It's been 18 years since IBM's Deep Blue computer managed to beat chess world champion Garry Kasparov. Now, even small smart devices are powerful enough to quickly analyze chess moves. English grandmaster Nigel Short says it's too easy to cheat with a phone (or in this case, a media player) these days. "My dog could win a major tournament using one of these devices," he told The Washington Post. "Or my grandmother. Anybody could do this." Seeing as Dubai Open is awarding the grand winner $12,000 in cash, a lot of unscrupulous or desperate people would cheat, if given the chance.

It's unclear if Nigalidze has done this before, and if he did, to what extent. Nevertheless, his whole career is now under scrutiny, and fellow grandmasters want him to be penalized heavily to deter more people from cheating. He isn't the first and the only person to cheat on a chess tournament with the aid of a high-tech device, you see. In 2002, an American player tried to pull off something similar, checking out simulations in the bathroom in the middle of a match. Indian player Umakant Sharma was caught cheating in 2006 by communicating with accomplices through a tiny Bluetooth headpiece hidden inside a cloth cap. And then in 2008, the Dubai Chess Club banned an Iranian player after it was discovered that a partner was sending him moves through text messages while watching a live stream of the game.

[Image credit: Dubai Chess & Culture Club (1), (2)]