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Billionaire admits cheating against Anand in charity simul​

India’s youngest billionaire Nikhil Kamath blundered a pawn on move 1 but then went on to crush 5-time World Chess Champion Vishy Anand in a “Checkmate COVID” charity simul. Nikhil said afterwards that he just got lucky, while the World Champion politely noted, “Today was not the chess of people who just know how the pieces move”. Outrage followed, with Nikhil eventually admitting computer and other help, though his apology implied Vishy was aware his opponent was going to have assistance. The Indian legend made it clear he wasn’t.



Samay Raina and Tania Sachdev talked to Vishy Anand, Nikhil Kamath and the other players after the games | image: Chesscom India/YouTube


In what should have been a purely positive event, the Akshaya Patra Foundation and Chesscom India held a Checkmate COVID event with Vishy Anand, where the 15th World Chess Champion played a simultaneous, live-streamed simul against five players. Although Nikhil Kamath, a 34-year-old billionaire who co-founded brokerage firm Zerodha, is sometimes described as a “chess champion”, his opening move, meeting 1.Nf3 with 1…e5?, blundered a key pawn and suggested otherwise.


From there on, however, Nikhil started to play like a chess god, until he’d actually beaten one of the greatest players of all time.

Event: Checkmate COVID
Site: Chess.com
Date: 2021.06.13
White Name: Viswanathan Anand (2753)
Black Name: Nikhil Kamath
Result: 0-1
ECO: A04
Download PGN
Viswanathan Anand (2753) vs. Nikhil Kamath 0-1

1. ♘f3 e5 2. ♘xe5 d6 3. ♘f3 ♘c6 4. d4 ♘f6 5. d5 ♘e5 6. ♘c3 ♗e7 7. e4 O-O 8. ♗e2 c6 9. O-O cxd5 10. exd5 a6 11. ♖e1 b5 12. a3 h6 13. ♘d4 ♗d7 14. ♗f4 ♖c8 15. ♗f3 ♕b6 16. ♗xe5 dxe5 17. ♘c6 ♗c5 18. ♕e2 ♖fe8 19. ♘xe5 ♖xe5 20. ♕xe5 ♗xf2+ 21. ♔f1 ♗xe1 22. ♕xe1 b4 23. axb4 ♕xb4 24. ♖a2 ♗b5+ 25. ♘e2 ♕d6 26. ♔g1 ♖xc2 27. ♘c3 ♗d7! 28. ♕e3 ♗g4 29. ♗xg4 ♘xg4 30. ♕e8+ ♔h7 31. ♕e4+ g6 32. ♕xg4 ♕c5+ 33. ♔h1 ♖c1+ 34. ♘d1 ♕xd5 0-1
It didn’t take any deep forensic analysis to know that Nikhil had cheated - it was enough to look, for instance, at the final brilliancy, where Nikhil sacrificed a knight on g4.


Nikhil wrapped up the game with 32…Qc5+! 33.Kh1 Rc1+ 34.Nd1 Qxd5!, hitting the rook on a2 as well as the pinned knight.


A well-known way to beat cheats online is to “flag them” on the clock, since using a computer to make moves costs time and they often don't have the basic skills to simply blitz out the moves in a won position. Vishy could easily have done that here, but understandably, in a charity simultaneous event with nothing at stake, he simply resigned and allowed his opponent his moment of glory, or rather, infamy.

Afterwards Nikhil in no way admitted what he’d done and just talked about luck. Vishy was diplomatic, but his, “today was not the chess of people who just know how the pieces move”, was something more than the usual politeness after playing against amateur players.

The reaction online was fast.

Eric Hansen
@hansenchess
how could you cheat against Vishy? AND during an online fundraising event...
4:11 PM · Jun 13, 2021 3.1K 62

agadmator
@agadmator
Soooooo, what's the verdict on Vishy vs Nikhil Kamath @chesscom_in @chesscom ?
Legit 10.7%
Fishy 89.3%
21,202 votes·Final results
3:50 PM · Jun 13, 2021 773 148


Nikhil Kamath’s account was banned and finally he decided it was time to confess, though his admission of cheating was in the worst traditions of apologies/non-apologies.

Nikhil Kamath
@nikhilkamathcio
It is ridiculous that so many are thinking that I really beat Vishy sir in a chess game, that is almost like me waking up and winning a 100mt race with Usain Bolt.
Image
2:10 AM · Jun 14, 2021 4K 2.1K


He implied that no-one would have treated the game seriously and apologised for causing “confusion” rather than for cheating itself. He even implied Vishy Anand would take playing a game against a chess engine as “a learning experience”.

