Cheating in chess is not rampant: Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen kicked up a storm when he levelled cheating allegations against Hans Niemann, following his stunning defeat in the Sinquefield Cup

Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand, who is now deputy president of the world governing body FIDE, feels cheating in his sport is "not rampant" and limited to "online" tournaments only.

Reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen kicked up a storm in September this year when he levelled cheating allegations against U.S. teenager Hans Niemann, following his stunning defeat in round three of the Sinquefield Cup.

"It's a new area. Yes, of course, we know the possibility (of cheating) is there and it has to give you worry, but I don't think it's rampant," Anand told PTI in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of Tata Steel Chess India that gets underway here on Tuesday.

"At least it (cheating) is not offline. Online, I don't know the percentage but it's not rampant. There are millions of games played online. But nonetheless, it's better to address the problem early rather than leaving it too late." The five-time world champion Indian, however, feels the problem of cheating (online) can never be solved as technology would keep advancing.

"I don't think we can ever solve this because technology keeps evolving, so it's something you have to keep adapting to. You have the framework, that's very important." He said the fight against cheating in chess was like an "arms race" to some degree.

"As technology gets better and better, you have to keep adapting," he said.

"To some degree, what we are relying on right now is the data analysis, through statistical analysis, we are seeing a large number of moves to see if there's a correlation." The Carlsen-Niemann saga is now under investigation by world governing body FIDE's Fair Play Commission as the Norwegian world champion risks suspension for making an allegation without evidence.