Cheater banned for ten years

In a world where microchips are getting smaller and smaller, and mobile phones are turning into tiny personal computers, for a lot of people the temptation to cheat with chess is also getting bigger and bigger. And indeed, it’s not that difficult anymore to get help from outside the playing hall during a chess game, wearing any kind of modern communication devices. Umakant Sharma from India is the first to get caught and punished severely after using a bluetooth device during a tournament at Delhi earlier this month. He’s been banned from chess for no less than ten years.

On December 5th, the Hindustan Times already brought the news that Umakant was caught:

“Umakant Sharma was caught with a blue tooth device hidden in his cap when random checking was conducted during the seventh round of the Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee Memorial All India Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament. Sharma, top seeded with ELO 2384 [sic], was playing with black pieces against International Master Rahul Shetty.”

According to Indian Chess Federation Secretary D.V. Sundar, Umakant had a bluetooth device neatly stitched into his cap, which he always kept firmly pulled over his ears. He communicated to his accomplices outside the playing hall, who then used a computer to relay moves to him.

Today India Times, Techtree and Reuters brought the news that the Federation decided to ban Umakant for no less than ten years.

Ten years is quite a big punishment, but the decision was obviously influenced by the fact that only in the last half year, Umakant’s elo rating climbed from 1989 to 2484. Of course this is hardly possible, but still, no hard evidence was found that he had cheated before…

And more surprisingly, the officials went a bit further than checking Umakant’s chess records. “The Council also checked Umakant’s complete record, including his games and even financial background and was surprised to learn that he had expensive mobile set despite being unemployed,” AICF Treasurer and Delhi Chess Association President Bharat Singh Chauhan said. “It is only recently that he got a job with the Southern Railways in Chennai.”

So guys, if you’re planning to cheat with an expensive device, make sure that you have a decent job. If you get caught, your punishment will be less harsh.