Cheating in Chess - Rating Manipulation

Rating Manipulation

Ratings manipulation occurs when game results are determined before the game starts or by falsifying tournament reports. The most common type is called sandbagging, where a person plays in lower entry fee tournaments and loses to lower their rating so they can play in a large money tournament in a lower section, and increase their chance of winning. Sandbagging, however, is very difficult to detect and prove, so USCF has included minimum ratings based on previous ratings or money winnings to minimize the effect. The most notable example of ratings manipulation involves Romanian Alexandru Crisan, who falsified tournament reports to gain a Grandmaster title and ranked 33rd in the world on FIDE ratings list. A committee overseeing the matter recommended his rating be erased and his Grandmaster title revoked, but this has not happened.