Explanation To thinkabit

Who closed the thread?

I think we would like to know whether thinkabit closed his account himself or mods did that.

a blog post would be great.

PS: In my opinion he didn't cheat. He told me he's been playing against Carlsen himself and that he studies chess etc.
I will make a video on this topic.

Is it possible to cheat in 2+0 or 1+0 games??

If he told you, it must be true. Especially if he studies.

I honestly believe that he doesn't use a computer. He's played so many games (over 1000 I believe), and as far as I heard, there's only very few (10 or so) that have been suspicious. However, it depends on the opponent's play as it is obvious to play very good moves against weaker players. Also, he's probably a very strong IM or a 2500-2600 rated GM so one would expect such good play and for at least 10/1000+ games to be near perfect. I've played him a couple times and he will completely outplay you. I have studied engine play and I'm convinced he is not using an engine. I'm not sure if the people of lichess know how many strong players are out there. There are hundreds more of strong players like thinkabit on ICC. And let's face it. Almost all of the higher rated players that complain to losing to thinkabit are under 2350, and so it's no surprise that somebody above the 2450 level will easily crush these players that complain. As far as his anonymous identity, I think we should respect his choice to remain anonymous similar to many titled players on ICC (I know I'm comparing lichess to ICC a lot but I think it's relevant in this case because lichess unfortunately has not attracted too many strong titled players).

we want to know the truth !! tell us why u closed his account

I'm not going to go into this too deeply in case any engine users stumble across this.

Firstly, yes, it is possible to cheat in 1+0 or 2+0 games. It's harder, though, because your hardware has to be up to spec.

Secondly, when you compare thinkabit's games with other very good 1+0 players, you notice certain issues:
http://en.lichess.org/sMQVBy7n
http://en.lichess.org/Cv8sA9fn
http://en.lichess.org/mS0wEjDQ
If you look at all of these movetimes, they're from 100% consistent (ie, all within a small range of each other) to around 90% consistent. This trait is very common with thinkabit's games, with the lowest consistency I can spot at 82%. Additionally, he rarely makes inaccuracies, mistakes, or blunders. "Oh" but you cry, "He may just be really good - like GM level?!"

Interestingly, we can actually compare him to lichess' resident GM, Milacek. Milacek is a certified, bona fide GM, who has proven himself with ID. His movetimes range from around 70%
http://en.lichess.org/kQGSrIWY
to around 30% consistency:
http://en.lichess.org/PDZlrn9l/black
Furthermore, despite being a GM he makes errors, because in 1+0 you very rarely follow the perfect line. His average number of unforced errors seems to be around 5, whereas thinkabits seems to be more like 1 or 2.

So, this would mean that thinkabit either:
a) plays 1+0 better than a certified GM
b) is receiving assistance
I flirted with a) for a while - perhaps he's Nakamura? Undoubtedly the greatest human bullet player currently alive. Yet thinkabit claimed he was Ukrainian living in New York - whilst Nakamura lives in NY, he is American. Secondly, Nakamura, it has been pointed out to me, makes around 3 inaccuracies, 1 mistake, and occasionally even a blunder in his games, even when playing other GMs - that's just the nature of 1+0.

So, you've got a player who's playing 1+0 chess at a much higher level than Milacek, our proven GM, and also Nakamura.

So, suspicious, if you then decide to look at who thinkabit has lost against, you get a couple of interesting trends:
1. He has lost frequently to other certified engine users, and those suspected of using an engine.
2. Many of his losses are due to timing out, even quite early into the game (a sign of engine use)
3. Some losses are against players much worse than him, and thinkabit making a number of errors (unusual for him).

Here's a massive blunder, against a much lower rated opponent, which even me as an 1800 wouldn't do, and wouldn't expect of someone who has been playing at 3000 level: http://en.lichess.org/q6DSH7wB

In my view, his engine wasn't working/stopped working that game. Plus here: http://en.lichess.org/sYAuFmnP/black

Then, thinkabits game against DeepShredder set to 2800 level and 10 moves ahead: http://en.lichess.org/e8JHYg0c here, proves he must have been using engines in 1+0. There is no chance any human would fare as well as he did in, against an engine set at such a high rating in 1+0.

Suspicion aroused, the mods asked thinkabit if he had a title - nothing more. On the request, he replied with "I understand. You will not see me play here again."

On top of that, there's some other techniques that the system has which red flagged him for a while (around 5 months, really), except at the end of the day, it came down to a human judgement call, which on the balance of probability appears to be the correct one.

I'm going to leave this thread open for a little bit before closing it, but this is the last of the matter. It's rarely black and white for the moderation team to decide whether someone is cheating, and in these big cases, a lot of discussion is had, which may go on for weeks until everyone feels confident with the proof that it is likely someone is cheating. So this isn't some conspiracy or anything. It's just human error, mixed with thinkabit using a specialised engine.

So, that's it. No more. Carry on with your lives. The Lichess King is dead, all hail the Lichess King, etc.

(Also, he closed his account himself).

Oh, yes! On his "anonymity" he was very happy telling you his name (claiming to be an IM), but could never prove his name. So whilst he seemed to have no issue stating his name, he did seem to have an issue showing proof - a drivers license, a passport - that he was truly of that name. As an amateur sleuth, I contacted the IM who thinkabit claimed to be, who told me he had never heard of lichess.org, but said it looked like a delightful chess website which he'd be sure to visit.

Hi all

I feel it is important to root out engine abusers where there is overwhelming statistical evidence and no proof to the contrary provided.

The reason this is important is because I believe the site has great potential - and will be attracting more *real* titled players over the next few weeks, months and years. *Real* titled players do often blunder - and get tired, etc. They are human and as such have human weaknesses. The post-mortem analysis checker on such humans will reveal often huge blunders from time to time - especially on the faster time controls.

It is important to stop gaining enjoyment at super-consistent potentially engine abusing players - because essentially this is sadistical, and it basically shows an underlying lack of understanding that actually real titled players are still human.

If there is a need for a Stockfish 5 account to be a "basher" then maybe that should be clearly labelled as a (C) account for those sadists missing thinkabit to watch all day instead - but it should be the conscious choice of opponents of the (C) account to play it. It could also do live commentaries with background music as well even and even upload those commentaries to twitch.

Cheers, K

"PS: In my opinion he didn't cheat. He told me he's been playing against Carlsen himself and that he studies chess etc."

Yea, that's totally enough to trust someone on the internet. I would trust that man with my life.