The game of chess is more than 500 years old and is one of the most beautiful ways ever created to keep your mind sharp. Players all over the world sit in front of a board with 64 squares, 32 pieces, and strategically move them with the goal of defeating the opponent’s king. Ever since Garry Kasparov lost to a computer in 1997 the intellect of man came into question and people started wondering if artificial intelligence would soon surpass what humans are capable of achieving. So it’s with great displeasure that we have to inform you that three French players who were playing for global titles were caught perverting the game by using text messages to cheat.
International Grandmaster Sébastien Feller, 19 years old, Cyril Marzolo, 32 years old, and Arnaud Hauchard, 39 years old, have been charged with “violating sporting ethics” at the Chess Olympiad after Joanna Pomian, the Vice President of the French Chess Federation saw a text on Hauchard’s phone that read “Hurry up and send the moves” and then found 180 messages sent to the other two players with what looked to be phone numbers, but were actually locations on the chess board. How did Pomian see Hauchard’s message? Simple, she leant him the phone because he was so in debt that he couldn’t afford one.
The technology angel to this story was an excuse to mention it on this site, but the reality is we want to point out that cheating isn’t very cool, especially at chess. Games, whether they be athletic or mental, are something everyone can derive pleasure from, but only if the game is fair and balanced. You wouldn’t want to see a boxing match with between a 220 pound 6 foot 3 inch fighter and a 180 pound 5 foot 8 inch fighter because the odds are stacked. Being competitive is a great personal attribute, but being mischievous to achieve your goals make you scum.