Apple Grand Master - Cheaters Cheaters everywhere

_Tombstone_

Grandmaster Gaioz Nigalidzes many trips to the same Toilet Cubicle during the 17th annual Dubai Open Chess Tournament prompted a Complaint, search of said Cubicle and the discovery of the real Apple Grandmaster hiding behind the Toilet.

Nigalidze has denied the phone is his but it's logged in under his Accounts and had his current game being analysed in a Chess App.

Gaioz Nigalidze’s rise through the ranks of professional chess began in 2007, the year the first iPhone was released.




A few Grandmasters have now come out and said that it's (cheating) rife and anyones Granny could win any Tournament.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/14/chess-grandmaster-caught-using-iphone-to-cheat-during-international-tournament/


Seems easy enough to me to stamp out most (all) cheating in the game but there no will to do it.

reunion

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

Seems easy enough to me to stamp out most (all) cheating in the game but there no will to do it.

How is it easy enough? It is actually quite difficult and creates more issues than it solves. Cheating in any sport is easy, not just chess.

1 Grandmaster (in the linked article) said cheating was widespread, not a few.

For a game which is meant to have smart players, Gaioz Nigalidzes was about a stupid a person as you can ever get.

Lucena

Getting away with cheating long-term is next to impossible. The main reason is that the world of chess is quite small, much like any specialised field.

Imagine someone pretending to be a structural engineer, even if the person was getting outside help i.e. getting someone to do their work for them, there’s always going to be a meeting where the person will have to explain stuff themselves, and a lack of knowledge will show up.

In chess, there aren’t meetings where chess players explain their ideas, but professional chess players at tournaments do tend to hang out together, and they will of course talk shop. If one player is winning solely through electronic means, he won’t be able to contribute much to these conversations, and so will either be found out fairly quickly, or more likely he will avoid other chess players to avoid this happening.

The problem with going to the toilet to check the mobile is that generally speaking the player has to do it when it’s his move and his time is ticking away, whereas the normal thing to do for a normal chess player needing the loo is to play his move and then go to the toilet, leaving his opponent’s time running. Occasionally a player may go to the toilet on his own time, but it’s rare enough that a player who does it regularly will quickly come under suspicion.

We had a case here locally a couple of years ago where a player suddenly started winning nearly all of his games, in both individual and team championships. He quickly came under suspicion, and while he was never accused for lack of solid proof, the fact that he was regularly going to the toilet on his own time made it obvious what was going on.

The local chess championship organisers, lacking proof but wanting to make a point, asked all the participants to leave their phones with the arbiter at the start of the game, and they would get them back at the end. Ok, this didn’t stop Mr. Cheat, he just handed in an old phone and still nipped to the loo with, presumably, his real phone. But he knew people were on to him. On the last day of the tournament, nobody stayed for the prize-giving out of protest (usually everyone would stay and have a drink and a few nibbles) so when Mr. Cheat got his first prize, he was under no doubt that the game was up.
He left the club he played for and joined one in another area, so that he wouldn’t have to see the players who ‘knew’ what he was up to. The thing is, the chess world is small so people in the area he plays in now are aware of his reputation.

He got away with it for a while, but it didn't last.

reunion

Lucena wrote: »

The problem with going to the toilet to check the mobile is that generally speaking the player has to do it when it’s his move and his time is ticking away, whereas the normal thing to do for a normal chess player needing the loo is to play his move and then go to the toilet, leaving his opponent’s time running. Occasionally a player may go to the toilet on his own time, but it’s rare enough that a player who does it regularly will quickly come under suspicion.

It is illegal to get up from the board on your move. So you could only go to the toilet on your opponents time.



There was a case in Bunratty a few years ago, someone was suspected of cheating (they were playing well above their rating, beating significantly higher rated players). The arbiter asked the player to not get up from the board for the next game (this was game 5 or 6) unless they asked the arbiter to do so (in case of emergency). The player didn't get up from the board once and beat his opponent rated 400 points above him. Silenced all the players he beat who were quick to accuse the person of being a cheat.

mikhail

reunion wrote: »

... The player didn't get up from the board once and beat his opponent rated 400 points above him. Silenced all the players he beat who were quick to accuse the person of being a cheat.

It's sad, but anyone who makes sudden gains in strength, particularly such that they are winning tournaments, is likely to be suspected at least in passing.

Lucena

reunion wrote: »

It is illegal to get up from the board on your move. So you could only go to the toilet on your opponents time.

Really? :eek:

I wasn't too sure what the rule was exactly, even though I should as an arbiter. It's one of those things that's never come up.

Do you happen to know the rule number in the Fide Rules of Chess?

mikhail

reunion wrote: »

It is illegal to get up from the board on your move. So you could only go to the toilet on your opponents time.

Just to clarify this, you can get up, but you can't leave the room.

11.2

The ‘playing venue’ is defined as the ‘playing area’, rest rooms, toilets, refreshment area, area set aside for smoking and other places as designated by the arbiter.

The playing area is defined as the place where the games of a competition are played.

Only with the permission of the arbiter can

1. a player leave the playing venue.
2. the player having the move be allowed to leave the playing area.
3. A person who is neither a player nor arbiter be allowed access to the playing area.

_Tombstone_

reunion wrote: »

How is it easy enough? It is actually quite difficult and creates more issues than it solves. Cheating in any sport is easy, not just chess.

No phones, Metal Detector Wands, Reserved pre searched toilets for players, checking of ears for Bugs.

Easy Peasy.

reunion wrote: »

1 Grandmaster (in the linked article) said cheating was widespread, not a few.

Ah, you didn't even read it.

Valmont

I drink a lot of coffee and water before and during my games so I usually have to get up quite a bit. Now my results aren't great anyway but I make sure to put my phone in my bag in view of my opponent near the start of the game so he doesn't get suspicious if I come back and play a good move!

The most worrying cheating scandal was the concerted effort by three French players to win the 2010 Olympiad. I just hope there is no cheating in the elite level events because it would tarnish the game badly. Kasparov once said that a nod from a spectator could be enough to win a game during these competitions; he meant that a player and his coach could be aware of a very complex but uncertain line - a nod from the coach could simply be the signal for 'the line is good - play it'. It makes you wonder!

reunion

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

No phones, Metal Detector Wands, Reserved pre searched toilets for players, checking of ears for Bugs.

Easy Peasy.




Ah, you didn't even read it.

That reduces the chances of cheating but does not eliminate it. A 2000 rated player could go to a 900 v 900 game and tell the person what to do. Or give a nod for a good move or even give a signal about what piece and where.

washington post wrote:

He’s not alone. Another English chess grandmaster, Daniel Gormally, recently suggested that cheating with phones is now widespread

1 GM says it's widespread, the other(s) say it possible for unrated players to win high level events.

mikhail wrote: »

Just to clarify this, you can get up, but you can't leave the room.

Ah I didn't realise the toilets were part of the playing area!