Anti-cheating

Anti-cheating covers the rules and procedures used to protect fair play, meaning competition under the same permitted conditions for everyone. It is not limited to finding engine assistance. Depending on the rules, it can also cover unauthorized human help, player substitution, result manipulation, shared accounts, and other prohibited conduct.

Measures can operate before, during, and after a game. In supervised or over-the-board events, meaning in-person chess played on a physical board, they may include restrictions on devices, inspections, and observation by arbiters, the officials who enforce tournament rules. Online they can add platform logs, automated statistical analysis for unusual patterns, user reports, and specialist review. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) provides fair-play tools and investigative procedures, while Chess.com describes a detection system that combines automated analysis with human review.

A high match rate with engine moves is not, by itself, a complete definition of cheating. Serious systems examine multiple signals and context, and platforms keep some methods confidential so they are harder to evade. Rules also determine who investigates, what evidence is considered, and what appeal process exists. Anti-cheating is therefore a system of prevention, investigation, and decision-making, not one magical percentage.