Are there too many cheaters on Chess.com?

Hi everyone,

I've been playing chess since 2021. My rapid ELO on Chess.com is over 1000, and my daily ELO is around 1100, though it recently dipped below that due to some vacation games where I played more by instinct than strategy. My Problems Elo is around 2000 (I typically solve 25 puzzles a day).

On Lichess.org, my rapid rating is around 1500. I understand that it's common to have an ELO gap between Chess.com and Lichess.org.

However, I have a growing concern that there might be too many cheaters on Chess.com. My impression is that for every three to five players I encounter, one might be cheating.

I know Chess.com uses sophisticated statistical methods to detect cheaters and only closes accounts when they are absolutely certain. I understand and respect this approach—it's similar to the justice systems in many Western countries, where it's considered better to let 100 guilty people go free than to imprison one innocent person. I agree with this philosophy, but it also means that there might be a lot of "guilty" players still out there.

The reason I feel this way is that in many games, I dominate the early stages, and my opponent makes some very questionable moves. Then, out of nowhere, they find brilliant combinations and turn the game around. My reaction is always the same: how did they suddenly find such a strong move when just a few minutes earlier, they were making blunders?

When I play on Lichess.org, I sometimes lose, which is normal, but I never feel like I'm up against a genius when I do.

Whenever I suspect someone of cheating on Chess.com, I submit a review request, but nothing seems to happen.

I’d like to know if I’m being overly paranoid, or if others have had similar experiences.

Discussions about cheating related topics are allowed in the cheating forum club but not the regular forum.