Indian chess found itself in an unnecessary controversy on Monday after young millionaire entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath was caught cheating while 'defeating' five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand during an online compeitition for a fundraising effort. On Sunday, the chess fraternity reacted with shock, and soonanger, as Anand was beaten by Kamath, who made near perfect moves. Later, the co-founder of stock broking company Zerodha Broking Ltd admited to taking help from analysts and computers but the turn of events not only proved to be an unsavoury episode but also shed light on the growing menance of cheating in online competitions. The exhibition match on Sunday saw several celebrities from varied fields matching their wits against Anand for the Akshaya Patra Foundation's Covid-19 relief funds. Kamath issued a reluctant apology but it failed to wash with the chess aficionados. "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 100m race with Usan Bolt "Kamath tweeted. He added I had help from the 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, it was quite silly as I didn't realise the confusion that can get caused due to this. Apologies. Former player and coach Venkat Saravanan wondered how Kamath believed he could get away with such blatant cheating. "In the recent cheating scandal at @chesscom in's Chairty #Chess Simul by most of the news analysts have missed the Most important the cheater NEVER thought he'd be caught, he tweeted. Speaking to TOI, Saravanam mentioned how the controversy had taken the attention away from a noble cause.
