First of all, for those of you who haven’t heard of Igors Rausis:

• He is a Latvian chess player who has switched federations and has been playing for the Czech Republic since 2007
• He obtained his GM title in 1992
• He has been coasting in the 2500-2550 ELO rating spheres for many years
• From 2013, he started gradually improving his rating. In the preceding 6 years, he made an enormous rating leap, almost reached 2700 ELO and was the world nr. 40 on the live rating list

• An increase of rating was even more impressive considering he did it well into his 50s. Rausis was born in 1961.
• Many people suspected he was exploiting the gap in the FIDE ELO system, which states that, if a difference between two players is >400 rating points, the outcome of the game is calculated as if the lower-rated player has an exactly 400 points lower rating (say if a 2500 plays a 1700, it counts the same as if he is playing 2100).
• Rausis achieved this by playing in low-profile Open tournaments where he was the top seed by a high margin. He would face weaker opposition and score tremendously against them.
• However, since it is incredibly hard to do it consistently, without blundering (or drawing) a game, many people suspected he was cheating.
• 5 days ago – on 12th June, 2019, during the 5th round of Strasbourg Open 2019, in coordination with the members of the FIDE ethical commission, the arbiters filmed him using the mobile phone in the bathroom. He was expelled from the tournament and face the accusation of cheating – apparently, even the French police got involved

Now that we have acquainted ourselves with the details, here are some of my thoughts revolving around Rausis case:

• An IM friend of mine (who caught a cheater during one of the recent Youth European Championships and as a result got involved in anti-cheating circles) told me that Rausis was suspected for a long time. Not only did he play like an engine (which I can confirm as I analyzed his games during one of my recent streams), but he was also openly asking about the anti-cheating policies at different tournaments. The reason he was playing so many low-profile Opens was they had zero anti-cheating measures implemented.
• In fact, Strasbourg Open was one such open. They intentionally laid him a trap he walked right into. They probably wouldn’t catch him if they didn’t go for him intentionally.
• I am not particularly thrilled with the way they did it. Is it legal to put a video camera in the bathroom? I hope it didn’t film the whole time – that they turned it on the moment he entered the bathroom. I think there are better ways of dealing with cheating, as will be elaborated below.
• But I am glad they did it. There is no doubt in my mind he was cheating. I don’t think he was checking his Twitter in the photo above. Besides, it is against the rules to have the phone (or use) it at all during the game. (And it would appear I am not the only one happy with the outcome:)

• Also, Rausis basically signed the papers admitting he was cheating and said he has already “played his last game”.
• The only remaining question is: How long did he do it? Despite all the supporters of “it is never too late” and “believe in yourself” mantras, a 200 rating point increase AT 2500 LEVEL at THIS AGE was not humanly possible. I suspect he started doing it back in 2013 when his rating started increasing. At the very least.
• If we assume this assumption is correct, we arrive at the frightening realization – HE GOT AWAY with it for 6 years. Who knows how many tournaments and prizes did he win and how many rating points did he cost his opponents.
• Also, it is frightening to realize that, had he been more cautious, they might have never caught him. If he didn’t get greedy and started approaching 2700 and world top 50 and say, maintained his rating between 2550 and 2600, he might have gotten away with it for years to come.
• This also leads to a realization that cheating is probably much more common than we all think. I am pretty sure that I could get away with it during my league matches – there are virtually zero measures against it.
• That is why I think everybody needs to start to take it more seriously. I think that every National Federation should buy 5-10 metal detectors and have them present at every single tournament.
• I also think that FIDE should tighten the screw further and make the punishment for cheating more drastic. A quote from the book The Righteous Mind is interesting in that regard:

Punishing bad behavior promotes virtue and benefits the group. And just as Glaucon argued in his ring of Gyges example, when the threat of punishment is removed, people behave selfishly.

• I mean, people who cheated AT THE OLYMPIAD got banned for only 3 years. At the very least, the ban duration should be increased to 5-10 years and fines should be introduced. I’d demand from Rausis to return all tournament prizes he won in recent years. And to pay compensation to players who didn’t win them.
• Obviously, each case is individual. Youth players who cheat (often due to unreal pressure those around them put on their shoulders) should be treated more lightly. But even here I’d introduce a short ban and fine the parents.

To conclude, I think cheating is plaguing our sport and is one of the greatest threats to its integrity. If we don’t take it even more seriously, chess might end up as cycling – corrupt, uninteresting to sponsors and not taken seriously by anyone.

I, therefore, celebrate the day someone like Igors Rausis got caught.

And hope he will be punished accordingly.

References and further reading

GM Igors Rausis allegedly caught cheating

GM Igors Rausis, rated 2686, caught cheating with a mobile phone - ChessBase India

GM Igors Rausis Under Cheating Investigation

Chess grandmaster admits to cheating with a phone on the toilet during the tournament