After 19-year-old American grandmaster Hans Niemann defeated Magnus Carlsen in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup 2022, the World Chess Champion decided to withdraw from the event. Rumors that Magnus Carlsen suspected Niemann was cheating started spreading over social medias and the “Carlsen – Niemann” controversy is the top news in mass medias ever since. Hans Niemann confessed cheating online in random games on chess.com, but he claimed that he never cheated over-the-board. Chess.com removed Niemann from the platform, explaining their decision with the official statement, and published their findings on the Carlsen – Niemann case within the 72-page report.
Just few days after publishing the “Community update” on the Carlsen – Niemann report, chess.com today conducted the Fair Play survey and asked users to share their thoughts about how chess.com handles the cheating issue.
The questions are:
Q1: How long have you been playing chess online?
Q2: How long have you been playing chess online?
Q3: Have you ever played against someone who cheated?
Q4: What do you think the consequences should be for non-professional, non-titled players who get caught cheating for the FIRST time?
Q5: What do you think the consequences should be for non-professional, non-titled players who get caught cheating for the SECOND time?
Q6: Do you think that chess federations (FIDE, US Chess, etc) should be informed if a non-professional, non-titled player is caught cheating online?
Q7: Do you think that chess federations (FIDE, US Chess, etc) should be informed if a non-professional, non-titled player is caught cheating over-the-board (OTB)?
Q8: For titled / professional players, how do online and OTB prize events compare?
Q9: What do you think the consequences should be for titled / professional players who get caught cheating for the FIRST time in CASUAL games only?
Q10: What do you think the consequences should be for titled / professional players who get caught cheating for the SECOND time in a CASUAL game?
Q11: What do you think the consequences should be for titled / professional players who get caught cheating for the FIRST time in PRIZE MONEY events?
Q12: Do you think that chess federations (FIDE, US Chess, etc) should be informed if a titled player is caught cheating ONLINE?
Q13: Do you think that the public should be informed if a titled /professional player is caught cheating ONLINE?
Q14: Should Chess.com keep a public list of “caught cheaters”?
Q15: Do you think that chess federations (FIDE, US Chess, etc) should be informed if a titled / professional player is caught cheating over-the-board (OTB)?
Q16: If there is a very high level of suspicion about a titled / professional player in an event, but not statistically conclusive yet, what should happen?
Q17: Does the player’s age matter? Should kids get treated differently?
Q18: At what age should a player be considered a “kid”?
Q19: Do you think chess is facing a ‘crisis’ due to cheating?
Q20: What should titled / professional players do if they suspect their opponent is cheating on Chess.com?
Q21: What should titled / professional players do if they suspect their opponent is cheating OTB?
Q22: How good of a job do you think Chess.com does at preventing and catching online cheating for casual (non-titled) players?
Q23: How good of a job do you think Chess.com does at preventing and catching online cheating for titled / professional players?
Q24: How good of a job do you think chess federations are doing at preventing and catching cheating?
Q25: How good of a job do you think OTB organizers are doing at preventing and catching cheating?
Q26: How much cheating do you think is going on in top level OTB chess?
Q27: How much cheating do you think is going on in local OTB chess?
Q28: Are there any questions we should ask on this topic that we are not asking?
Q29: Any other comments or thoughts you want to share?
