Chess Player Banned for Two Years After Phone Found Hidden Inside Shoe With Game Open

The extraordinary case occurred at the 2025 Ljubljana Chess Festival in Slovenia, a 165-player tournament held from April 28 to May 4 last year.

FIDE's Ethics & Disciplinary Commission (EDC) ruled that the incident amounted to attempted cheating rather than simply possession of a prohibited electronic device.

Phone discovered after fifth-round game

According to the tournament chief arbiter's report, the phone was discovered during a post-game inspection following the player's fifth-round game.

The device was hidden inside the player's shoe and had the position from his game open on Chess.com.

That detail proved crucial to FIDE's ruling.

The EDC concluded that the player had attempted to cheat because his game position was open on the website, meaning the case went beyond a simple breach of tournament rules concerning electronic devices.

FIDE found the player guilty under Article 11.7(e) of its Ethics and Disciplinary Code.

Because he was a minor at the time of the incident, Chess.com has chosen not to identify him, despite FIDE naming the player in its ruling.

FIDE imposed a two-year worldwide ban

The EDC handed down its decision on April 9, 2026, although the ruling was only published last week.

The punishment means the player is banned worldwide for two years, with the sanction effective from the date of the decision.

FIDE's panel did take several factors into consideration before determining the punishment.

The player had no previous disciplinary record and this was his first offence. He was also a minor, had limited tournament experience, held no official FIDE title and had a relatively low rating.

Those factors were considered mitigating circumstances.

However, the panel also identified one factor that worked against him: his failure to cooperate with the investigation.

Player and mother did not respond

Following the incident, FIDE's Fair Play Commission attempted several times to contact the player and his mother.

Neither responded, according to the disciplinary decision.

Once the case reached the Ethics & Disciplinary Commission, the player was again given an opportunity to respond to the allegations, with correspondence sent to his mother because he was a minor.

No response was received before the deadline.

FIDE subsequently treated the lack of cooperation as an aggravating factor when deciding the sanction.

The ruling can still be appealed

The two-year ban is not necessarily the final word on the case.

The player has the right to appeal the decision to the EDC Appeal Chamber within 21 days of receiving the ruling.

However, the public decision does not reveal when the family received it, and no appeal has been published on the EDC website as of the time of Chess.com's report.

Another phone-cheating case involved a sock

The unusual case is not without precedent in competitive chess.

FIDE previously dealt with a similar incident involving a Dutch teenager at the HZ University Chess Tournament in Vlissingen in 2024.

In that case, a phone was discovered inside the player's sock. He received a three-year ban, with one year suspended, after also failing to cooperate with investigators.

The latest FIDE decision also referenced several of the most notable phone-cheating cases in chess.

Former grandmaster Kirill Shevchenko received a three-year ban, with one year suspended, after phones were discovered during the 2024 Spanish Team Championship. Shevchenko admitted using a phone to access Lichess during a game and was subsequently stripped of his GM title.

Georgian grandmaster Gaioz Nigalidze was banned for three years in 2015 after an iPod containing analysis of his ongoing game was discovered in a toilet cubicle.

The most severe example cited was the late Igors Rausis, who received a six-year ban and lost his grandmaster title after being caught using a phone during the 2019 Strasbourg Open. Rausis admitted cheating with a phone in three games and pre-arranging another result.

Why this case stands out

The latest case is particularly striking because of the circumstances in which the phone was found.

The device was not simply in the player's possession. It had been concealed inside his shoe, and investigators found the position from his game open on Chess.com.

That evidence led FIDE to classify the incident as attempted cheating.

Despite the player's age, clean disciplinary record and limited experience being taken into account, the lack of cooperation during the investigation ultimately contributed to a two-year worldwide ban.

The decision underlines how seriously FIDE continues to treat electronic-device violations as technology becomes an increasingly important part of the fight against cheating in competitive chess.