Chess grandmaster and two-time Georgian national champion Gaioz Nigalidze is facing a 15-year ban for cheating after getting caught red-handed during a tournament in Dubai. According to the Daily Mail, Nigalidze was found out and dismissed from the tournament after his opponent grew suspicious of his frequent bathroom trips.
"Nigalidze would promptly reply to my moves and then literally run to the toilet," said Tigran Petrosian, Nigalidze's sixth round opponent.
"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."
Tournament officials checked the stall Nigalidze kept running into and found a smartphone running a chess application under some toilet paper.
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He denied ownership of the phone, but a social networking app on the device was logged-in under his name. Oops.
Test-taking middle schoolers and worried SAT takers all around the world are reportedly on edge after hearing about Nigalidze's bust. Is there any older trick (pre-2008, but post-unlimited texting availability) than going to the bathroom with your phone?
Here's a photo of Nigalidze, presumably checking his phone under the desk for the right move. Blink, and he'll copy his phone.
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