Chess cheat spyware scam unmasked
Isabel Sawkins
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7 September 2015
ROME --"In 40 years, I have never seen anything quite like this." Jean Coqueraut, an international chess referee, still cannot believe what has happened. He was the one to expel Arcangelo Ricciardi from the Imperia chess tournament, having uncovered a complex device on his person, by which he was able to film the game and an accomplice, linked to him by a computer, could suggest moves. In this way, he was able to defeat other competitors,who were much more experienced than himself. However, Coqueraut discovered that it was a scam by the end of the first game.
"He was doing it under our noses. I couldnt sleep that night, I had to stop him," La Stampa newspaper quoted him as saying.
The impressive results alone were enough to cause suspicions.
"In chess, performances of this type are impossible," said the referee.
"There was no way that he could be a genius, he had to be a cheat."
But there was more to it. "I continued to watch him. He was always seated, he never stood up. It was very strange, given that we are talking about hours of playing. However, the most striking thing was that he always had his arms crossed, and a thumb under his armpit, which he never took out."
"Furthermore, he fluttered his eyes in an unusual manner, as if he was not concentrating on the chessboard, but rather lost in another thought. Then, it hit me -- he was decoding the signals in Morse Code. Dot dash, dot dash."
The sophisticated system that had allowed Ricciardi to win eight games seemed to be a culmination of modern technology (a "spy-pendant" with a camera) and inventions from almost two centuries ago (the Morse Code).
These were held together by a tangle of wires under a vest worthy of Disney character Gyro Gearloose. "And there was another thing: he was always drinking and continually wiping his brow with a handkerchief. Both the water and the handkerchief were obstructing the pendant, with the camera attached: that is what he was doing," the referee said.
The first time Coqueraut tried to unmask Ricciardi proved unsuccessful. "I asked him to empty his pockets. Nothing. Then, I asked him to open his shirt, but he refused, threatening to press charges."
The turning point came with a letter denouncing Ricciardi from four other players:
"That night I could not sleep" said the adjudicator "and at 6 in the morning, I rang the organisers, telling them that we had to use a metal detector."
It continued to beep, when it was used on Ricciardi, even after he had removed the sum of 5 cents from his pockets, which he claimed to be his good luck charm.
He said the same thing about the pendant, then even about the wires which were attached to his body, and then about the box measuring 4 centimetres which was attached under his armpit, and by which he evidently received the signals from his accomplice.
His claims were not believed, however, and Ricciardi promptly was expelled from the prestigious competition.
Arcangelo Ricciardi