Are live games actually filled with robots?

Have any of you ever wondered why your opponent is playing like an absolute wacko, making opening mistakes, playing poorly, then suddenly, they start playing as if they were a chess master creating the perfect defense? I have many times and i want to give reasons for why i think that these people being robots may be the case.

1. They cant communicate/interact with you.

Often times when i try to talk or interact with these people, they simply dont see it or ignore it. Now i know this may be because they dont like speaking online, but its still a bit strange.

2. They all play the same openings.

You would expect that the millions of players would all play something unique and to their style and something that they can enjoy. However, according to the lichess database for players below 2000, 3.Bc4 is played around 75-80% of the time, which is wild. I really doubt that 80% of the lichess humans below 2000 play the italian because they want to and enjoy it, but because most of the players arent actually human and are just playing what they are told to play.

3. They play really weird looking moves

I often see these people playing very unituitive moves that wouldnt look very pleasing or reasonable to humans, ill give an example from one of my games

Im not sure if im the one who sees this or wonders this, but im very open to criticism and would wonder what others think.

i typically play on lichess, so i couldnt tell you how they are on chess.com, but its shocking how so many people play the EXACT same things. Seeing 4.Bc5, and the old steinitz gets very old... seeing the italian or london system over and over again is just brainrot. seeing some 1900 attempt the sicilian (that he obviously does not know past move 3) is just saddening.

im not sure if the rise of chess has brought in people who just play for the quick dopamine rush of a win with the opening trap they learned for bobbybojangles or gothamchess, but i think that there has been a decline in people actually trying to learn chess and rather trying to go for the easiest thing that they can win with at low level.

Is there any chance that you know how online chess was like before the chess popularity explosion?

no

I understand. id say the current trends are playing system openings where its more about outplaying the other (whether its by checkmate or boring them to death) because people like rapport, magnus, and levy are doing that too.

I personally learned chess the ¨classical¨ way through learning how the mainline openings work and what makes them good and how you can learn from them. While these people likely just followed what their favorite streamer said would be good.

but that begs the question: why is the italian game as popular as it is? I rarely if at all see promotion for it, nor do i see popular streamers supporting it. Is there any chance that you know?

I hate puffers. They have sharp teeth and they chomp right through my Zman plastic lures. Or if i’m using live bait, they rip it off. And if you catch them, heaven help you if you didn’t brink a dehooker. I hate those b@st@rds.

As a low-rated player, I think this is a weird thread. I can count my openings on my fingers. D4, followed by London or QG. Maybe an occasional English. As black, I play either Sicilian or French. Against D4, I try to play the Dutch. I don’t know why. I get slaughtered when I do.

If people want to mimic Magnus or Tal or any of the other Soviet greats, cool. Chess is a pastime and basically just a board game. If they play really poorly, maybe I’ll have a chance at beating them.

This is why you are a low rated player. You have no idea what you are doing most of the time.

always have a plan, understand your openings, and understand how tactics work and when they may be appearing for both sides.

There is also the possibility high rated players are testing out odd openings. It's not just a bot thing. Try this. Open a new account at the beginner level. You will get a few easy wins (more if you are higher rated). Then you will lose a couple. These losses are very educational and you learn things. Then, you keep losing. No matter what you do, you can't secure a win. You were beating 1400s easily and now you can't beat a 900. You get so frustrated, you turn the computer off. Come back the next day, and it's win win win win. That is what I am going through now. No one is making it a challenge anymore.

Now, if I go to the bots without an account, I can easily beat Soccer Magnus at 1500. I can easily win in guest mode at the intermediate level. How is this?

Perhaps we are playing robots and this is the site's way to monitor cheaters. The only real secure way is to know who you are playing. I look at some of the profiles and when I see 1443 and 1604 listed as their FIDE rating it seems legit. I have even looked up their names on the FIDE site to confirm and they have the same numbers.

There is no way I can beat a 1604 FIDE player and then lose miserably to 900s on here after creating my account unless something is up. Something is not accurate. I find it less likely that a FIDE player is lying about their rating when it matches on a FIDE search on the FIDE site than here where anyone can log in anonymously and play with whatever assistance they made have access to. And, as the original poster pointed out, they play oddball moves and then all of a sudden play perfectly. This indicates someone much higher rated is testing out different ideas. They will go down a knight or when you test them, they will skip your offer of a rook. Yet, they calculate it so you get forked later on. How can someone calculate that but not see the free rook?

I told you puffers are hateful, evil little animals…

around 70% of my sicilian games as black either are this or transpose into one of these lines, and im 1900 in lichess blitz.

One of the main things that made me quit chess seriously is the fact that a majority of people i played played this or something like the alapin. I dont exactly struggle against these openings, but i feel despair each time another person plays a london or some other cheesy line against me because its alll that anyone plays nowadays. Its so rare to actually encounter someone who wants to enjoy chess with you. which is why i only play agianst friends or people otb

When did i say that they werent real? all i said is that it gets old seeing the only few openings people online are willing to play. I simply get bored of being forced to play another london, italian, or alapin.

See? No one has disproven me. That must mean I am right.

No, it's not sandbagging. Rigging losses against me and ME COUNTERTACTING that crap is....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ME....................................STANDING UP.

Give me a FIDE 1000 and I will play them. Challenge is on Mr LLama dama ding dong meister.

I CHALLENGE ANY 1000 FIDE PLAYER TO PLAY ME!!!

BRING IT!!!

STOP BEING [deleted expletives – rufusmod]

He closed his account...

When I'm on a winning streak then I'll come across a bot that's playing really fast and making all the perfect moves, no way they are human making those calls and at that speed especially when the clock is ticking low on blitz games.. pretty frustrating but that's how chess.com wants you to pay for certain premiums smh 🤦