Chess grandmaster cheats with iPhone hidden in toilet cubicle

A chess grandmaster has been thrown out of an international tournament and faces a 15-year ban after he was caught sneaking to the toilet to check moves on his mobile phone. Photo / Getty Images.

A chess grandmaster has been thrown out of an international tournament and faces a 15-year ban after he was caught sneaking to the toilet to check moves on his mobile phone.

Gaioz Nigalidze, the current Georgian champion, was expelled from the Dubai Open Chess tournament when he was found using his phone in the middle of a match.

The two-time national champion was exposed when his opponent lodged a complaint when he grew suspicious about his frequent trips to the lavatory.

Tournament organisers found Nigalidze had stored a mobile phone in a cubicle, covered in toilet paper.

They announced their decision to expel Nigalidze on Sunday morning on their Facebook page.

The complaint was made by Nigalidze's opponent in their sixth-round match in the tournament, Armenia's Tigran Petrosian.

He said: 'Nigalidze would promptly reply to my moves and then literally run to the toilet.

'I noticed that he would always visit the same toilet partition, which was strange, since two other partitions weren't occupied.

'I informed the chief arbiter about my growing suspicions and asked him to keep an eye on Gaioz.

'After my opponent left the very toilet partition yet another time, the arbiters entered it.

'What they found was the mobile phone with headphones; the device was hidden behind the pan and covered with toilet paper.'

When officials confronted the Georgian, he denied owning the device but officials found the phone was logged into a social networking site under his name.

They also found his match being analysed in one of the chess applications.

He was promptly removed from the tournament and could now face a maximum 15-year ban from the game.

When questioned about the offence, Nigalidze said: 'Not everything is true in what Petrosian said'.

This is not the first time a player was caught cheating at a chess tournament.

In July 2013, Bulgarian player Borislav Ivanov was suspended from playing for four months by his national federation.

It had been found most of his moves matched those of the leading computer chess analysis programs.

Two years earlier the French chess federation suspended three players, including the national team captain, when it was alleged they used text messages, a remote chess computer and coded signals to beat the opposition at the 2010 Chess Olympiad.

In 2008, at the Dubai Open, an Iranian player was banned when he was found to be receiving help from someone watching the game's live broadcast on the internet and was sending the moves through text messages.

Tournaments sanctioned by the International Chess Federation - including the Dubai Open - do not allow players to carry mobile phones and other electronic devices during matches.

-DAILY MAIL