Some Unique Cheating Stories

Some extremely unique chess cheating stories

Chess is a game of skill, strategy and intellect. But sometimes, some players resort to cheating to gain an unfair advantage over their opponents. Here are some of the most bizarre and hilarious chess cheating stories ever recorded.

1. In 2015, a Georgian grandmaster named Gaioz Nigalidze was caught using his smartphone hidden in a toilet cubicle during a tournament in Dubai. He was using a chess app to analyze the positions and find the best moves. He was exposed when his opponent noticed that he was visiting the same toilet repeatedly and alerted the officials. Nigalidze was banned for three years and stripped of his grandmaster title.
2. In 2006, an Indian player named Umakant Sharma was found to have an earpiece hidden under his cap during a national championship. He was receiving moves from a computer program through a Bluetooth device connected to his accomplices outside the venue. He was disqualified and banned for 10 years.
3. In 2013, a French player named Cyril Marzolo was caught using a pair of glasses with a hidden camera during a tournament in Metz. He was transmitting the images of the board to a computer program that would send him moves through vibrations in his shoes. He was caught when the organizers noticed that he was wearing glasses despite having perfect vision. He was banned for two years.
4. In 2014, a Bulgarian player named Borislav Ivanov was accused of using a sophisticated device implanted in his leg that would allow him to communicate with a computer program. He was suspected of cheating after he defeated several grandmasters with stunning moves. He refused to undergo a metal detector test and claimed that he had a metal plate in his leg due to an accident. He was banned for four months.
5. In 2018, a Chinese player named Wang Zhaoyang was caught using Morse code to cheat during a tournament in Shaanxi. He had a device hidden in his sleeve that would beep in different patterns to indicate the moves. He was caught when the officials heard the beeping sounds and checked his arm. He was disqualified and banned for life.
6. King Cnut's murder: According to one legend, a dispute over cheating at chess led King Cnut of the North Sea Empire to murder a Danish nobleman. The story goes that Cnut was playing chess with Ulf Jarl, his brother-in-law and ally, when Ulf made a move that Cnut considered illegal. Cnut accused Ulf of cheating and threw the board at him, breaking his nose. Ulf retaliated by hitting Cnut with a chess piece, knocking out one of his teeth. Cnut was so enraged that he ordered his men to kill Ulf in the church where he had taken refuge.
7. Slippery Elm's ruse: One of the most anthologized chess stories is Slippery Elm (1929) by Percival Wilde, which involves a ruse to allow a weak player to beat a much stronger one, using messages passed on slippery-elm throat lozenges. The story is set in a chess club where a young man named Slippery Elm challenges the club champion to a game for $100. Slippery Elm pretends to have a sore throat and asks for some lozenges from his friend, who is secretly a master player. The friend writes the best moves on the wrappers of the lozenges and passes them to Slippery Elm, who follows them and wins the game. However, the club champion discovers the trick and exposes Slippery Elm, who flees with the money.

Thanks for reading. I made this blog just for fun and I am aware that it's not good.