Top seed caught cheating in chess
Press Trust of India
New Delhi, December 5, 2006
A day after chess Grandmaster Koneru Humpy’s dazzling success at the Asian Games in Doha, it was a low for the sport when a player was caught for the first time using an electronic device during a FIDE tournament in the country.
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, was playing with black pieces against International Master Rahul Shetty.
The arbiters were still to decide what action should be taken against Sharma as it was a maiden attempt by a player in the country to use some means of communication during a match.
FIDE rules for carrying electronic communication device say: “During play the players are forbidden to make use of any notes, sources of information, advice, or analyse on another chessboard.
The full article is here. 
Like Pete Rose…ban the player for life!
Toss him in the Ganges.
moment of truth for FIDE.
What type of message do they send?
A slap on the wrist (write a nice apology and teach some kids chess for free)
A 3-4 year ban.
I vote BAN
Well, the penalty for making unsubstantiated charges against players or sponsors outside of the regular appeasls process is a suspension from rated play of up to 3 years. A person actually caught cheating deserves at least that much, if not more.
The question still remains as to what Topalov deserves for violating Rule 2.2.9 of the FIDE Ethics Code. It is a first offense, but he did it multiple times, rather than just in a single moment of pique, so I’d say a 1 year suspension for him would be about right. And a minimum of 3 years for the perpetrator here.
You don’t have to do anything because the person is brandmarked for life. It’s similar to the “glorious” winner of the last Tour de France.
Nooo ,I wouldn’t ban that player for life.
I would ban him untill he manages to win single game against DF10.This would be ideal punishment.
He,he,he…
anything other than a long ban is unacceptable.
There are places on the body that you could hide a Blue Tooth or other electronic device that no tournament director will EVER search for or find. All it needs to do is pulse 4 x8 times max to give the required moves and can be replied to with similar muscle contractions… this could give women an advantage in Tournaments over men…
I think this is the future.
lifetime ban go drive a ric shaw for money. send a message i hate when people steal rating points
The credibility of the game is at stake. This issue has the highest importance. Ban violators for life. This is not a matter of revenge; the survival of the game is at stake.
So a 2384 feels he needs to cheat to beat a 2302. Says a lot for how he got to 2384 then!
This is not the only one who cheats at the highest levels. If I say the name (and show the proof) I’ll be deleted. Call me a crackpot if you will, but I predict another will be caught soon.
>> There are places on the body that you could hide a Blue Tooth or other electronic device that no tournament director will EVER search for or find.
For that you would have to use a toilet. 😉
Lifetime ban, stripped of ELO rating, loss of all games in the match, win’s rewarded to all of his opponents and a swift kick in the ass on the way out the door.
As for hidden Bluetooth devices, there are plenty of directional scanners that can be used to detect Bluetooth transmittions within a room. FIDE may want to think about investing in some.
A big over reaction. First we do not know anything about this device except it is blue tooth something.
I suggest we wait to learn more about what happened before jumping off the bridge.
If this guy is guilty then I doubt he will continue with chess anyway. so problem is solved.
A simple ban from winning any prize money or trophys or awards will do the job. Poker will be his next venture. Everyone trys to cheat at poker. haha.
This reminds me of Steve Rosenberg. He cheats. Many think the ‘cat in the hat’ cheats also. I bet we’ll soon know.
Minimum 5-year ban (preferably 10 years or life).
Kicked out of his federation.
Internation public listing on some sort of ‘cheating hall of shame’ so that tournament organisers can recognise him.
A very large fine, hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Taking off his FIDE rating and 3 years of BAN from FIDE rating tournaments. In case of confessions from him, the ban might be reduced to 2 years. After the banned period, he should be given the provision to start as a fresh chess career though. I want the treatment of the disease not punishment of the patient.
http://chess4you.blogspot.com/2006/12/top-seed-caught-cheating-in-chess.html
This isn’t surprising.
After all its been done at the highest level of Chess.
I predict it all tourney to be “Computer Assisted” in the future, when its no longer possible to separate the human from the computer. (think of implants that help us at mental tasks; This is certainly the next step in human evolution)
His ELO was not 2384 but 2484 (+500 between april and october 2006). His results here
” http://www.fide.com/ratings/id.phtml?event=5017459
don’t think anyone had such a rating improvement…. “
Considering he played in over 50 events in 10 months it is possible. It isn’t unheard of, even without cheating.