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After winning a roller coaster game in the final round, I went to the arbiter M.S. Gopakumar to share the excitement, but he had something even more interesting to narrate! He had busted a cheat on the top board. "Didn't I tell you that I would catch any cheater who would come here? Got him very easily!" he told me in Malayalam.
The 1st DCA below 1600 FIDE rated chess tournament was held at the Ludlow Castel Sports Complex, Kashmere Gate, New Delhi, from 14-16 May 2016. With a prize fund of Rs. one million (about US $15,000), the event attracted more than 700 participants from all over India and some from Nepal as well.
Like many others players I went into the event with the hope of winning the 1st prize of Rs. 125,000 ($1900), but more than that wanted to play some good chess. With a rating of 1569, I started as the 16th seed. I was a bit skeptical about playing in Delhi, especially in the below 1600 category, as my friends had warned me about the possibility of cheating, due to the highly attractive prize money. The venue was very spacious and was the same as that of the Delhi GM open held earlier this year.
The chief person in charge of security for the event was IA M.S. Gopakumar (above), a renowned arbiter. I spoke with him before registering for the event and he assured me that he would do his best to catch cheaters and that all recommendations of the FIDE anti-cheating committee were in place.
The organisers were very punctual and the first round started exactly as per schedule. The venue had a very good capacity with resting room for players and parents below the playing hall. However, even with such good facilities, such a large turnout meant the resting room was extremely crowded with not enough room for everyone. Even during games, players had to queue up on few occasions to use the restrooms.
Shrang Rajendra of Uttar Pradesh, with an Elo of 1527, was playing on 7.5/8 on the first board. The only draw in one of the earlier rounds was just a safety measure and it looked like only one player would reach 8.5 points in the final round. He had completely destroyed his opponents in the other rounds and similarly won very quickly in the final round as well. Little did we know that he would still fail to win the tournament.
One of the arbiters later told me that being chess players themselves, they could easily identify engine moves and that of a below 1600 player and had their doubts on this person's moves. After the last round, the accused was taken to the arbiters' room and checked thoroughly. What exactly was found is unknown to us, however, the chief arbiter immediately declared the game in the favour of the other player from Andhra Pradesh and the cheater was disqualified and not given any prize money. Apparently, there was no formal complaint or allegation from any of his opponents and the arbiters worked on their personal doubts.
The Andhra player Y. Suman moved on to 8.5 points and won the championship
Top finishers, displayed in the final table of the Delhi Chess Association
Back to Shrang Rajendra. This player was rated 1471 in the April list and played two tournaments to gain 56 points to reach 1527. He did not play any extraordinary chess in those two events and there were quite a few losses against 1600 and 1700 players and few draws and wins that enabled him to increase his rating. Later in the metro station, I was hanging out with a gang of players from Kerala. We spotted Shrang and approached him to ask what had actually happened. We asked him if he was being framed and was innocent. He did not say anything and it was two of his friends who spoke for him. They told us that he wasn't in a state of mind to talk to us and hadn't told them anything. They claimed that he did not know what was going on and was indeed innocent. For some time, I really started wondering: what if he really was innocent? What if the arbiters did not have concrete evidence and were just speculating. What if something like this happens to me — that I win a tournament fair and square by playing good chess but later denied prize money due to allegations and even banned? But then my friends told me that he wasn't innocent and it was clearly visible from his body language that he was guilty.
Later on, the Delhi Chess Association informed ChessBase India that before the start of the tournament, Mr. A.K. Verma, secretary of the Delhi Chess Association, and chief arbiter M.S. Gopakumar had briefed the arbiters and volunteers to keep a vigilant eye for any suspicious activities during the tournament. Consequently, all the top boards were on the close watch, but without giving any suspicion to anyone. The surveillance included toilet breaks of players playing on the higher boards.
By the time the final round came by, Shrang Rajendra, who was on 7.5/8, and playing his final round game on the top board, had attracted the special interest of organisers. Deputy chief arbiter Biju Raj S. was told to keep a close watch, with Verma and Gopakumar standing nearby. Shrang was pitted against Y. Suman of Andhra Pradesh with the black pieces, and he eventually won the game. The arbiters decided to frisk the players immediately after they finished.
The arbiters found the above mobile phone in Rajendra’s pocket, a hidden spy device and a power bank stitched to a special inner wear inside his trouser. A micro earpiece was hidden inside his right ear.
In his statement, Shrang Rajendra explained that a phone connection was maintained throughout the duration of the game. Immediately after his opponent made a move he would press any button of the mobile which will indicate the move is made on board, and his accomplice would recite all the possible moves available for his opponent. When hearing the correct move Shrang would a press a button again to acknowledge the same and the accomplice would communicate the best move possible for him after consulting a chess engine.
The DCA team confiscated all the material evidence and the same has forwarded to All India Chess Federation along with a report for further necessary action with FIDE. One has to wonder how easy it is to cheat in these tournaments. On every stroll I took to the restroom during my games, I could see scores of people discussing and analyzing games on smartphones, right outside the tournament hall. One can't be sure what precisely is going on. But we have to congratulate the arbiter M.S. Gopakumar and his team for catching a culprit this time and hope that FIDE would give the strictest possible punishment which may send out a warning to all potential cheaters.
