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The mechanics of how chess players might cheat increasingly occupies the minds of professional chess players, academics who build models to catch cheating and top chess platforms.

Professional cyclists have doped their blood. A baseball team used hidden cameras to steal signs. Chess players have used software to help them choose their next move.

As online chess has taken off, more young players are growing their skills on the internet rather than in official tournaments. This means their official chess ratings might not reflect their true strength as players. A strong amateur player who beats a titled player might arouse cheating suspicion, and its very difficult to prove whether or not someone has played fairly.

Cheating in online chess is relatively straightforward: players rely on the help of chess engines, which are freely accessible computer programs that can look at millions of possible moves and find the best one in any position. The engines perform better than even the strongest players, going back to IBMs Deep Blue defeating chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.

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The Tricky Work of Catching Chess Cheaters - The New York Times