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Cheating / Forfeiting


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Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-20)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Hello to all.

The website detected 2 'probable' cheaters registered (one playing), with a 1400 rating.

Of course, FICGS will face problems encountered by all correspondence chess sites but I think it will be minimal here, as I'm enforcing detection rules so that aliases couldn't register anymore.

Important : Games forfeited without a valid explanation won't be rated, and the account for the player closed. A player who may forfeit should send an email with explanation to : ficgs (at) ficgs.com

Thanks.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-20 15:12:34)
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_B__000002

All games played against Daniel Grecu (forfeit) won't be rated in this tournament. Sorry about that.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-24 11:00:22)
Forfeit , 2006 April 24

Paul-Iosif forfeited all his running games. Only games 87, 149 and 150 will be unrated. (too few moves played)

Sorry about that.


Herbert Kruse    (2025-07-24 09:12:23)
Cheating / Forfeiting

is there a process to detect it today?


Ulises Pineda    (2025-08-05 01:14:13)
Cheating / Forfeiting

I've seen many games recently where the games are lost on time in equal positions, by players that let their clock run until they have 0 days and then play from the increment. But they seem random, so not sure.


Herbert Kruse    (2025-08-25 11:02:18)
Cheating / Forfeiting

if they are random, they should banned from tournament and all games should be nulled, so that is still a fair tournament


George Jempty    (2025-10-05 14:58:16)
Cheating / Forfeiting

@Unlise Pineda, I do not think those situations are random. Because last one month, at least once, I had 3 or 4 games by "different" players, that have been doing so (letting their time run down to around one day or less) when I got all of their moves within 5 or 10 minutes of one another, very strange.


George Jempty    (2025-10-05 14:59:40)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Pech/Pechova, I'm looking at you


George Jempty    (2025-10-05 21:02:56)
Cheating / Forfeiting

The only explanation I can think of is that they are all friends/family and can only access the internet every so often, and do so at the same time. But that seems pretty far-fetched


George Jempty    (2025-10-07 17:20:01)
Cheating / Forfeiting

You know what angers me about these players, is that I entered a tournament when one of them was around 2150 and me around 2000, and I stood to GAIN rating points by drawing. Well they've forfeited a bunch of games and there rating is down to close to 2000, whereas my latest rating was 2125, and my future rating is over 2150 at the moment. So now if I only draw against them I stand to LOSE rating points, unless they forfeit against me, which may or may not happen,


Thibault de Vassal    (2025-10-27 18:45:17)
Cheating / Forfeiting

I understand... I'll have a look at that soon.


Paul Guralivu    (2026-04-16 10:15:06)
Cheating / Forfeiting

"Pech/Pechova, I'm looking at you"

this might actually be true:
Stepan Pech ... is in vacation until 2026 April 17 4:20:21

Hana Pechova ... is in vacation until 2026 April 17 4:21:1

Taking vacation in the morning, 40 sec difference.

Trully, someone needs to look close at it!


Paul Guralivu    (2026-04-16 10:26:37)
Cheating / Forfeiting

you should add to analysis:

Jiri Mach ... is in vacation until 2026 April 17 4:18:57


Paul Guralivu    (2026-04-16 10:46:43)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Matej Pech ... is in vacation until 2026 April 17 4:19:39


Paul Guralivu    (2026-04-16 10:51:02)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Pretty SUSPECT that 4 players, atleast 1 not part of the family,

take vacation AT 4 AM (in the MORNING!)... minutes or seconds from one-an-other!


Thibault de Vassal    (2026-04-16 13:24:19)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Indeed. I observe it for years, but obviously rating is not the motivation so...


George Jempty    (2026-05-28 12:45:46)
Cheating / Forfeiting

See, this is the sort of response that has led to my disillusionment with this site. These players, Pech, Pechova, Mach, etc. SHOULD BE BANNED. I have hated playing against them this several months.


Thibault de Vassal    (2026-05-29 16:21:07)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Hello George. Feel free to tell me why (in private messages). Any feedback may be useful.


George Jempty    (2026-05-31 13:18:33)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Thib, you said you'd look into LAST OCTOBER. In the meantime, Paul Guralivu has provided even more evidence as outlined above. I think you have everything you need to make a decision, without me emailing you. Thanks though.


Ulises Pineda    (2026-06-01 03:15:35)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Let me play devil's advocate here: It makes sense that all these players take a vacation at the same time if they're from the same family, presumably the family goes together on vacation and are expected to come back together as well.

What shouldn't be allowed is if they play each other and let the game run out of time to give the win to one of them, that's not random, but I haven't seen that happening, anyway.


Paul Guralivu    (2026-06-06 18:16:18)
Cheating / Forfeiting

@Ulises Pineda: there is not vacation...

