Is it ok to use a demo board and its AI capabilities for analyzing a game of other players while the game is in progress? Or will the server have an issue with that?
I think it may be cheating.
No, using ai or getting help from someone is considered cheating.
Also if your game has analysis off, and you open another board to do it, still cheating.
Iirc only thing not considered cheating is using joseki/fuseki database
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Iâm talking about games being played by someone else though.
Is your assessment still the same?
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You should use a private demo, so that the demo is not visible by players.
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As long as youâre not helping the players you can do whatever you want
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I was thinking that the server might protect against analyzing games in progress and might even punish accounts that do it.
If AI analysis is detected, accounts are warned or punished. I doubt OGS is doing much in the way of âcheck if demo matches an ongoing gameâ. There would be diminishing returns here because cheaters can just move to a 3p software.
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Most answers missed this. Yes itâs legit if you are simply spectator. Hopefully the players are not supposed to look on your researches.
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Just make sure you donât make a demo/review/clone/fork/whatever in a way that lets the players see it and navigate there!
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Would change the title name for games over the course of days
FWIW - IF I am observing a game on OGS between two other players - I can jump into Analyze Mode and play that position any number of moves forward, and neither of the players will ever know I was even doing anything. It all happens on MY browser and it doesnât communicate in any way to either of the people playing the actual game.
The only action that would start a communication is if I hit the SHARE button at the top of the text bar, and sent them a VARIATION into the text for that game, which would be visible to both players. This is a big NO NO because one could argue I would then be trying to assist one or the other player with my live kibitzing - as is typing any kind of commentary about the game in that text box, etc.
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Analyze Mode doesnât give me AI support though. Or am I missing something?
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Actually not, comments (and variations) from observers are all hidden to the players until after the game. Technically one can bypass this by being logged out in another window, but thatâs a risk OGS has accepted.
Because itâs not visible to players, itâs generally acceptable to write commentary on the game 
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aaah - ok, thanks for the correction I appreciate it
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Ok, here I am confused when you say âAI supportâ - I was under the impression that the OGS AI review is only available for finished games - in other words, if you are using a demo board for a game thatâs still in progress, adding moves one-by-one, the OGS AI review will not be available - or will it?
I think that spectators sharing a variation in an ongoing game does not get shown to the players, but only other spectators. Basically, the chat window for a game is like a kibitz space among the non-players, which becomes visible to the players only after the game is finished. However, non-logged-in users (or people with checking with an alt account) can still see that chat.
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If you add moves on a demo board and have AI review enabled, you constantly get AI support. I would assume this is also the case if the moves you enter are from a game thatâs currently in progress.
EDIT: I just tried with a live 9x9 game (replaying all moves on a (private) demo board) and did get AI support all the way through. No complaints (so far). 
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