Overall,the event was a grand success. But one has to feel bad for those players who lost a point against Shrang. Nothing can be done for them. Some of them asked the arbiter for some sort of compensation in the end, but to no avail. All he could do was to report the incident to FIDE.
Nitin Pai is a twenty-year-old undergraduate student in Electrical Engineering at IIT-Madras. He is a passionate chess player with an eloquent voice and has contributed his feedback and photos for ChessBase in the past. When he is not studying or surfing the internet for crazy science stuff, or working on his projects, you may find him hunched over a chessboard, trying not to blunder.
Check out the ChessBase India website at www.chessbase.in – a responsive news page
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New case of cheating in chess? 4/26/2016 – We use a question mark because the evidence presented by IM Valeri Lilov is circumstantial – no actual pictures of hidden devices or anything. But we cannot forget that Lilov has previously unmasked a notorious cheat in a similar way – a player who has received a life-long ban from tournaments. You can view the evidence presented by Lilov in a 37-minute video and then tell us what you think. |
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Cheating suspicion at the Zadar Open in Croatia 04.01.2013 – In this event, with 16 GMs and a host of other strong players, one participant stood out especially: the 25-year-old untitled Bulgarian Borislav Ivanov scored 6.0/9 points, with a rating performance of 2697. In the January FIDE list Ivanov has gained 115 points over his previous 2277 rating, gained in over 400 games over three years. A certain suspicion once again raises its ugly head. |
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Cheating scandal in Croatia – feedback and analysis 08.01.2013 – Recently we reported that the incredibly brilliant play by a 25-year-old untitled Bulgarian player at the Zadar Open in Croatia had raised suspicion that he might have been using illicit electronic assistance during his games. A number of readers criticised us – for linking to the mainstream Croatian media reports?! One of them, an expert in the field, actually analysed all the games in question. |
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Cheating scandal – Borislav Ivanov speaks out 17.01.2013 – Recently a 25-year-old untitled Bulgarian player scored 6.0/9 points in a strong GM tournament, with a 2697 performance. His opponents complained, he was searched, and no electronic equipment was found. Still, the case put chess on the front pages of the mainstream media, and led to intense discussions on the Internet. Now Ivanov has given the Russian news portal WhyChess an exclusive interview. |
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Cheating scandal in the Bundesliga – readers' reactions 30.10.2012 – It will surprise nobody that there were a very large number of messages that poured in regarding our recent report on the disqualification of a Bundesliga player for carrying a cellphone to the bathroom during his games. Here's a small selection of letters, plus a thoughtful article by Assistant Professor Kung-Ming Tiong of Malaysia, comparing the problem in chess with academic cheating. |
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Cheating scandal: player disqualified for cell phone use 27.10.2012 – Actually, as the accused player, German GM Falko Bindrich, points out: not for proven use but for refusing to allow the arbiter to examine the phone he had with him during multiple toilet visits during last weekend's Bundesliga round. The rules permit the arbiter to check in case of justified suspicion, and so Bindrich was disqualified and the point awarded to his opponent. Long, compelling read. |
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A history of cheating in chess (1) 29.09.2011 – Hardly a month goes by without some report of cheating in international chess tournaments. The problem has become acute, but it is not new. In 2001 Frederic Friedel contributed a paper to the book "Advances in Computer Chess 9". It traces the many forms of illicit manipulations in chess and, a decade later, appears disconcertingly topical and up-to-date. We reproduce the paper in five parts. |
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A history of cheating in chess (2) 04.10.2011 – Coaching players during the game is probably the most widespread form of cheating (rivaled only perhaps by bribery and the throwing of games). Although this practice began long before the advent of chess playing machines, computers have added a new and dramatic dimension to this method of cheating in chess. You will never guess: who were the pioneers of cheating with computers? |
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A history of cheating in chess (3) 18.12.2011 – In January 1999 the main topic of conversation amongst top players like Kasparov, Anand and others: who was the mysterious German chess amateur, rated below 2000, who had won a strong Open ahead of GMs and IMs, with wonderfully courageous attacking chess and a 2630 performance? How had he done it? Turns out it was with unconventional methods, as subsequent investigation uncovered. |
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A history of cheating in chess (4) 28.2.2012– Las Palmas 1996: Garry Kasparov is agonizing over his 20th move against Vishy Anand. He calculates and calculates but cannot make a very tempting pawn push work. Immediately after the game he discovers, from his helpers, that it would have won the ultimately drawn position. The point that became clear to him: a single bit of information, given at the top level in chess, can decide a game. |
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A history of cheating in chess (5) 10.6.2014 – A few weeks ago FIDE took first executive steps to combat the most serious threat that the game of chess currently faces: the secret use of computer assistance during the game. In a paper written fourteen years ago Frederic Friedel had first drawn attention to the dangers that are lurking. We re-published this historical document in four parts. Here is the fifth and final section. |
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