Backgammon Faces Cheating Scandal As U.S. Player Is Banned

Chess is not the only sport forced to deal with cheating. Now the world of backgammon is rocked by its own scandal.

The U.S. Backgammon Federation (USBGF) announced their decision last week, following an investigation into cheating during the 2024 Genud Cup, an online event between the U.K. and U.S. women's teams.

The investigation confirmed that one of the USBGF members had engaged in "unethical and unauthorized actions" that violated fair play principles and official competition rules. As a result, Team USA requested that matches involving the player in question be invalidated, leading to Team UK being officially declared the champions of the Genud Cup. The barred player has not been named.

Kara Schultz, chair of the USBGF, said in a statement: 

The USBGF and members of Team USA express their deep apologies to all competitors, commentators, and fans affected by this situation. The USBGF is committed to fostering a culture of trust, respect, and sportsmanship in the game of backgammon.

The USBGF has issued strict sanctions against the offending player, who is now barred from participating in national events, both online and live. All matches played by the individual in 2024 will be invalidated. The World Backgammon Federation and the World Backgammon Internet Federation are applying similar sanctions.

Details of how the cheating allegedly occurred have not yet been released. As in chess, a common way of cheating is the use of external software to find the best move on each turn. However, online backgammon sites have introduced effective anti-cheating measures such as the analysis of move patterns inconsistent with human play and video-call monitoring.

In Reddit threads, several users have also pointed out that cheating in backgammon is more work than playing and translates only into a modest bump in the win rate while cheating in chess can basically guarantee a win.

Regardless, the Women's World of Backgammon said in a statement: "Cheating has always been the dark side of every sport. Backgammon is no different. Online tournaments make it much easier."

Cheating has always been the dark side of every sport. Backgammon is no different. Online tournaments make it much easier.

—Women's World of Backgammon

The incident draws parallels with chess, which has dealt with numerous cheating scandals in recent years, most recently with the high-profile case of the Ukrainian-born Romanian GM Kiril Shevchenko. The 22-year-old is currently suspended pending an investigation following an incident of suspected cheating in Spain. 

Backgammon, on the other hand, only has a handful of known cases. In 2022, a player was disqualified for "illegal manipulation of a position to gain an unfair advantage" in the U.K. Open. Danish backgammon grandmaster Marc Olsen dismissed the ruling as "disgraceful" in this video, arguing that the player had no reason to cheat in the particular position.

The USBGF pointed out in their statement that they are committed to protecting the game's values of fair competition, noting that cheating undermines the spirit of the game. "We deeply regret this incident and recognize the disappointment it brings to the backgammon community," they said.