Thanks to board games, we have been successful in keeping ourselves enagaged at home all through the pandemic. From Chess to Ludo, the existence of several online gaming communities has made it easier for us.
And while most of us play for time pass, Chess.com recently hosted a charity event, Checkmate COVID, to raise COVID relief funds for those affected in India.
Massive THANK YOU to everyone for making this event a grand success! 🙌🏻
— Chess.com – India (@chesscom_in) June 13, 2021
We are glad to share that we managed to raise more than 10 Lakhs from this event! @AkshayaPatra
Note that you can still make a difference by donating here and help us #CheckmateCovidhttps://t.co/mgOmSwr54n pic.twitter.com/fZxZAGrleR
The celebrity edition of the event featured personalities like Nikhil Kamath, Viswanathan Anand, Aamir Khan, Sajid Nadiadwala, Yuzvendra Chahal and Riteish Deshmukh.
So nice to see such big stars come together to play chess and raise funds for the fight against covid. 👏👏 Great event!!! pic.twitter.com/Yjc5hluusU
— Vidit Gujrathi (@viditchess) June 13, 2021
While all other celebs lost the game to Viswanathan Anand, Nikhil Kamath, co-founder and CIO of Zerodha, surprised everyone with his win against the Chess legend. Not only did he beat Anand, but his accuracy was also 99%.
Chess fans could not believe this. A popular International Chess YouTuber, Agadmator, released a post-match analysis and it was found that Nikhil violated the ‘Fair-Play’ policy.
Following this revelation, Nikhil Kamath’s game account on chess.com was apparently closed.
So the Zerodha CEO Nikhil Kamath played a charity chess match against Visvanathan Anand for COViD relief.
— MB (@desiboho) June 13, 2021
Gamed the system to win.
Got his chess profile banned.
A little shameful to cheat to win against a World champ. pic.twitter.com/67GvU2j6tD
The news soon went viral on social media. Later, Nikhil tweeted that he took help from some people and computers to analyse the game. He also apologised for his behaviour.
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. 😬 pic.twitter.com/UoazhNiAZV
— Nikhil Kamath (@nikhilkamathcio) June 14, 2021
From other notable Chess players to fans, a lot of people are reacting to Nikhil’s unfair game play.
I must admit, chesscom does have an amazing fairplay detection system pic.twitter.com/4bFIFaHyf5
— Srinath Narayanan (@nsrinath69) June 13, 2021
Oh ‘fish’, he has a company that deals with ‘stock’ 😄 https://t.co/hIlHIbC8Ex
— Srinath Narayanan (@nsrinath69) June 14, 2021
After blundering pawn in first move (1.Nf3 e5) I wonder which friend could beat @vishy64theking. Of course Anand didn’t know anything apart from the strength of the engine. Respect for Anand keeps growing. Amazing composure and sportsmanship by the #legend. Ridiculous indeed 🙂 https://t.co/0DLfJSFUzI
— Surya Sekhar Ganguly (@suryachess64) June 14, 2021
Nikhil Kamath to the Chess Community: pic.twitter.com/L9ofQ98mHR
— Vivek Jaiswal (@ApneVivekSe) June 14, 2021
Between scholar's mate and ross gambit Nikhil Kamath betrayed chess pic.twitter.com/m1vuTf2wvM
— Krunal Samtani (@come_on_ash) June 14, 2021
The Zero in Zerodha stands for the integrity and genuineness of Mr. Nikhil Kamath. https://t.co/Rlf6SD624t
— Vivek Jaiswal (@ApneVivekSe) June 14, 2021
Chess Drama Monday! My guess: Vishy knew Nikhil Kamath was using an engine, but didn’t want to distract people from the charity event so he just let it happen because he also knew people would figure it out without him having to do anything, which is what happened.
— Dennis (@DennisLibre) June 14, 2021
Nikhil Kamath after beating Vishwanath Anand using chess engines. 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/2buPz6fND3
— T.M. Bharti (@tanveerbharti) June 14, 2021
(1/4) When I met Vishy Anand for the first time, I got an opportunity to ask him a question about one of his games. I bragged about it the entire month.. ( I still do..😛 )
— Kiran Kumnoor (@kirankumnoor12) June 14, 2021
What Nikhil Kamath did is disrespecting a player of Vishy’s stature. pic.twitter.com/1xW0aJpAxu
Even ghoda was respectable yesterday but Nikhil wasn’t#nikhilkamath #vishy
— Aditya (@Loopcardina) June 14, 2021
Accuracy of 99.0 even after playing chess after 20 years. wahh !! Nikhil Kamath #NikhilKamath pic.twitter.com/zdLxkWrCqb
— Priyanshu (@yesPriyanshu) June 14, 2021
Nikhil Kamath was once requested to come to a public event on a bicycle.
— Pratik (@pratik_ratadiya) June 14, 2021
He refused because he couldn't use an engine.
Chess community to Nikhil kamath after he defeats vishwanathan Anand with 99% accuracy using engine pic.twitter.com/S9Kqmnv97V
— saif shaikh (@saifs_99) June 14, 2021
SHAMEFUL.
— Sohini (@Mittermaniac) June 14, 2021
The win-at-all-costs mentality will take us all down one day. pic.twitter.com/2h02vnPfcl
you obviously don’t become a billionaire by playing by the book#nikhilkamath
— Ansh Sahni (@Anshsahni4) June 14, 2021
The matters escalated and Viswanathan Anand and his wife also responded to Nikhil’s apology.
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 . pic.twitter.com/ISJcguA8jQ
— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) June 14, 2021
(1/2)
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) June 14, 2021
Aruna Anand, wife and manager of Vishy Anand on the Nikhil Kamath incident: “Well, Nikhil contacted Anand today and explained this tweet. Anand replied to say that he can’t deny the algorithm and personally wouldn’t comment on the issue….
For those who do not know, Nikhil Kamath is one of the youngest billionaires in India. But this time, his fame is in danger.
