Chess Grandmaster Uses Smartphone To Check A Move In Toilet, Expelled From Tournament

Honor is something that everyone should strive for – regardless of which field that one is involved it, be it sports or an exam. Cheating is a no-no, but the fallen nature of mankind has seen this trait surface time and again. One of the latest incidents involved a chess grandmaster who took a toilet break, but in the toilet stall, he made use of a smartphone in order to check his moves. Needless to say, Gaioz Nigalidze was expelled from the tournament in which he was playing in, and will face the possibility of serving a three-year ban should the complaint against him be upheld.

Gaioz Nigalidze is the current Georgian national champion, where he was up against Armenian Tigran Petrosian in the sixth round at the Dubai Open. Petrosian felt something was not right, as he realized that his opponent happened to be spending way too much time at the bathroom. Nigalidze was spotted using the same cubicle every single time, and it took him at least ten minutes, which then set the alarm bells in his rival’s head ringing.

Officials found a smartphone that was wrapped in toilet tissue, and buried in the bin, in that stall that Nigalidze became well acquainted with. Tournament director Yahya Mohamed Saleh said, “He denied it was his, but it was logged into his Facebook page and there was a chess program running on it, showing his positions.” Something like this should not have happened in the first place.

Image courtesy of Tristan Martin.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Cellphones, Gaming
Tags: smartphone