Tech mate? Top grandmaster claims chess is riddled with cheats using smartphones
Daniel Gormally suggested many chess players now disappear to the toilet with their smartphones during games to work out their next move
By Leon Watson
3:07PM GMT 21 Mar 2015
The genteel world of British chess has been rocked after a top grandmaster claimed the game of kings is riddled with cheats.
Daniel Gormally, 38, suggested the game is facing an epidemic of people popping to the loo during competitions and using mobile phones to work out their next move.
Mobile apps such as Droidfish and Shredder have made it easy to play chess on the move and analyse complex positions with so-called “chess engines”.
But despite handsets being banned in most tournaments on the English circuit, Gormally said there is nothing to stop players hiding in cubicles with them.
Internationally, chess has faced several cheating scandals in recent years involving elaborate methods and technology.
But so far no top level players in England have been accused of calculating acts of deception in games.
Gormally, from Durham, said: “There’s a few players in English chess whose ‘improvement’ I’ve found a bit suspicious, to say the least. But I won’t name any names.
“The worrying thing is the amount of chess players who cheat at chess, a game with very little money in it.”
Gormally, ranked 13 by the English Chess Federation, went on to say he believes chess is no different to sports like cycling which have been embroiled major drug taking scandals.
“The problem is that computers are so powerful,” he added.
“It’s just a shame because now when you see someone have a significant improvement you think ‘hang on, wait a minute’ and it shouldn’t be that way.
“Of course, you can’t prove it. If somebody wants to go to the toilet once or twice in a match you wouldn’t be suspicious, but they could easily look at their phone and gain a significant improvement.
“I don’t think it happens at the top level because they would get found out. The top players have press conferences after their matches and have to explain all their moves.
Full article here.