Charity Chess: Entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath admits taking "help" to beat Viswanathan Anand, apologises
Chennai, Jun 14: An online charity chess event featuring former world champion Viswanathan Anand and several celebrities has run into controversy after a young entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath faced flak for resorting to unfair means in order to beat the Indian legend.
Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, a stock brokerage company and True Beacon, an asset management company, apologised on Twitter and admitted that he took help from chess analysts and computers during the event on Sunday.
Responding to Kamath's tweet, Anand said on Twitter: "Yesterday was a celebrity simul for people to raise money. It was a fun experience upholding the ethics of the game. I just played the position on the board and expected the same from everyone."
Kamath apologised for his misdemeanour and said he had help from people analysing the game and computers.
"... . It is ridiculous that so many are thinking that I really beat Vishy in a chess game, that is almost like me waking up and winning a 100mt race with Usain Bolt. I had help from the people analyzing the game, computers and the graciousness of Anand sir himself 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 tweeted.
Kamath's misdemeanour overshadowed the noble cause and Twitter saw several users slam the entrepreneur.
Meanwhile, All India Chess Federation Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan said it was unfortunate that such an incident happened during a charity event.
"It is really unfortunate. He (Nikhil Kamath) is a big celebrity. He should not have done that. This is really bad. For the noble cause, we are helping people and such things shouldn't happen," he told PTI.
"He is not a regular player nor our member and we don't have jurisdiction," Chauhan said when asked if any action was possible against Kamath.
The event - Checkmate Covid, was organised by Chess.com India (chess.com is a global online chess community) with NGO Akshaya Patra Foundation. It saw various celebrities including Indian cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal and actor Aamir Khan among others taking on Anand in simultaneous games on Sunday evening to raise money for families affected during the coronavirus pandemic.
Chess.com said more than Rs 10 lakh was raised from the event and thanked the participants for making it a success.
It is ridiculous that so many are thinking that I really beat Vishy sir in a chess game, that is almost like me waking up and winning a 100mt race with Usain Bolt. ? pic.twitter.com/UoazhNiAZV
— Nikhil Kamath (@nikhilkamathcio) June 14, 2021
Yesterday was a celebrity simul for people to raise money It was a fun experience upholding the ethics of the game.I just played the position onthe board and expected the same from everyone . pic.twitter.com/ISJcguA8jQ
— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) June 14, 2021
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
