I mainly came to BGA to learn new games, but I am a chess master (FIDE elo about 2300) so I thought I would also check out the chess action. In looking over the games of the top Elo players here, it is very obvious that there is extensive use of engines. As far as I can tell from reading the rules, it is not illegal to get support from engines or databases etc., as long as you are not just using them as a bot. That makes BGA similar to the major international organization for correspondence chess (the ICCF), but with an interesting twist: the real-time games here are fast but not “too fast”. That is, if you set up an engine (or, better, multiple engines), you can use the various outputs to decide on plans and moves. This is called “advanced chess” (or “centaur chess”) and can pose some interesting challenges. I have been doing it myself this month and have had some truly fascinating games with others who are clearly doing the same thing. I do not know of another place on the web where one can find games at this sweet-spot time control with other “centaurs”. Note that good centaur chess does not just mean parroting an engine at some fixed-search depth. You will certainly be able to beat humans that way, but not other centaurs. The secret sauce is in combining multiple elements (engines, databases) with human executive function to steer the game where other centaurs might struggle. It is the difference between driving a car (centaur) and running a race (human).
So what is the problem? Some people get angry about this, even sometimes when they are clearly using an engine themselves! Indeed, I have already played several games with people who played well above world-champion level, finding all kinds of non-human engine moves, only to accuse me of “cheating” after the game. As I said, I am a real-life master so I can tell they are using engines too. It seems like those of us using engines should stop pretending and just embrace the fun of centaur chess!
Now, what if you want to just have some fun human games at BGA? No problem! First of all, be aware that anyone with a rating above 700 is either using an engine or is honest-to-goodness super-Grandmaster strength. (I am guessing there are not many GMs here but who knows? If you are over 700 without an engine, please challenge Magnus Carlsen for the title!) Over 500 is probably a strong master at least. There may be a few here in that class without engines, but not many. As I said earlier, I am around 2300 elo FIDE and on other no-engine sites, and I don’t think I would crack 500 here without an engine. In the 300-500 category it seems to me to be a mixed bag based on my experience so far. Sometimes I get someone in that range that matches one of my engines almost exactly, and other times it is clearly a human. Below 300 has so far seemed mostly engine-free. So if you want a casual game of chess without engines, stick to players under 300. If you are a strong chess player who wants no-engine games against other strong players, well, you are not going to find that right now on BGA. But there are many places on the internet to play chess where engine use is indeed illegal, and if you are indeed a strong player you will already know about those places.
Finally, a plea for us to be all out in the open about this. Let’s have fun with this (relatively) unique aspect of BGA. Clearly, chess is not the main point of this site, but the opportunity to play competitive real-time centaur chess gives BGA another cool thing to keep people here. I have take the first “openness” step by posting about my centaur style in the “about me” part of my profile. Also, if anyone ever asks me in the chat “what is your elo”, I will tell them “2300 but also using engines for assistance.” If you don’t want to play with engines and we are early in the game, I will be happy to mutually abandon the game with no penalty for anyone.
Happy to continue the discussion below. And if you believe that I am mistaken about the rules and centaur chess is not permitted, then please point me to the place where you saw that. I looked hard but did not find anything.
So what is the problem? Some people get angry about this, even sometimes when they are clearly using an engine themselves! Indeed, I have already played several games with people who played well above world-champion level, finding all kinds of non-human engine moves, only to accuse me of “cheating” after the game. As I said, I am a real-life master so I can tell they are using engines too. It seems like those of us using engines should stop pretending and just embrace the fun of centaur chess!
Now, what if you want to just have some fun human games at BGA? No problem! First of all, be aware that anyone with a rating above 700 is either using an engine or is honest-to-goodness super-Grandmaster strength. (I am guessing there are not many GMs here but who knows? If you are over 700 without an engine, please challenge Magnus Carlsen for the title!) Over 500 is probably a strong master at least. There may be a few here in that class without engines, but not many. As I said earlier, I am around 2300 elo FIDE and on other no-engine sites, and I don’t think I would crack 500 here without an engine. In the 300-500 category it seems to me to be a mixed bag based on my experience so far. Sometimes I get someone in that range that matches one of my engines almost exactly, and other times it is clearly a human. Below 300 has so far seemed mostly engine-free. So if you want a casual game of chess without engines, stick to players under 300. If you are a strong chess player who wants no-engine games against other strong players, well, you are not going to find that right now on BGA. But there are many places on the internet to play chess where engine use is indeed illegal, and if you are indeed a strong player you will already know about those places.
Finally, a plea for us to be all out in the open about this. Let’s have fun with this (relatively) unique aspect of BGA. Clearly, chess is not the main point of this site, but the opportunity to play competitive real-time centaur chess gives BGA another cool thing to keep people here. I have take the first “openness” step by posting about my centaur style in the “about me” part of my profile. Also, if anyone ever asks me in the chat “what is your elo”, I will tell them “2300 but also using engines for assistance.” If you don’t want to play with engines and we are early in the game, I will be happy to mutually abandon the game with no penalty for anyone.
Happy to continue the discussion below. And if you believe that I am mistaken about the rules and centaur chess is not permitted, then please point me to the place where you saw that. I looked hard but did not find anything.