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A grandmaster allegedly hid his phone in toilet paper

Tigran Petrosian alleged his opponent Gaioz Nigalidze had been acting suspiciously by repeatedly going to the bathroom during games.
Tigran Petrosian alleged his opponent Gaioz Nigalidze had been acting suspiciously by repeatedly going to the bathroom during games. Photo: Salah Malkawi (Getty Images)

During the 2015 Dubai Open Chess Tournament, grandmaster Tigran Petrosian (check out the next slide, it gets very weird) noticed his opponent, fellow grandmaster Gaioz Nigalidze of Georgia, was repeatedly going to the bathroom.

According to aCNN report from the time, tournament officials had originally found no electronic device on Nigalidze, but when they looked into the bathroom the Georgian grandmaster kept dashing off to, they found a smartphone hidden amongst some toilet paper. They found the phone had been logged into his Nigalidze’s social media accounts. The Dubai Chess and Culture Club told CNN that he had been accessing a chess program on the phone.

The player was reported to the International Chess Federation and the tournament suspended him for three years.

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