For a strong chess player, getting computer assistance two or three times during a tournament game is usually enough to win the game comfortably. Therefore, there is understandable temptation to cheat during the tournament games by accessing the chess apps discretely (phone and computer access is strictly prohibited during tournament games) to gain an upper hand over the opponents. Therefore, their financial well-being and chess rating are directly dependent on their results.
Professional chess players earn their living by competing in tournaments with prize money on offer. This makes chess apps great chess teachers to learn from, but has also been leading to a brand new problem that is now threatening existence of chess as a professional sport - namely, computer cheating. Twenty years on, computer chess programs are much better than even the very best of the human players by a mile. To find an ‘’unbeatable’’ opponent to play against, one does not need a supercomputer or highly sophisticated chess program. Trivial widgets from the Apple Store are competent enough to beat us every time. The big turning point came in the year 1997, when Garry Kasparov, the World Chess Champion played a six game match against Deep Blue, the IBM-created chess supercomputer and, surprisingly, lost. What made it even more enjoyable was that, initially, even the best of the chess playing computer programs were not good enough to compete against strong chess players. Playing chess against computers quickly became an enjoyable form of entertainment. When the first chess-playing programs were written, they received a warm welcome from the chess playing community. However, for some professional chess players, it is much more than just a game. For the majority of the chess fans, it is just an exciting game to play as a hobby. Unfortunately, some of the techno-developments are turning out to be rather destructive. No matter what we are up to in life, work or study, technology can brighten up our days. Today, we can hardly imagine our lives without fancy apps and gadgets.
These days, computer chess programs are much better than even the very best of the human players, making it all too tempting to cheat.