I had help from the people analyzing the game, computers and the graciousness of Anand sir himself to treat the game as a learning experience. This was for fun and charity. In hindsight, it was quite silly as I didn’t realise all the confusion that can get caused due to this. Apologies…

Click to expand...

Vishy Anand made it very clear he expected everyone to play ethically and in no way condoned what Nikhil had done.

Viswanathan Anand
@vishy64theking
Yesterday was a celebrity simul for people to raise money It was a fun experience upholding the ethics of the game.I just played the position onthe board and expected the same from everyone .
Image
2:37 AM · Jun 14, 2021 18.3K 346

It’s fair to say no-one was impressed by Nikhil’s “apology”.

Tania Sachdev
@TaniaSachdev
Woke up to this. Complete disrespect to chess. Nothing justifies cheating. Going back to sleep
4:05 AM · Jun 14, 2021 3.9K 77

Samay Raina
@ReheSamay
This is like breaking a plate and trying to fix it with glue
Image
3:09 AM · Jun 14, 2021 4.2K 84

John Bartholomew
@fins0905
"It's ridiculous to think I'd actually rob a bank."
- guy caught robbing a bank
3:17 AM · Jun 14, 2021 1.5K 13

MrDodgy (training)
@ChessProblem
Jun 14, 2021
“It is ridiculous that people thought I wouldn’t cheat in a charity event” is the wildest possible “excuse”
Ali Mortazavi
@AAMortazavi
It’s like shooting Mohammed Ali with a gun during a boxing match. For charity. Disgrace.
3:38 AM · Jun 14, 2021
30

Sethuraman
@sethuramanchess
So we have to come to a point where people think it's fun to cheat and openly brag about it. #Onlinecheating is ruining the game.
Image
2:54 AM · Jun 14, 2021
699 10

Surya Sekhar Ganguly
@suryachess64
Facts:
A fantastic intiative from @chesscom_in @AkshayaPatra
Celebrities joining and making this charity stream possible.
Cheating starts @nikhilkamathcio Continues till end.
Now trying to say @vishy64theking knew it. No he didn't. Like everyone he is also shocked.
3:32 AM · Jun 14, 2021 1K 17

All in all, it’s one of the strangest cases of online cheating we’ve ever witnessed, but perhaps some good will come of it if it once again helps to publicise just how unacceptable cheating by using a chess engine during a game is. No other celebrity is likely to come up with such a brilliant idea to make themselves look smart again in a hurry!





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Chess.com reinstates Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, others’ accounts after cheating incident
Celebrities whose accounts were banned for cheating in chess games against world champion and grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, saw their accounts reinstated after the platform said the celebrities had played in good faith and only made a mistake
M. Sriram
Mumbai / June 15, 2021 / 11:04 PM IST


Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, film producer Sajid Nadiadwala and actor Kichcha Sudeep saw their online chess accounts reinstated after Chess.com said that although the three celebrities made a mistake, they did so because they did not understand the rules and played in good faith.

Zerodha’s Kamath was first banned by Chess.com on June 14 for using non-approved analytics and assistance to beat chess Viswanathan Anand in a charity chess tournament. Later, Sudeep and Nadiadwala were also found to have cheated.

While Kamath apologised later and said he had not intended to cheat- it was in lighter vein- Anand and the chess platform were miffed by the incident.

“Chess.com has elected to reopen all of the accounts in question during the event. Given the forthcoming cooperation of the players and the clarification that not all the rules were properly understood, neither Chess.com nor Anand himself see any reason to uphold the matter any further,” Chess.com said in a statement.

“While he (Anand) wants clearly expressed that he does not endorse the use of non-approved assistance in chess, he fully agrees that the games were played in good faith for the fun and good intentions of the charitable efforts, and wishes the matter be put to rest,” the statement added.
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Kamath and others came in for severe criticism from chess fans and the general public alike.

“It is ridiculous that so many are thinking that I really beat Vishy in a chess game, that is almost like me waking up and winning a 100mt race with Usain Bolt,” Kamath said on June 14.
“I had help from people analysing the game, computers and the graciousness of Anand sir himself to treat the game as a learning experience. This was for fun and charity. In hindsight, it was quite silly as I didn’t realise all the confusion that can get caused due to this. Apologies…,” he added.