"they" take those vacations often, just for 24-48 h...

when they don't take those vacations, they just let the clock go close to ZERO and then take vacations for 24-48 h AND then make the move!

Plus: Mach Jiri is part of the "situation".

and I believe Koudela Arthur is part of the situation also.

guess what: in the WCH... Mach Jiri, Pechova Hana and Koudela Arthur are in the SAME group -- playing each other!


George Jempty    (2026-06-06 20:54:00)
Cheating / Forfeiting

And yet Thib continues TO DO NOTHING. Fuck FICGS


Paul Guralivu    (2026-06-10 08:40:02)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Koudela Arthur is part of the scheme.

He took vacation for 24 h at 5:7 (in the morning)
Mach Jiri took vacation for 24 h at 5:9
Pech Stefan took vacation for 24 h at 5:10


And Mach jiri, koydkela Arthur and Pechova play one another in WCH


Thibault de Vassal    (2026-06-15 16:02:22)
Cheating / Forfeiting

All games & many statistics are available to see... I had a look again at their stats one vs another, there is no evidence of cheating to favour one profile in particular.

I agree it is probable that many profiles might be used by the same person, but it is tolerable until there is a real abuse. (there are similar cases where a player tests different engines or so)

If anyone has evidence of cheating, feel free to send it to me by email.


Davide Nudo    (2026-06-19 13:01:59)
Cheating / Forfeiting

So, let me get this straight.

There’s a suspicion that one or more players are playing multiple games simultaneously using different accounts; of these accounts, three are linked by their last names (they could still be relatives, but let’s get to the third point), but more importantly, they have the unusual tendency to go into Zeitnot almost immediately and then use time extensions to catch up in the games?

And in all of this, do the FICGS internal rules allow for multiple accounts?

Considering that there are tournaments with (quasi-)cash prizes, and moreover a series of tournaments called “World Championships,” we’re practically on the verge of sports fraud here.

That said, I’ll defer to the admin’s decisions and will continue to play against the aforementioned accused players until there is conclusive evidence of the allegations against them.


Ulises Pineda    (2026-06-19 23:13:02)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Yeah, the main suspicion that has people tied up in knots is that there's ONE person managing all these accounts and pretending to be many people, which wouldn't be allowed as this person would be deceiving us all.

What is missing is a black swan, an example of wrongdoing by these players, what should be examined is what they do when they face each other, like, tanking a game and helping the account with most points to advance.

But all I'm seeing is random results, and the correlation is that the longer you keep a game going, the longer the chances that you beat one of these players on time, which is causing rating disruptions.

In that case, which is unrelated to the accusations, I recommend setting up a rule where losing X amount of games on time would disallow you to join new tournaments for X amount of weeks, or even to withdraw them from tournaments they're in that haven't started yet.

Or something, people are upset because they're not really playing their games until they have 1 day on the clock, wasting everyone's time, people unaware will just accept a draw and miss a win that would have happened later. Or not, which makes tournament results random.

I remain neutral because if these people are innocent, any action taken would be witch hunting, specially if people get the idea that they're helping some players and hurting others (by never losing on time against those) INTENTIONALLY (which is the difference, the evidence that it's an evil person deceiving us is not proof, we need a game to point out more than dates of vacation.)


Thibault de Vassal    (2026-06-19 23:46:18)
Cheating / Forfeiting

These accounts evolve where there is no big prizes... As long as there is no remarkable impact on ratings or prizes (I checked that again), I think it is tolerable, but I understand some may not agree.

Most probably I will ban some of these accounts for a reason or another one sometime. Just waiting for a certain degree of evidence.


Janusz Swiatek    (2026-06-20 01:20:12)
Cheating / Forfeiting

For me the most frustrating is their style of playing and waiting for last hours/minutes to make a move. And when they randomly lose some games on time, they completely "smash" the tournaments results. I think there should be a rule, that when player loses on time, each of his results in the tournament should be cancelled and he should automatically loose all other games in the tournament even when they had a final result. Games in progress could be continued but these players who lose at least one tournament game on time should get 0 points for each other game in this tournament even if they win or end the game with draw. It would be fair for other players in this tournament. In case of E-Points prizes, winning on time shouldn't be decisive in my opinion.
For now, the best tactic against these players is to continue the game as long as possible, hoping that they will lose on time. Does that make sense? Is this what competitive correspondence chess should be about?


Thibault de Vassal    (2026-06-20 12:47:06)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Hm... you make a point here. Maybe a rating malus should be applied in cases of losses on time. But later it would also impact players in lower tournaments (as rating would not correspond to the real level anymore).


