Wireless chess cheat banned for 10 years

Checkmate for bluetooth headset scam

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Security, 28th December 2006 10:57 GMT

An Indian chess player has been banned from competing for 10 years after seeking the assistance of a computer via a bluetooth headset.

Umakant Sharma was caught during a "random check" in a New Delhi tournament on 4 December, Information Week reports. The headset was sewn into a cap which he "typically pulled down over his ears". The All India Chess Federation (AICF) found Sharma's accomplices had used a computer to calculate moves and had transmitted the recommendations to him via said headset.

The World Chess Federation's rules on the matter are explicit, reading: "It is strictly forbidden to bring mobile phones or other electronic means of communication, not authorized by the arbiter, into the playing venue. If a player's mobile phone rings in the playing venue during play, that player shall lose the game."

AICF treasurer Bharat Singh Chauhan produced the cap and headset at a meeting earlier this week and duly banned Sharma for a decade. ®

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