimate grandmasters will never accept a challenge from a low-rated player, because they are scared that if someone is cheating and they lose the game, that they will lose many ratings points. So playing honest under my cheating name gives me an opportunity to play a great player that I otherwise would never get to play.

Another reason that cheating is not really cheating is because if I beat someone while cheating, they can still analyze the game afterward, figure out where they went wrong, learn from it, and become a better player.

One of my favorite types of games to play is a combination of honesty and cheating, I will be playing an honest game and input the moves into a chess computer, but only look at what the computer recommends if I get into a real jam.

Sometimes I will feel like no matter how hard I try, I cannot come up with a good move in a given spot. Usually the computer will find a brilliant move. I believe that I am learning good chess this way. Sure, I could have analyzed the game with the chess computer afterwards, but I learn faster doing things on the fly. It is boring to play an honest game, and then analyze it with a computer afterwards. To motivate yourself to learn, you have to make things fun.

I honestly believe cheating helps me when I am playing an honest game of chess, I recognize and memorize patterns and formations that the computer gets into, and I believe it carries over into my honest games.

I think that it was Garry Kasparov himself that said "The future of chess is man and computer VS. man and computer" It is widely known (and not considered cheating) that Kasparov used software to help him win the MSN sponsored "Kasparov vs. the world" game.

Vishy Anand has said that a combination of him and a chess computer would make for one incredibly strong scary player. There are lines that he would be scared to try on his own under tournament conditions, but if the computer is recommending it in a casual game, he will have the confidence to try it. He also said that there are times when the computer will be recommending one move that he absolutely knows is wrong, when the correct move is obvious to him.

In short, what I am doing is fun, entertaining, and I believe that if you are a good cheater you will not be found out (It's rare for me to even be accused anymore) and therefore fun and educational for the other person you are playing. So no harm done.

P.S.- I plan on quitting cheating if I make it to grandmaster level on my own. Realistically, that is a very long way off if ever, but I have been improving.

I read what you wrote to Dr Unclear regarding your status as a cheater.

I see your logic, and I also see the flaws within:

You wrote:
"Your rating will eventually accurately reflect what you have been doing, so you are not taking ratings points from anyone, except for when you first join a new chess server, and that is no different from a strong human."

Sorry, but you are wrong here... it is fair to know your opponent is a computer so you can adjust your play accordingly. If you hide behind the pretense of being a carbon-based human, you're destroying the other guy's strategy... remember, many of us play GAMBIT lines that are NO GOOD vs computers.. but against a computer we know to play differently. If I want to get my but whipped in a tactical mele' I can do so because we all own computers like yours.

Many players do what you attempt to do, but they do it right. They play with a (C) next to their name.. and they can still do everything else that you do.. they too can take over for their machines and/or play a whole game themselves, but the major difference here is they have much more interesting games because the opponent is ON GUARD.

Basically what you are doing is cheating yourself.
- You lie in bed at night and you know you''re a fake.
- You look in the mirror and you know you'rre not up to par.
- You pass a group of REAL chessplayers andd you long to be a part of them.

...and maybe, just maybe one day you'll gain some maturity and a little bit of wisdom, and you'll see that you've been playing the fool, and it's time to change your ways. I'm sure it's a long way off.. you see, we already know your kind. We've been at this for much longer than you, so you're no surprise... you may think you're a pioneer, but you're just an ordinary cheater, and eventually I'll latch on to you, and once that happens, it's just a matter of time because I NEVER GIVE UP once I spot someone using a computer.

As good as you might be at cheating, I'm better at spotting cheaters... so you'd better place me on your notify list and log off when I'm around...oh yeah... I forgot to tell you my handle...

It's the name of the guy who eventually exposes you.