According to reports just received, an Indian Chess player has been banned for a period of 10 years, after he was caught cheating - using his mobile phone's wireless device to win games.
Over the last one and a half year, the player by the name of Umakant Sharma has been rapidly notching points, rousing suspicion amongst Chess officials.
Finally, at a recent tourney, Sharma was caught red handed when officials discovered a Bluetooth device neatly stitched into his cap, which he always kept firmly pulled over his ears.
Apparently, Sharma regularly used the Bluetooth device to communicate to his accomplices conveniently located outside the hall, who then used computers to relay the winning moves to him. This spurious modus operandi was confirmed by the Secretary of the Indian Chess Federation, D V Sundar.
Sundar asserted that the Indian Chess Federation has banned Sharma from playing for a whole 10 years. He added that in doing so, the organisation wanted to send out a clear message to all such people that it is not easy to get away with such things.
Post the incident, Chess officials have become more alert, and are checking whether other players too could be using such illegal means to win games.
He won a bunch of tournaments I heard. So what about all that prize money? It's a crimminal offense akin to outright stealing I would think...
by Frank
from Bngor, PA
on 29/12/06 11:35 PM
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