Chess Player Uses Mobile Phone In Toilet, Gets Expelled For Cheating

Mihalache was expelled from the Romanian championship after a mobile phone was found in his toilet cubicle.

Other than being expelled, the matter has been brought to the notice of FIDE’s disciplinary commission and a considerable ban may be coming the 41-year-old's way. ( Image Source :Twitter/@FrsahRo )

In a shocking turn of events, a chess player was expelled from a competition in Romania as he was caught cheating. Paul-Stelian Mihalache, who has a FIDE rating of 1698, was frequently visiting the toilet which was what raised suspicion in the first place, and on  a check from an arbiter during a fifth round match of the Romanian championship, a mobile phone was found in one of the washroom cubicles.

Even though the player has said that the phone does not belong to him, the unlocked device had a few chess apps running with a google account having Mihalache’s name and email address was also in use. Moreover, the apps exactly showed the Romanian's game after 15 moves.

Other than being expelled, the matter has been brought to the notice of FIDE’s disciplinary commission and a considerable ban may be coming the 41-year-old's way.

An official account of the Romanian Chess Federation reported: "Player eliminated from the #NationalChessChampionships as he was using a smartphone in the rest-room to help him cheat. The Chief arbiter Dinu-Ioan Nicula and the TD George Necula decided to eliminate Paul-Stelian Mihalache from the competition. The decision was not challenged."

Player eliminated from the #NationalChessChampionships as he was using a smartphone in the rest-room to help him cheat. The Chief arbiter Dinu-Ioan Nicula and the TD George Necula decided to eliminate Paul-Stelian Mihalache from the competition. The decision was not challenged. pic.twitter.com/7TZCqaIjmd

— Romanian Chess Federation (@FrsahRo) February 23, 2023

It is worth highlighting that this isn't the first time that such an incident has happened in chess. In September last year, world champion Magnus Carlsen had also accused Hans Niemann of cheating and even pulled out of the competition as he found his behaviour suspicious. Later, he had also demanded stricter measures to be taken to ensure that the game remains free from malpractices.

In a similar incident dating back to 2015, Georgia's grandmaster Gaioz Nigalidze was caught using an iPod touch which had a chess app running. He was expelled from the Dubai Open Chess tournament, faced a penalty and even ended up losing his Grandmaster title.