Umakant Sharma banned for 10 years
PTI
NEW DELHI, Dec 27: In one of the harshest punishments to a chess player, the All India Chess Federation has banned Umakant Sharma of Southern Railway for 10 years for cheating during a FIDE rating tournament at Delhi early this month.
The AICF at its Central Council meeting at Chennai on Tuesday decided to ban Umakant, the second seed at the Air Marshal Subroto tournament, for being caught with a blue tooth device hidden in his cap.
AICF Treasurer and Delhi Chess Association President Bharat Singh Chauhan, who exhibited the cap and device at the meeting, said the decision was taken after a long deliberation on the pros and cons of the nature of offence and the punishment, besides the complete record of the player, who climbed from ELO ratings 1989 to around 2480 in only the last six months.
“The matter was discussed at length at the meeting and it was decided that such acts were not welcome in chess,” Chauhan said.
“The Council also checked Umakant’s complete record, including his games and even financial background and was surprised to learn that he had expensive mobile set despite being unemployed,” he said.
“It is only recently that he got a job with the Southern Railways in Chennai,” he said.
“His games were also studied and he was not an extraordinary player who could have naturally gained heavily in ratings in such short duration,” he said.
Source: India Times
Check-mate for Indian chess player after phone ploy
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – An Indian chess player has been banned for 10 years for cheating after he was caught using his mobile phone’s wireless device to win games, chess officials said on Wednesday.
…”We have banned him for 10 years,” he told Reuters. “We wanted to send a clear message to such people.”
Chess officials were also probing whether another player had similar advantages through such illegal means, he added.
The full article is available on Reuters
Bravo. Now if they can only catch Topalov red-handed, life would be good.
10 years does seem a bit harsh for a first offense. Maybe 1 year.
He’s a sub 2000 player and a bit old to make much improvements, it doesn’t look like he could make a living out of it anyway.
He could still play online or come play in clubs (if he isn’t ashamed of himself).
Cheaters beware!
Only small thiefs are caught. Kramnik is still scot-free despite the heavy evidence for his cheating.
I think 10 yrs is ok for cheating.
other cheaters will think twice before cheating now….
Good for the AICF. Sometimes it takes a sledgehammer to get the message across.
where did he get the money to buy expensive mobile device ??
Well I am all set. Where do I send in my order to get the device with instructions on how to use it.
Honestly. I think the detail information should be available if not to the public at least to FIDE, USCF and maybe people like Jon Jacobs who works so hard to stop cheating.
One reason I say this is because from what little I read it seems he simply had something up in his hat. I heard nothing about any ear piece. The tournament directors need to be aware of how this is accomplished and how to stop it.
Or maybe I am wrong. Maybe they all know how it is done.
I think 10 years is just fine. It sends a message to other countries who might have a problem. I would think they will take action along the same lines.
One year is kind of short. So the person misses next years world open but he is back in 2 years. NO not long enough. 10 years to life is much better.
In USA I would vote for a life ban from all big money tournaments like the world open but might allow say a 10 year ban from regional low prize tournaments.
Now where did I leave my Blue Tooth. Oh there it is under my hat. Well I am all set to play chess now.
After Christmas Sale on one slightly used Blue Tooth Chess setup. Fits nicely under any hat. Just send me cash fast.
http://www.chesscheaters.com
Be the first at your tournament to get caught cheating.
It doesn’t fit. Stupid officials. He sounded like he was a patzer set up/ The people / real opertors will find another weakie desperate and poor another patzer to carry out the ruse / scheme. Mephisto was a cheat no ban him cheating has being going on for 200 years. People shaving points etc
Will FIDE impose a suspension as well?
SharkBite.
This is good! He deserves the ban.
Cheating like that is having NO respect for Chess!!
Bravo! It’s good to see effective enforcement of fair play.
Did they fine him as well? ( I am thinking he may be happy not playing again but keeping lots of prize money over several tournaments). Afterall he was not playaing chess but scheming for money the last year or so, so would he really miss the chess?
Could it be prosecuted in court (like stealing, and false pretenses etc.)?