New Delhi: The year was 2015. At the age of 55, veteran grandmaster (GM) Praveen Thipse had not won a chess tournament in four years. He arrived at the inaugural Dr. Hegdewar Open in Delhi hoping to break the streak, but by the fifth round, he found himself facing a nightmare.Around him sat Dhruv Kakar, a 19-year-old engineering student with a meager paper rating of 1575. But as the game unfolded, Thipse watched in disbelief as his pieces were sold with clinical, engine-like precision.After 87 grueling moves, the youngster prevailed while the GM sat at the other end of the board in utter disbelief.
Recalling the incident, Thapse told TimesofIndia.com, “The quality of the walk did not match its rating. “By this there was a constancy of time regardless of whether the move was obvious or not.”Suspicion was immediate. In a scene reminiscent of a thriller, the young man is later taken to a private room. Authorities then searched Kakar’s body and found that he had several cell phones strapped to his body and was wearing an earphone so small that it had to be removed by a magnet.The veteran eventually went on to win the tournament, his first in four years, but the win was tainted by a realization of how easily the spirit of the game could be traded for a digital signal.Fast forward to 2026, and Shadows of 2015 has turned into a global obsession. In ongoing FIDE candidates, at the height of the game, the atmosphere is less like a quiet library and more like a high-security black site.It was this tension that prompted world No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura to launch a sarcastic verbal gambit that has since gone viral.“They scan us before the game. They scan us after the game. They have metal detectors and different kinds of other scanners,” Nakamura joked on his YouTube channel. “I mean, who are we? Are we like Mossad agents inside Iran or something? Come on, we’re chess players! Let’s be real.”To Nakamura, these measures are “absolute nonsense,” a theatrical overreaction to a threat that he believes is managed through sheer hardware saturation. Still, FIDE is strong.Andy Hovey, FIDE’s Fair Play Officer, defended the protocol as an essential shield for World Championship qualifiers. “We have to make sure the players are in a safe environment,” he said in a video on FIDE’s YouTube channel.The debate has divided the chess world right down the middle. Is FIDE protecting the integrity of the game, or has it turned the battle of wits into a TSA checkpoint?Indian perspectiveSoon after Nakumara’s rant, India’s legendary female GM Konero Hampi was one of the first Indian GMs to take to X (formerly Twitter) to express her support for the tough.“In today’s era of rapid technological advancement, strong anti-fraud measures are essential,” he noted. “They may feel demanding, but they make sure that the games are judged expertly. There have been many times during the games that doubts have arisen, but the current rules make it difficult to talk openly.”Hampi’s sentiments are echoed by GM Shyam Sundar M, though he acknowledges the friction described by Nakamura.“It (having proper security measures) is an absolute must because so many technologies keep coming out these days,” Shyam told the website. “I know how frustrating it is. Before the game, players usually focus only on the board. Queuing ten minutes or more can be frustrating.”“What’s even more annoying to a player than the waiting time is if someone cheats and never gets caught,” adds Shyam. “So, for the benefit of the game, I think, it’s important. Like at the airport, the security check is for our own safety. Once it’s done, we know if we’re playing human players or ‘metahumans’.”Is broadcasting the real problem?While Nakamura rails against scanners, Praveen Thipse offers a radical alternative that could make metal detectors obsolete. Kill the live feed.“Cheating is a big risk. With the help of an engine, anyone can beat Tom, Dick, and Harry the world champion,” Thipse explained.“I don’t think there is a need for live chess. If the games are delayed by an hour, it will not affect the popularity of chess. It is not like a cricket match where people want to watch the match live. People watch these games at their convenience.”
Parveen Thapse.
Thipse argues that FIDE is “erroneous” in thinking that popularity depends on instantaneous data.He points out the logistical nightmare that current rules create for travel professionals.“When we go abroad, we don’t know where to leave our phone. You need a mobile to get to the venue, but you can’t leave it with the organizers, and you can’t take it to the hall. It is a serious inconvenience,” he added.Thus the solution lies in delaying the broadcast by 30 to 60 minutes. “In this case, the chances of cheating are almost nil. Players are happy to watch even 100-year-old games. The priority should be that no one gets a chance to show the games while they are in progress.”A price for more good?For small GMs like Abhimanyu Paranik, the “Mossad agent” treatment is simply the price of doing business at a high level.“Anti-fraud measures are of utmost importance these days,” Pranek, who recently turned 26, told TimesofIndia.com. “While there is obviously nothing suspicious going on at events like Candidates, these events set an example for the anti-cheating standards that tournaments around the world should aspire to.”
Puranic feels that this practice can be a problem, but he also feels: “It’s a small price to pay for the greater good of the game.”Nakamura may feel like a spy in a foreign land, but for many Indian players, the memory of the “average player” performing godlike acts is a ghost they are unwilling to stop hunting.For now, the scanners aren’t going anywhere. And as long as this threat exists, the Grandmasters will have to act like secret agents.
