FIDE Online Olympiad Aug 13-Sep 15

[Ian Rout]

If a player cheats then the team cheated, and when a team cheats the team is penalised in any sport. That possibly impacts innocent team members, which isn't unusual.

If the only punishment is loss of the ill-gotten points then that isn't much of a penalty. Even if it drops a team out of the top three we don't know that they would have qualified without cheating.

If the penalty is considered unfair to other players then an approach could be to restrict the team to five boards in remaining rounds - the innocent players aren't held accountable for the guilty board, but they can't get a benefit from it either. That still leaves the problem that a team that cheated progresses at the expense of another, which isn't a good look for the sport.

(For the purpose of discussion I'm accepting that cheating occurred, or if you prefer considering it hypothetically.)

[Kevin Bonham]

I have a lot of sympathy for the rest of the Philippines team because they played very well and have (subject to appeal) been undone by a player who came in for the last 4 games and performed nearly 1000 points over rating, and could have played at their rating and lost all those games and the team would have still been 2nd.

[Scott Colliver]

Does anyone know what time our games start?

[Desmond]

I have a lot of sympathy for the rest of the Philippines team because they played very well and have (subject to appeal) been undone by a player who came in for the last 4 games and performed nearly 1000 points over rating, and could have played at their rating and lost all those games and the team would have still been 2nd.

I have a lot of sympathy for them too, but I think the ban is the only correct decision.

[JackRodgers]

I can see arguments for disqualifying an entire team when the arbiters consider there has been a fair play violation. For instance points gained by an infringing player may impact unfairly on other teams by causing them to take risks they would not otherwise take, and that could result in a team including a cheater qualifying when it wouldn't have done so had that player lost every game in the first place. Also if one player in a team infringes, there's an increased risk that other players in the same team also infringed but weren't detected. And yes, having a severe penalty sets a strong example for would-be cheats, because if they are causing their team to be excluded they are more likely to face sanctions from their federations and not be selected again.

What I find surprising is that the tournament rules specify a range of penalties but don't make it clear why some might be applied in some cases and others in others.

This sums it up exactly. If the board in question in our game with Philippines result was reversed, we would've drawn the match and thus not taken the significant risk to consider every match from then on a 'must-win' situation.

Team captains were told during the technical meeting at the beginning of the tournament that they were responsible for their teams playing fairly and we were all notified from day dot that if one member was found to have broken fair play rules, the entire team would be penalised, like in any team sport.

[JackRodgers]

Announcing Australia's matches beginning tonight 0800UTC!

Tonight Australia will begin their top division campaign, beginning with a first-round match against Olympiad favourites China who have Ding Liren, Wei Yi, Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun on their first four boards! Rounds 1-3 will be played at 0800UTC (6pm AEST), 0900UTC, and 1000UTC. Rounds 4-6 and 7-9 will follow this format on Thursday and Friday evenings.

Rd 1. China

Rd. 2 Greece

Rd. 3 Iran

Rd.4 Georgia

Rd.5 Romania

Rd.6 Armenia

Rd.7 Kazakhstan

Rd. 8 Mongolia

Rd. 9 Indonesia

[Kevin Bonham]

I have a lot of sympathy for them too, but I think the ban is the only correct decision.

I agree and good to see it was spelled out to teams in the briefing that this would happen. Which renders the appeal pointless. I've seen one media report it's been rejected though that report misgendered the player involved.

I think getting through to the next stage was Australia's key goal here and we've done that so anything else is a bonus. There are a few teams we will be lucky to get anything much against but some we should at least be competitive with.

[Lorieas]

Australia first tho. Am i right bois

[Scott Colliver]

Australia first tho. Am i right bois

Australia will not finish first in the Pool, but I don't think we will finish last either. I have confidence the ladies and gentlemen in the team can cause a few upsets

[Lorieas]

I agree mate. Asutralia is very strong in chess like we are at swimming.

[Scott Colliver]

Are we having more of the great commetary from Degenchess tonight?

[Myan]

Is it possible to investigate which game in question that triggered their cheat detections?
Or was it all of the games from the player who cheated?

[Lekko]

Are we having more of the great commetary from Degenchess tonight?

Of course.

[Lorieas]

Im not sure about that. You may need to consult Scott Coliver. I heard that a low consisten cpl meants that they are cheating coimbine with consistant move times. Also if they just have a sussy baka auora then u know its down cheating.

[Lorieas]

im looking forward to the results!!!!! Will they get banned forever or just for 1 year