Four methods to cheat at chess

First of all we need to define the verb “cheating”! From the very beginning, I tell you all that it's not just a little trick, a "trick" in front of a rule, or a lack of fair play. Not even a "Mano de Dios" moment. From my point of view, cheating = stealing! Chess cheating is the equivalent of doping in physical sports!

I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page before the actual analysis of each method. The order is random and the name is eloquent.

The walkman method

The Russian GM, Vladislav Tkachiev, explained to us in 2015 how to cheat without too much effort, with just a little imagination. He needed about 30$, a headset in his ear, and a chess friend at the other end of the line. To test his little engineering, he invited Daniil Dubov, a GM in the Top 50, to play some blitz games (3 minutes / player). The outcome? It was the one you already suspect.

The ”Prostamol” method

It was probably the most common method. The more rudimentary it was, the more popular it was. The technique was quite simple. The player hid his phone in the toilet cubicle and during the game for as many times as he felt the need to relieve himself of the difficulties of the duel, he consulted his much smarter "friend". The problem of any thief is the limit, and when you start stealing you end up sticking your hand up to your elbow in the honey jar. Among the "the toughest guys" who implemented this elaborate scheme are:

• Dutchman Wesley Vermeulen - caught stealing in Romania, at Iasi Open 2014, in the 6th round, even by his opponent, Vladislav Nevednichy
• the Georgian Grand Master Gaioz Nigalidze - played dangerously at the Dubai Open Chess in 2015 and became famous even in The Guardian
• Bulgarian Borislav Ivanov - was suspected several times in 2012-2013, but never actually caught. In the end, however, he was caught falsifying documents.

Casa de Papel method

I've already reached the Big League. Elaborated plans, more people involved and meticulous training. This elaborate scheme was put into practice by three Frenchmen, right at the Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiad in 2010. The cheating player was GM Sébastien Feller. The accomplice was the team captain, GM Arnaud Hauchard. And "El Profesor" was the international master Cyril Marzolo, the one who coordinated the whole action behind the computer.

Cyril watched the match live in France and sent the move in a coded message to Arnaud. Let's imagine that the transmitted solution indicated moving a piece from h2 to field f4. The code was: 82-64! 8 means column H, 2 second line, 6 column F, 4 fourth line.

Sebastien was at the table, but he saw 8 players in front of him. Arnaud was to sit for a few seconds next to player 8, then next to player 2, then next to player 6 and finally back to player 2.

But their plan had a big downside: the text messages sent were on a phone received from the French Chess Federation. And like that they were discovered, suspended and blamed by the entire chess community.

KGB method

This tactic had two phases. It started during the Cold War, when the players in the former Soviet Union did not have liberty to travel in the world to participate in chess tournaments. Those who were extremely lucky and benefited from this privilege were obliged to help each other. Specifically, during the games they "whisper" their moves, and when they played with each other, the player with the highest chances of winning the tournament received one or more gift points! The options were simple. Either they accepted this agreement or they stayed at home. I am talking about GMs. As Vishy Anand well explained in an interview in 2015. Legend has it that they had supervisors who made sure that the players followed the agreed plan. The years passed, the war ended, the rules changed, but the method spread over time. To be honest, the Russians were the pioneers of this cheating system.

Phase 2. It was probably one of the most publicized scandals regarding an alleged "cheat". Here I am referring to the match for the world title between the Bulgarian Veselin Topalov and the Russian Vladimir Kramnik in 2006. Topalov directly accused Kramnik of benefiting from state-of-the-art technology from the KGB to win the match. Specifically, he insinuated that it was a device attached to his body, and the moves were transmitted through encrypted messages coming through the floor.

Many have argued that the Soviet Union - and later Russia - wanted to display its power through total domination of world chess. There was little evidence, but the stories remained interesting.

In these times, when online chess has become extremely popular and many tournaments have come to have impressive prize funds, cheat detection techniques have reached an extremely high level. At the same time, however, many cheaters have improved their theft methods. Thus, the only guarantee in the online environment remained the notoriety of each player.

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