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Chess Grandmaster Used iPhone To Cheat During Tournament

Posted by Soulskill on from the there's-an-app-for-that dept.

SternisheFan sends this quote from the Washington Post: Gaioz Nigalidze's rise through the ranks of professional chess began in 2007, the year the first iPhone was released. In hindsight, the timing might not be coincidental. On Saturday, Nigalidze, the 25-year-old reigning Georgian champion, was competing in the 17th annual Dubai Open Chess Tournament when his opponent spotted something strange. "Nigalidze would promptly reply to my moves and then literally run to the toilet," Armenian grandmaster Tigran Petrosian said. "I noticed that he would always visit the same toilet partition, which was strange, since two other partitions weren't occupied." Petrosian complained to the officials. After Nigalidze left the bathroom once more, officials inspected the interior and say they found an iPhone wrapped in toilet paper and hidden behind the toilet. "When confronted, Nigalidze denied he owned the device," according to the tournament's Web site. "But officials opened the smart device and found it was logged into a social networking site under Nigalidze's account. They also found his game being analyzed in one of the chess applications." Nigalidze was expelled from the tournament, which is still ongoing and features more than 70 grandmasters from 43 countries competing for a first-place prize of $12,000. The Georgian's career is now under a microscope. His two national titles are under suspicion.

4 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. title is wrong by bobmajdakjr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He isn't a grandmaster if he cheated. :p

    1. Re: title is wrong by towermac · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And if he's kicked out of chess, and makes a career out of baiting hooks, then he could be a...

      ah nvm

  2. If it were me... by toonces33 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would have taken the phone and then sat back and watched the guy fall to pieces. Only after the match was complete (and the guy presumably lost) would I have busted him.

  3. Not a shocking revelation to be honest . . by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Cheating is rampant in all things anymore.

    He's a grandmaster until he gets caught cheating. Until then, he dominates the field and the pressure is on for others to cheat as well just so the playing field is level. ( The Tour De France comes to mind, as does US Baseball's Steroid issue, Online Gaming / Gambling, Standardized Tests ( like the SAT, ACT, Bar exam, etc. etc. )

    It makes it impossible to compete unless you're bending the rules also.

    Makes you wonder of all the "winners" out there, what percentage of them made it to that pedestal legitimately ?