I agree with you that restrictions are bad.
But we already have:
1. "tournaments to players who have played >= N rated games "
It can be dropped when player is verified.
2. Tournaments with rating restriction like U2000, U1800 or Elite tournament >2200
As in real life there are tournaments for grandmasters only, for <2000 and other.
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Also I agree every lichess user should have the same possibilities. And you will have. You need to only verify yourself. It would be free.
"There is already a FIDE Online Arena server where you can play FIDE rated games"
Yes. And it's affects FIDE online ratings - not real life ratings.
Hmm.. I see I should use 'Real life rating' instead of FIDE / UTCF. I know there is different rules to Lichess / FIDE / UTCF ratings. So the idea is when you have extended account you can play in tournament organised by FIDE / UTCF. Lichess ratings are not respected in real-life, so you can't reap the benefits from that. And gaining FIDE / UTCF titles takes a lot of years and moneys.
"Good luck telling FIDE and all its national organizations to abide by your new rule[...]"
I never said it going to be easy. It's a global problem integrating chess with internet. But if we start talking about it maybe there will be some solutions.
I suggest a screening filter for "Ideas". An educated bot.
It would work like this. Any idea will receive a "rating" 1-10 based on it's merits or stupidity. Since "ideas" can't be censored, even the most foolhardy ones, at the very least members could see beforehand the topics "rating", much like a movie review.
This would save huge amounts of time, eliminate useless talk about solutions where no problems exist :-)
I should tell people that ..
1. FIDE online area uses the ban from real life events if you cheat on their server.
2. FIDE and USCF you can have multiple accounts. They don't verify your ID until you are a titled player.
3. Both USCF and FIDE have banned online play from effecting OTB ratings. That is why both organizations have online ratings separate from OTB.
The idea is cute, but it ultimately won't work. The only reason to use USCF and FIDE verification is to verify that you are a titled player. You can't use FIDE and USCF ratings to determine cheating either, because all ratings will be different. For example. I know several people who have equal USCF and FIDE ratings, and I know just as many people who have a 2300 USCF rating and a 1700 FIDE rating. If you judge simply by those ratings alone that would indicate that the one(s) with a 1700 FIDE would be cheating right? No.. That is worse practice than assuming you can detect engines online.
Thank you MeWantCookieMobile for your answer.
"1. FIDE online area uses the ban from real life events if you cheat on their server."
Great. This is the first point I want to achieve at Lichess.
So if somebody cheat at verified account at lichess he will be banned from every organizations from playing in real-tournament too. Great!
"2. FIDE and USCF you can have multiple accounts. They don't verify your ID until you are a titled player."
And this is real problem. Forcing organizations to verify every player will be really hard. Right.
"3. Both USCF and FIDE have banned online play from effecting OTB ratings. That is why both organizations have online ratings separate from OTB."
So this is ending topic about integrating real-life rating.
But we can still fight for cash tournaments for verified accounts.
USCF / FIDE rating doesn't matter. USCF can be 1700 while FIDE 2300 - no problem. The idea is to promise by player to not cheat.
If he cheat - he will be banned from all organizations.
So we can limit cheating by verification and add new cash tournaments.
Lichess has emphatically stated (several Staffers) that $ events will never happen here. They gave very solid reasons. It goes against their every policy of a 100% free chess site that provides the same service for Everybody.
The OP is beating a dead horse. This site is not about promoting chess for money. Go to
chess.com if that is your interest and deal with the advertisement and self promotion for membership fees.
2nd. This "verification" idea has been explained that it will never work, by Staff and other posters.
3rd. There is no evidence "verification" will have the effect of less cheaters. This is purely speculation. To begin, those few so inclined to "cheat" can just as easily falsify their identity, compounding the issue. Like a majority of members, I am not registered with FIDE or USCF. You can not ban players from all organizations if they are flagged for cheating. This notion is preposterous and unenforceable.
On a side note: I wouldn't be against optional verification. It's always fun to know who you are playing against.
Well sure. Members can post their identity in their profile. Many do. Many want to remain anonymous. Because it's the internet it should be respected imo.
Sure, but at the moment no one knows if they are who they say they are. Optional verification could fix that
Playing chess for me is a hobby. A pastime that I enjoy. 40 years ago I won quite a few $1000's of dollars playing OTB when the Big $ tournaments 1st began. I gave that all up due to "cheating".
Once chess becomes about the Money for amateur players it no longer is the same.
Leave the $ for the Professionals who want to make a go of a career by playing a board game. I'm all for weekend tournaments that return expenses + a few bucks. I have not been to Europe, but from what I've read, they have an entirely different attitude regarding tournaments for amateurs and it's promotion.
Here in the USA we had 3 years of the Millionaire Chess Events. A huge disaster that did a great disservice to chess.
Gottcha. Optional verification would mean the site "verifies" the account as the real deal. Yep. Good idea.