George Jempty    (2026-06-20 15:15:17)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Let's focus on one player using multiple accounts in the World Championships which in my opinion should lead to all of these accounts being permanently banned. It is not only unfair to all the other participants, it also skews the results, and in the end, completely DELEGITIMIZES the entire World Championship proceedings. I gave the only posb explanation I was not actually a "reasonable" one (as in the concept of "reasonable doubt) but was completely UN-reasonable: they're all family members/friends using the same internet connection and all making their moves at the same exact time. I wish I'd never brought that up because now people are using it to attack my position, which is just as absurd as not doing anything about it. All the evidence has been provided higher in this thread and I"m not repeating, but rather summarizing the names of the offenders: Pech, Pechova, Mach, Koudela. I'm not suggesting a witch hunt, and am suggesting they be allowed to defend themselves. In absence of any REASONABLE explanation, those players SHOULD BE BANNED. Otherwise the whole World championship cycle is a SHAM. I'm in the waiting list for the new cycle, and 4 of these bogus (IMO) accounts are also in the list. Unless this gets rectified QUICKLY, which Thib unfortunately seems reluctant about, then I request to have my name withdrawn from the list. And by quickly, I mean by August first, giving plenty of time for investigation/defence.


George Jempty    (2026-06-20 15:16:59)
Cheating / Forfeiting

two accounts under Pech with different first names, so their are FIVE accounts in question.


George Jempty    (2026-06-20 15:29:17)
Cheating / Forfeiting

One thing they all have in common is they fly the CZECH flag, so sorry ALL of those need to be investigated. If no explanation is give: BAN. If only an abused explanation is given: BAN. Maybe some are innocent and have a reasonable explanation, or the times they take vaaction don't correlate with the other suspect cheaters, no need to ban, but all the other cheaters have besmirched the legimate Czech players, and further reason to ban the cheaters. I found 8 CZECH players in the current WC waiting list.


Davide Nudo    (2026-06-20 15:56:26)
Cheating / Forfeiting

I fully understand George’s frustration regarding the WCH situation; however, having five years of experience as a regional arbiter for my country’s national federation, I think it’s important to clarify one thing about the spirit of the game of chess: when it comes to accusations of cheating, we must always proceed with extreme caution.

Now, we know very well that in correspondence chess this is not the same as what happens in OTB play (and therefore I am not concerned that a Naroditsky-type case might arise), but I am a firm believer in the presumption of innocence.

Terefore, I won’t venture into discussing the issue of alleged multiple accounts, but I do have a couple of proposals to share with you regarding the two main issues that have been discussed so far—issues that, in my opinion, have been confused and conflated in these latest posts.

My post might end up being very long, so I apologize in advance and will break it down into additional posts for better readability.


Davide Nudo    (2026-06-20 16:03:27)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Reading through the whole thread, I think it helps to keep two problems separate, because they keep getting tangled together: (1) one person possibly running several accounts, and (2) players letting their clock run down to almost nothing and then stalling with vacation, which makes opponents lose on time in equal positions and distorts the final standings.

Again, the first one is hard to act on without real proof, and I'll leave that to Thibault's judgement. But the second one is a pure rules question, and it can be fixed with uniform rules that don't require accusing anyone of anything. Both proposals below are modeled on how ICCF and FIDE already handle these situations.


Davide Nudo    (2026-06-20 16:05:09)
Cheating / Forfeiting

--- Proposal 1: time control for the important circuit events (like WCH stages) ---

Replace vacation with an ICCF triple-block-style control in these events:

- a base clock, plus a per-move increment, plus a finite initial "bank" (say 50-75 days) the player can spend on anything: reflection, holidays, short illness;
- after each move the increment and the bank automatically refill the clock up to its cap;
- if the clock ever reaches zero, the game is lost, no matter how much bank is left;
- and no vacation on top of this. The bank replaces it.

This removes the "run the clock to near-zero, then refill with vacation" pattern by construction, because there is simply no vacation left to refill with.

ICCF runs exactly this system, optionally without Guaranteed Time. For a World Championship cycle, which should reward the players who can actually manage 40-50 games over several years, I would run it without Guaranteed Time: managing your time becomes part of the test, and flagging is a real, accepted risk.


Davide Nudo    (2026-06-20 16:07:19)
Cheating / Forfeiting

--- Proposal 2: repeated losses on time ---

Handle this the way ICCF already handles "exceeding the time limit", through registration restrictions rather than rating tricks or blanket annulments:

- the game itself is lost (as now);
- a first loss on time in the circuit -> a temporary restriction from registering for new qualifying / WCH events (e.g. 3 months); a further loss on time within that window -> escalation up to 12 months, counted across all events, lifting after a clean period. (ICCF uses 30 days escalating to 90; same logic, longer for a prize circuit.)
- if a player is removed from a running event for repeated flags, their results are handled by a completion threshold, as in the FIDE rule for unplayed games: below ~50% of games played, all of their results are struck from the standings; at 50% or more, completed games stand and only the remaining games are forfeited, with the player out of prizes and qualification.

