Foul play by champion Shiva, Harsh in online chess event

Nagpur, May 31

Nagpur District Chess Association (NDCA) has organised Late Umesh Panbude benefit Online Blitz Chess Tournament with the noble intention of raising the funds to help the family of the noted chess coach after his sad demise due to Coronavirus. However, the controversy marred the tournament when Arena Grand Master (AGM) champion Shiva Iyer and third place holder Harsh Nachankar were banned by Lichess (the online platform) for their foul play on Sunday.

It can be mentioned here that since the lockdown was imposed in March 2020 due to the Corona pandemic, the online form of the chess tournament has become very popular as players can participate in it without venturing out of home. The NDCA so far has conducted 16 blitz and six rapid tournaments with a lot of participation from district players. Barring a couple of minor instances of cheating, the tournaments were smooth. Shiva Iyer has emerged as the champion in maximum tournaments. However, in Panbude Benefit Tournament Lichess blocked his ID along with Harsh Nachankar when they were found involved in an unfair practice. In fact 'Lichess' was continuously observing the moves of Iyer for the last one year and finally, he was caught cheating.

According to NDCA secretary KK Barat, the 'Lichess' has blocked the Ids of both the players. The NDCA will withhold their prizes and within a couple of days the decision whether to ban them will be taken. It is learned from the reliable sources that both the players will be banned for two or three tournaments.

This is not the only instance that city player has been banned in any chess tournament. Earlier GM Raunak Sadhwani was also banned by Lichess for foul play in the online chess tournament in February 2021.

Online format is good but requires honesty: Deshmukh

Reacting over the development, IM Anup Deshmukh said in pandemic situation the online format of the chess tournament is good to keep the players busy but at the same time, it requires lot of honesty and passion for the game “ The Lichess has not blocked the ID of Iyer suddenly. In fact, they were observing his moves for last one year as his game was improved rapidly. Any player can't win the tournaments continuously but unfortunately, some players involve themselves in wrong practices to earn name, fame and money.

Common ways of cheating

Talking to Lokmat Times chess arbiter Pravin Panttawne said using a chess engine, a computer programme, while playing online is one of the methods players use to cheat. . Computer programmes, which power chess engines, and Apps can help a chess player play accurately and very quickly. Players can also get a prompt from those rated better than them on an electronic device, which is tough to detect as the game is being played over a screen.

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