Who knew you could cheat at chess?

[SlowwHand]

Who knew you could cheat at chess?

1 hour, 53 minutes ago

NEW DELHI, Dec 27 (Reuters Life!) - An Indian chess player has been banned for 10 years for cheating after he was caught using his mobile phone's wireless device to win games, chess officials said on Wednesday.

The player, Umakant Sharma, had logged rating points at a rapid pace in the last 18 months and also qualified for the national championship, arousing the suspicion of officials and bemusing rivals.

Sharma was finally caught at a recent tournament when officials discovered that he had stitched a Bluetooth device in a cloth cap which he always pulled over his ears.

He communicated to his accomplices outside the hall, who then used a computer to relay moves to him, Indian chess federation secretary D.V. Sundar said on Wednesday.

"We have banned him for 10 years," he told Reuters. "We wanted to send a clear message to such people."

Chess officials were also probing whether another player had similar advantages through such illegal means, he added.

[Dis]

why is this in the sports forum. I just had a thread on this.

[rah]

When you dis golf, management will ignore you since when you do, you prove that nothing you ever says has any merit what so ever.

[Dis]

golf

Is it really more than an activity to drink beer and walk around talking about business and/or women?

[rah]

I hope I disputed this properly in the other thread.

[SlowwHand]

Dis, you're not arguing your point very well.

[Flubber]

Oh and back on topic (If there is such a thing) Cheating has been in chess for years. While its a tough game at which to cheat . . . since everything should be visible to both, there have always been claims of outside assistance. For much of the history of chess, this was relatively insignificant at the high levels . But now computers are so good and so fast that there are concerns that even high level players might have assustants checking their planned move or even providing ideas with the help of those latest computers.

Oh and other cheating does occurr. Hardly a kids tournament goes by that someone doesn't try something inventive and even in competitive adult chess, there have been instances of "piece rearrangement" shall we say.

[SlowwHand]

What's the point in "winning" that way?
Is there a lot of money involved? I've never seen a chess babe. Is that it?

[Heresson]

Re: Who knew you could cheat at chess?

Originally posted by SlowwHand

Indians

[Flubber]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
What's the point in "winning" that way?

At low levels I confess I don't understand it, although sometimes there can be cash prizes. WE had a case where a young player "repositioned" a rook while his opponent was away from the board. It was a move from one adjacent square to another but it was the difference between being horribly losing or clearly winning. I think the kid was set to win something like $300 before he was caught.

At higher levels there is money and prestige in chess. For example I believe world champion Kasparov was somewhat known for a playboy lifestyle -- usually with a Finnish model at his side LOL

[Sava]

Originally posted by rah
Dis golf

"new for the Xbox 360!!!"

[Dis]

Finnish model ehh. Maybe I'll become the next Kasparov then. All I need to do is learn how to play chess. Okay, I know how to play, just not very well.

[SlowwHand]

That could be a good thing. I use that tactic myself.
Someone that's better than me, just shakes their head, wondering, "WTF?.

[vovan]

Originally posted by Dis
why is this in the sports forum.

If we go by the rules we outlined in that thread, I think there'd be nothing but the fantasy football thread here. Maybe we should rename it to "Sports, Hobbies, Activities, and such" forum. Then again, this, as we have been told, is not a democracy, so all hail rah.

On topic. That's pretty cool in the "hey, look what he did with tehnology" kind of way, but otherwise unimpressive. Call me cynical, but there's cheating in everything, as far as I am concerned, probably even in curling (food for the other thread: is it a sport?).

Also:

Originally posted by SlowwHand
What's the point in "winning" that way?

Other than the money you mentioned, bragging rights maybe, childish though it may seem? Why do people cheat at computer games? Same reason, they like to feel superior in some way and rub it in the other person's face.

[Sava]

Originally posted by vovan

fantasy football thread

all hail rah