Chess cheating cases over the years
Over the years there have been many high profile and intriguing case of cheating in chess, using differing levels of sophistication.
7:00AM GMT 25 Mar 2011
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Wired-up chess player banned
In January 2007, an Indian chess player who stitched a mobile phone ear-piece into his baseball cap to get assistance from an accomplice with a computer was banned from the game for ten years. Umakant Sharma, 25, came under suspicion after he suddenly began thrashing players who were ranked many places above him - winning the All-Indian Chess Championship despite being ranked outside the world's top 50,000 players only a year previously.
Text message moves
At the Dubai Open in 2008, M Sadatnajafi, an Iranian player ranked 2288 at the time, was disqualified from the tournament after he was caught allegedly receiving suggested moves by text message on his mobile phone while playing Grandmaster Li Chao. The game was being streamed live on the internet and it was alleged that his friends were following it at home, mirroring the game using a computer programme and sending moves by text message.
‘Phonito’ device
In Philadelphia World open 2006, a lower ranked player called Steve Rosenberg was leading before the final round. Suspicions of the organising committee led the tournament director to confront him. He was found to be using a covert wireless transmitter and receiver called a "Phonito" and was disqualified from the event.
PlayStation
In the 2009 Norths Chess Club Centenary Year Under 16 Tournament in Sydney, a 14-year old player was caught using what the tournament official called a “hand held machine” in the toilets. He was found to be using a program called Chessmaster on his PlayStation Portable to get an unfair advantage.
