World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura questions FIDE security protocols (Photo by Michal Walusza) NEW DELHI: The year was 2015. At the age of 55, veteran Grandmaster (GM) Pravin Thipsay had not won a chess tournament for four years. He came to the opening Dr. Hegdewar Open in Delhi hoping to break the spell but found himself staring at a nightmare in the fifth round.Across from him sat Dhruv Kakar, a 19-year-old engineering student with a modest paper rank of 1575. But as the game unfolded, Thipsay watched in disbelief as his pieces were replaced with clinical engine-like precision.After 87 grueling moves, the teenager emerged victorious as the GM sat at the other end of the board in utter disbelief.
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Exclusive Nihal Sarin: 2026 Candidates Predictions, Anish Giri’s ‘Drawish’ Label & More #chess “The quality of the moves did not match his rating,” Thipsay told TimesofIndia.com recalling the incident. “It took him a consistent time regardless of whether the move was obvious or not.Suspicion was immediate. In a scene reminiscent of a thriller, the young man was then taken to a private room. Authorities then conducted an examination of Kakar’s body and found him strapped with several cell phones across his body and with headphones so tiny that the magnet had to be removed.The veteran eventually won the tournament, his first in four years, but the victory was tainted by the realization of how easily the soul of the game can be sold for a digital signal.Fast forward to 2026 and the shadows of 2015 have grown into a global obsession. At the ongoing FIDE Candidates, the pinnacle of the sport, the atmosphere is less like a silent library and more like a high-security black site.It was this tension that prompted world number two Hikaru Nakamura to launch a sarcastic verbal gambit that has since gone viral.“They scan us before the match. They scan us after the match. They have metal detectors and a bunch of other scanners,” Nakamura mocked on his YouTube channel. “I mean, who are we? Are we like Mossad agents in Iran or something? Come on, we’re chess players! Let’s be real.”For Nakamura, the measures are “complete nonsense”, a theatrical overreaction to a threat he believes is driven by mere hardware saturation. Still, FIDE stands firm.Andy Howie, FIDE’s Fair Play Officer, defended the protocols as a necessary shield for World Cup qualification. “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 split the chess world down the middle. Is FIDE protecting the integrity of the game, or have they turned a battle of wits into a TSA checkpoint?Indian viewIn the wake of Nakaumra’s rant, Koneru Humpy, the legendary Indian GM, was one of the first Indian GMs to take to X (formerly Twitter) to voice her support for strictness.“In today’s era of rapid technological advancement, anti-cheating measures are essential,” she noted. “They can feel demanding, but they ensure that games are decided by skill. There have been times of doubt during games, but the existing rules make it difficult to speak openly.”Humpy’s sentiment is echoed by GM Shyam Sundar M, even as he acknowledges the friction Nakamura describes.“It (with proper security measures) is an absolute must because there is so much technology emerging these days,” Shyam told the website. “I know how annoying it is. Before a match, players usually only focus on the board. A long line of ten or more minutes can be frustrating.”“What annoys players even more than waiting time is when someone cheats and never gets caught,” added Shyam. “So for the benefit of the game, I think it’s necessary. Just like at an airport, the security check is for our own safety. Once we do that, we know if we’re playing human players or ‘meta-humans’.”Is broadcasting a real problem?While Nakamura opposes the scanners, Pravin Thipsay offers a radical alternative that could make metal detectors obsolete. Kill the live stream.“Cheating is a big threat. Any Tom, Dick, and Harry with the help of an engine could beat the world champion,” Thipsay explained.“I think live chess is not a must. If the game is delayed by one hour, it will not affect the popularity of chess. It is not like a cricket match where people want to see the match live. People watch these games as it suits them.”
Pravin Thipsay
Thipsay argues that FIDE is “wrong” to think that popularity depends on instantaneous data.It points to the logistical nightmare that current rules create for traveling professionals.“When we go abroad, we don’t know where to leave our phones. You need a mobile phone at the venue, but you can’t leave it with the organizers and you can’t take it into the hall. It’s a serious inconvenience,” he added.His solution thus consists in delaying the broadcast by 30 to 60 minutes. “In that case, the chance of cheating is almost zero. Players are happy to see even 100-year-old games. The priority should be that no one has the right to show games while they are in progress.”The price for the greater good?For a junior GM like Abhimanyu Puranik, dealing with a “Mossad agent” is simply the cost of doing business at the highest level.“Anti-cheating measures are of paramount importance these days,” Puranik, who turned 26 recently, told TimesofIndia.com. “While there is nothing obviously suspicious going on at events like Candidates, these events exemplify the quality of anti-cheating that tournaments around the world should strive for.” Puranik feels the process can be difficult, but 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” playing godlike moves is a ghost they are not ready to stop chasing.For now, the scanners are going nowhere. And as long as this threat exists, Grandmasters will have to act like secret agents.
