After Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the major Sinquefield Cup tournament, he posted a Twitter message in which he pointed to a YouTube clip of José Mourinho saying: “If I talk, I’ll be in big trouble”. Carlsen withdrew the day after a very surprising loss to Hans Niemann, and many interpreted the Norwegian’s message as an accusation of cheating against the American. The chief referee in the chess tournament later made a statement in which he said no signs of the use of illegal substances had been found. Nevertheless, the situation between Niemann and Carlsen has meant that cheating in chess has become a relevant topic. And it can be easier to cheat than one would think. Little chance of being exposed – Fortunately, I have not experienced any cheating myself, but I know some of the methods that can be used. I do. It may be that I have been lucky, but it is also possible that I have been deceived. That’s what chess referee Kristoffer Gressli says. He thinks cheating in chess is a big problem. – Given how easy it is, and how small the chance is of being caught, it is a bigger problem than one likes to think, he says. SIMPLE: It probably doesn’t take much to cheat in a game of chess. Photo: Gerd Johanne Braadland / news You don’t need that much information, just that you get an assessment at some point that now “you have the upper hand” or “if you find the right move now, then you have the winner”. One takes great steps with such information. And the possibilities for cheating are many, we are to believe the experts. It also takes very little for the cheating to “pay off”. – If they get a tip two or three times during a game, it can be enough to win, says Gressli. These are the cheating methods KNOW THE METHODS: news’s chess expert Torstein Bae. Photo: Erik Johansen / NTB Both Gressli and news’s chess expert Torstein Bae have an overview of several of the methods used to cheat. Some may seem so simple that it can be difficult to understand that they work, but they are often difficult to discover – especially afterwards. Mobile phone This is the most common method, according to Gressli. It involves one way or another gaining access to analyzes from a mobile phone. And it may seem that creativity is the only limit to this method. – There was a grandmaster who cheated by having a mobile phone taped to his sock. When he went to the bathroom, he pulled it up and hit the lot and got analyzes there. There are also others who have hidden mobile phones in the toilet in the waste bin, paper dispensers and things like that. Bae also believes that the use of a mobile phone is by far the most common method of cheating. Especially at a lower level. ANALYSIS: This may not be exactly how the cheating takes place, but the mobile phone is the tool most often used for cheating, according to the experts. Photo: OLI SCARFF / AFP – One goes into the toilet and checks the mobile phone. You plot the move and have the position there, and then get the conclusion and then you can do it more or less often during a game. Depending on how much you need it and are of a cheating pope, says Bae. Earplugs Another option is to use tiny earplugs, which are not detected by ordinary metal detectors. – They are only two or three millimeters in size. Then you communicate with a mobile phone, PC or something similar, for example with bluetooth. Bluetooth scanners can possibly detect that, but not a metal detector, explains Gressli. Bae said that measures were introduced in the Sinquefield Cup to make it more difficult to use such “high-tech” methods. The broadcast was delayed by 15 minutes: – So that the people watching are not in sync with the player – that they cannot report the player, says Bae. Help from the audience This method is far from as “high-tech”, but involves the chess player getting help from someone in the audience – a kind of helper in the hall. CAN SOMEONE IN THE ROOM HELP? Getting help from someone in the same room as the game is being played is also a method that can be used. This picture is only an illustration photo. Photo: Matt Dunham / AP – The more classic one is that there are several people who cooperate in cheating – how one stands in the room gives the players a hint as to what kind of checker or field it is about, says Gressli. – It has been a well-known method of cheating – that people pose in a certain way, that you have an agreement “that you come into the room when I make a decisive move”. Which is difficult for others to understand, explains Bae. But it is not always the most successful in practice. – Two French players were caught cheating for this during the Olympics in 2010. With the help of video surveillance, one managed to find this out. The two French grandmasters were caught and banned for many years, says Gressli. – Difficult to detect Although cheating has been a hot topic recently, there is no evidence that Niemann – or others – have cheated in the major tournaments. As a result of the rumor at the back, Sinquefield Cup chose to do its own investigations, without finding anything. But according to Gressli, it is not just uncovering dishonest methods afterwards. – It is so difficult to discover. If you don’t catch people in the act, you can’t solve this here. At least not with people at such a high level, because they play such good chess, he says. – What do you fear will happen if this is not cracked down on? – If it is not taken seriously and you fail to catch the cheaters, then people will lose the motivation to play chess.
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Magnus Carlsen’s cryptic message started a debate about cheating – chess judgments reveal the methods – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
