Fair Play & Argus

What Argus Is

Argus is ChessBit's fair-play system. Every staked game is analyzed after it ends — off the live path, so nothing slows your game down. It layers several independent kinds of evidence:

• Engine analysis — every move compared against strong-engine play (Stockfish) and against what a human at your rating is expected to find.
• Statistical models — accuracy, critical-move performance and timing measured against your own history and rating band.
• Behavioral and device signals — patterns across games, accounts and devices.
• Stake-aware weighting — the more money on the line, the more scrutiny a game gets. Cheaters can't "test the waters" cheaply.

No single signal flags anyone. Action requires multiple independent signals pointing the same way, and ambiguous cases route to a human.

Escrowed Winnings

Winnings from a staked game are held in escrow until Argus clears the game — for a normal game that's a formality you'll barely notice. A game under review pays out when the review clears it.

If You're Flagged Wrongly

• A single suspicious-looking game is never enough on its own.
• Every enforcement is appealable for 30 days, and appeals go to a different reviewer than the original decision. You can request a summary of the evidence.
• If an appeal clears you, everything is restored — account, balance, record. Funds are only ever forfeited after the appeal window closes, with human sign-off.

If Your Opponent Cheated

You come out ahead, not behind:

• The game is voided and your full stake comes back.
• You also receive a bonus equal to the fee the cheater paid.
• ChessBit refunds its own fee too — we keep nothing on a voided game.

Consequences for Cheating

Penalties ladder from a warning to suspension (typically 30 days) to a permanent ban. Banned cheaters' dishonest winnings are clawed back, frozen funds compensate documented victims after the appeal window, and the identity behind the account — documents, payment methods, devices — is denylisted so they can't simply re-register.

Reporting a Suspected Cheater

Report privately — from the game or profile in-app, or via a ticket on Discord. Never accuse someone publicly: it's unfair to innocent players and doesn't speed up review. Outcomes are enforced; accusations are not shared.