Chess's cheating crisis: 'paranoia has become the culture'

As the game enjoys a boom online, players ranging from grandmasters to preteens are getting caught computer doping'

In one chess tournament, five of the top six were disqualified for cheating. In another, the doting parents of 10-year-old competitors furiously rejected evidence that their darlings were playing at the level of the world No 1. And in a third, an Armenian grandmaster booted out for suspicious play accused his opponent of doing pipi in his Pampers".

These incidents may sound extreme but they are not isolated - and they have all taken place online since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.