Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath, who 'beat' Viswanathan Anand in chess match, admits he cheated

A day after 'defeating' five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath issued a public apology, admitting that he had help from 'people analyzing the game and computers', in essence, that he'd cheated. Viswanathan Anand and Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath had engaged in a charity game on Sunday to raise funds for the COVID-19 battle. While several celebrities played against Anand and faced a similar fate, to everyone's surprise, Nikhil Kamath ended up winning the game against the five-time world champion. 

However, reports surfaced later suggesting that Kamath had cheated in the game. Soon after the game, the platform on which the matches were organised - Chess.com - imposed a ban on Nikhil Kamath's account and also issued a statement defending its move. 

"No account closure brings us joy, but we remain committed and work hard to ensure that all chess games are played fairly on Chess.com, and we will continue to invest heavily in our team and systems to ensure the safety and happiness of our users," Chess.com had said in a statement. 

In response, the Zerodha co-founder remarked that it was 'ridiculous' to think that he really beat Vishwanathan Anand in a chess game, likening it to beating 'Usain Bolt in a 100 metres race'. In a carefully crafted statement, without mentioning the word cheating, Nikhil Kamath said that he had 'help' from people analyzing the game, computers and the 'graciousness of Anand sir' 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 all the confusion that can get caused due to this. Apologies," Kamath wrote.

Viswanathan Anand responds to Kamath's apology

Meanwhile, Viswanathan Anand has also responded to the Zerodha Co-Founder's statement. Taking a subtle dig at the entrepreneur's unusual methods of playing, Anand quipped, "It was a fun experience upholding the ethics of the game." The Indian chess grandmaster added that he just played the 'position on the board and expected the same from everyone' as he shared Kamath's statement on Twitter. 

AICF condemns Nikhil Kamath's 'unfair methods'

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) Secretary Bharat Chauhan, responding to the infamous incident, said that it was unfortunate to see unfair methods employed in a charity chess game by Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath. The AICF secretary termed it as a "bad" move by Kamath and said it shouldn't have happened. "It is very unfortunate it was a charity match. We don't expect anybody to get help from computers, at the national and state level we are following the protocols. We are putting cameras where players are playing and there is a fair play committee which includes three grandmasters and two players," Bharat told ANI.

Anand Checkmates Yuzvendra Chahal

Another notable personality to face the Indian grandmaster in the charity match on Sunday was Indian cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal. Facing Viswanathan Anand for the first time, the leg-spinner, despite being a professional chess player before his cricketing stint, faced defeat. 

During the match between Yuzvendra Chahal and Viswanathan Anand, the leg-spinner did not play defensive and tried to outwit the Indian grandmaster. However, Yuzvendra Chahal had no answers when Viswanathan Anand applied the MacLeod attack. Chahal lost his light square bishop and was a piece down when Anand decided to force the attack. Chahal and Anand played the match in the presence of YouTuber Samay Raina who is known for making videos related to chess.