The chess world reels in shock as Italian Grandmaster, Riconi Vatini is barred from the Havana Open Chess Tournament on accusations of cheating levied by a notable rival of Vatini’s, Polish Grandmaster, Nikodem Bukowski. According to Bukowski, Vatini cheated when the two last met over the board in Vienna.
“It was a sophisticated operation making use of the skylight of the convention hall the tournament was set up in.

There was a crew of local University students involved in the scheme. They would watch the livestream of the match on their smartphones, then run the board state through a chess computer which would tell them the best move. Then they would fly a drone over the convention hall which Vatini would see, as he often looks skyward when he’s deep in thought. The kids had six different colors of drone. Each one represented a different type of piece on the chessboard. By flying the color associated with the pierce making the move that the chess computer deemed to be the best in the position, Vatini was able focus in a much narrower possibility space on a few crucial moves in the game than he otherwise would have had to,” so claims Bukowski.

Vatini for his part has denied the accusations, but has not made any motion challenging the tournament organizers’ decision. “It is sad that the organizers have fallen for such outlandish stories cooked by an old fool who’s merely upset that his glory days are in the rearview mirror. Believe me, if I was inclined to cheat against anyone, it would not have been against Bukowski. But I will respect the decision as misguided as it is. I’ll look forward to playing Bukowski in Cairo later this year,” Vatin said when asked about the accusation.

Thus far no official body has explicitly found Vatini guilty of any wrongdoing. Even the Havana Open organizers have sighted optics as the basis of their decision, rather than any finding of fault. But it’s clear that Bukowski’s allegations are seen as credible and being taken quite seriously.
It’s also true that three college students with drones were arrested in Vienna the day of the tournament for loitering and operating small aircraft in restricted airspace. In any case, the years long feud between Bukowski and Vatini only seems to be getting nastier.