Former World chess champion
Vladimir Kramnik
tried to create some flutter in the ninth round of the
Chess Olympiad
on Friday but the authorities dealt with the issue swiftly and restored normalcy.
Uzbekistan captain Kramnik, 49, complained about the presence of mobile phones on the Indian boards which are used to relay video recording for the live webcast.
The Russian cited a rule in the FIDE handbook and claimed that it states that no electronic device can be allowed inside the playing hall. He added he was fine with just the video camera but not with the phone using video recording mode since data can be transmitted via bluetooth and other technological advancements. Without claiming that players were cheating by taking help from outside, he said that the bluetooth was on.
However, Bojana Bejatovic, secretary of the
FIDE Fair Play
Commission, clarified that the cell phone fixed for
D Gukesh
vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov game was taken away for inspection on Kramnik’s request.
"We found nothing wrong or suspicious with the cell phone. It was not connected, there was no SIM card. The bluetooth and Wifi were not on. We switched on the bluetooth, checked history and found everything to be satisfactory. No rule was broken. The phone was used as just a filming object," she told Chess24 and Chessbase India webcast. "The phone was taken back to the playing hall and the video transmission was allowed."
Bejatovic also made it clear that the rule of not carrying electronic devices without prior permission is only for the players and captains and there are different regulations for the media. Chessbase India and organisers have a contract (for using phones for video transmission) and all the correct procedures were followed, she added.
Kramnik said that it was his duty as captain of defending champions Uzbekistan to protect his players but he failed to furnish any proof as to how their interest was compromised. The Uzbek team did not lodge any protest about the incident either.
Former seven-time national champion Praveen Thipsay said, "Actually, a protest can be made only against Arbiter’s ruling on a game situation etc. Permitting a phone is not in the scope of Arbiter’s powers. There is a Fair Play Team which checks this."
India-Uzbekistan matchup was a pivotal contest in the ninth round. India had drawn with the eventual champions in the last edition as Gukesh stretched the winning position against Abdusattorov and lost on the top board. But India played with maturity on Friday and kept their march towards the gold medal alive.
Kramnik had dethroned Garry Kasparov from the World chess throne in the 2000 match. But the Russian was accused of cheating by challenger Veselin Topalov for his frequent visits to the toilet during their epic unification match in 2006. Kramnik refused to recognise
V Anand
as real world champion after the Indian won it in tournament format in 2007. Anand beat the daylights out of Kramnik in their 2008 world title match.
English (US) ·