That last point matters. Simply deleting all of a stalling player's games, including the ones they actually finished, would punish the opponents who beat them fairly on the board. The completion threshold removes the staller from the standings without erasing legitimate results.

The advantage of doing it this way is that none of it requires deciding who is or isn't behind a given account. The rules apply to everyone equally and act on observable behavior, the clock pattern, so the players causing the disruption are caught regardless of identity, and nobody can call it a witch hunt.

As always, I defer to Thib on what is actually feasible to implement on the server.

Regards,

- Davide


George Jempty    (2026-06-21 00:38:34)
Cheating / Forfeiting

yes OK, I will find time to start a new thread, one player with multiple accounts?


Thibault de Vassal    (2026-06-21 03:00:33)
Cheating / Forfeiting

I'm investigating on these profiles. I'll take a decision within days.


Thibault de Vassal    (2026-06-22 15:18:58)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Just to let you know: Several profiles cannot enter tournaments anymore (until they bring explanations) due to rule 11.6. Other profiles will probably follow later.


Garvin Gray    (2026-06-23 09:38:20)
Cheating / Forfeiting

I find the last two posts rather concerning. Players have been raising concerns about certain players for a number of years now (that is not an exaggeration) and it is only now that any kind of action is taken.

Players have previously suggested methods to try and combat these actions and have always been told 'nothing to see here'. So I wonder, what has changed.

Is it just the volume of complaints? Or the reputation of the people making the complaints? Or a mix of both. Because I know I have raised these issues previously with solutions and been told, nothing to see here.


George Jempty    (2026-06-23 23:58:26)
Cheating / Forfeiting

I think it's because I've been a royal pain in the posterior, particularly in the chat for all to see, without having to click into the forums


George Jempty    (2026-06-24 00:10:09)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Why are these players all still in the WC waiting list? If the WC starts, and they are still among the players, just withdraw me AND delete my account


Thibault de Vassal    (2026-06-24 01:00:36)
Cheating / Forfeiting

The championships started months ago... (now the waiting list is closed)


Thibault de Vassal    (2026-06-24 01:50:00)
Cheating / Forfeiting

@Garvin: partly yes, I cannot say the contrary. I investigated more than I did before on these profiles and finally I found matter enough, but the matter why I took measures is not the one George was complaining about.


Ulises Pineda    (2026-06-24 02:37:30)
Cheating / Forfeiting

George Jempty is part of the players that cause rating disruption, by randomly resigning some games and not others. I have only managed to draw a game against him once, for the rest of the games he always resigned, and yet I see game results against other players where he continued playing.

Further disruption is caused by the point he decides to resign, too soon and the game doesn't count and it's a great waste of time considering how long it's taking for the tourneys to fill up.

At least he should stop threatening the website with withdrawals and account deletion, because he continues to stick around and resign his games randomly.


Garvin Gray    (2026-06-24 05:23:38)
Cheating / Forfeiting

And since complaining on the forum now seems to get results, I shall join in. I agree with Ulises regarding George Jempty's behaviour.

And I have highlighted ICCF's approached to this and been told, go away, this is not ICCF.

And now you wonder why I am so disillusioned.

So yes, Thibault, you have burned a bridge here with this action. Not because you have taken action, with more to follow, but because you were told of these actions long ago and told me to stuff it and now that others have complained and some of those complaints are 'cross complaints', you now take action.

So, yes I am pissed off.


George Jempty    (2026-06-24 11:21:35)
Cheating / Forfeiting

I don't disagree with Ulises either, but only ONCE I resigned all my games with no intention of ever coming back, but then because I was in waiting lists, I got notification of 2 tournaments starting, so I decided to play those games. And I don't resign games "randomly", I did it once in anger. So don't try to bolster your case by saying "randomly".

However I have not resigned in WON POSITIONS

Anyway, Thib can take whatever action he wants against me, restrict me from entering tournaments, or whatever.

But now Thib says he has NOT taken action about my issues, and this complaint was supported by other players both in this forum, and in the chat: Garvin, it seems my complaints in the CHAT (not forum) did the trick.

I'm going to start another forum thread for that issue, but again I will state here, it is ABSURD to all one player to use multiple accounts, and there is plenty of evidence to support an investigation INTO THAT.

And Thib, myself and others are most definitely in the waiting list for FICGS__CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000031, and the player(s) that have been accused of using one account for multiple players. If Thib doesn't do something about THAT, this site is a fucking farce.

I'm only sticking around to refine my repertoire and push theory forward. Otherwise this site has the stench of a rotting corpse. I had ideas for trying to reinvigorate this site, and Thib rejected them.