Cheat Detection - False Positives
Submitted by
on Mon, 06/15/2009 at 9:24pm.
I used to serve a large site called gamereplays.org as a global administrator in charge of moderation. I am called StarTrekker there. Retired from service there now, but in the process of working for that site, I oversaw many cheat accusation topics where cheats were detected using all the methods at our disposal. We caught and banned many cheats, costing them their account and their right to play in clanwars.cc. We did our best to ensure that we had 100% accurate verdicts before pronouncing guilt. However, every so often there WERE false positives. Innocent people banned for cheating.
I wonder what the false positive rate is for cheat detection here at chess.com? I wonder this since I strive for perfection. Yes, that's a bit of a play on my Borg persona there, but still. I'll try to explain:
After every game I play is completed, I analyse it with my Deep Fritz 11 engine. Whether it be OTB or Online Chess. I judge my performance based on that analysis and I do my best to adapt and learn so I can play better next time.
Every move is analysed. I have the top ten engine moves showing during the analysis. I compare the game moves to the top ten and I note every one of my move's position in the top ten. Obviously, I aim to get lots of 1's - where Fritz would play what I did. I often get lots of 1s in a game. I often get 2s and 3s too. And yes, I often manage at least one ">10 move" per game lol! I hate it when I get streaks of those!
When I get moves which are not deemed "best", I let it analyse for a while longer and I study out the position. I've done this ever since I've owned a chess engine, starting with my Novag Constellation Forte unit. The aim is to improve by analysing those things that I miss during my game.
Now, in this otb game, when analysed like this, there were lots of 1's. No, I am not trying to "blow my own trumpet" or brag. I am just showing that I am capable of getting these 1's, even OTB. And I am doing that for a reason. When I play online chess, I am more accurate than OTB, since I have references, opening books, databases, the analysis board, my own physical analysis boards and oodles of time. Therefore I get many more 1's than OTB. Every now and then I play a near perfect game (compared to the analysis). Haven't quite managed that perfect one yet, but I am trying!
So what's my point? Simply that I'm worried. I value my chess.com membership very highly and I would sure hate to fall victim to a false positive just because I've played well.
I sure hope the methods used to detect cheats here are accurate! :)
I wonder if any other chess.com members are worried about playing too well?!
Thanks for reading :)