Bad move! Chess grandmaster cheats with a phone in the loo
A CHESS grandmaster has been caught cheating during a tournament by using a mobile phone hidden in a lavatory.
Georgian Gaioz Nigalidze, who won his country’s Chess Championship in 2013 and 2014, could now be banned from competing.
He was expelled from the Dubai Open on Saturday when his opponent became suspicious about how many bathroom breaks he was taking.
He was said to have been consulting a chess app on his phone.
Armenian Grandmaster Tigran Petrosian said in an interview after the game: ‘Nigalidze would promptly reply to my moves and then literally run to the toilet. I noticed that he would always visit the same toilet partition, which was strange, since two other partitions weren’t occupied.
‘I informed the chief arbiter about my growing suspicions and asked him to keep an eye on Gaioz. After my opponent left the toilet partition yet another time, the arbiters entered it. What they found was the mobile phone with headphones; the device was hidden behind the pan and covered with toilet paper.’
Nigalidze’s expulsion was announced on the tournament’s Facebook page yesterday morning. The organisers added: ‘We are committed to ensure “fair play”, protect the players and have a “real” champion.’
British former world title contender Nigel Short said on Twitter that the ‘computer cheat should be stripped of his GM title and banned immediately’. The Dubai Open’s chief arbiter Mahdi Abdul Rahim said players found to have cheated face a suspension of between three and 15 years.