Priyanka expelled from World Junior Chess Championship

Indian Woman Grandmaster Priyanka Nutakki was on Tuesday expelled from the World Junior Chess Championship in Olbia, Italy for accidentally carrying wireless earbuds in her jacket pocket into the playing hall.

“An unfortunate incident occurred towards the end of the sixth round of the Girls World Junior Championship in Sardinia. During a routine check, one of the players, Nutakki, was found to have a pair of earbuds in her jacket pocket. While there is no indication of foul play on her part, earbuds are strictly forbidden at the playing hall,” the official FIDE report read.

“Carrying these devices during a game is a violation of fair play policies, and it is penalised with the loss of the game and expulsion from the tournament. The point scored by Nutakki in the sixth round has been awarded to her rival, Govhar Beydullayeva. The Indian delegation filed an appeal, but the Appeals Committee reconfirmed the decision.”

The 20-year-old Priyanka began the event as the eighth seed and had scored four points in the first five rounds with three wins and two draws. She also won the sixth round to reach a score of 5 out of 6 before the result was overturned.

“I went for a walk in the morning and took my earbuds and left them in the jacket. I subconsciously took the same jacket to the tournament hall, completely forgetting the fact that I put earbuds in them. I only realised when the random check happened. I would want to mention a few things here. I was totally following the security protocols including the security check by carrying the same jacket but somehow no alarm was raised and no metal was detected,” Priyanka was quoted as saying by chessbase.in.

“Since I was playing on board 2, my board was completely under video surveillance all the time (and) transmission of the game is delayed by 15 minutes. The whole time I didn’t realise that the jacket I was carrying had earbuds in it. I did only realise this during the random security check post the game. This was an unfortunate and unintentional mistake from my side but I abide by the fact that carrying electronic devices like earbuds and watches are not allowed inside the hall. I am glad and obliged that FIDE has mentioned in the report that ‘no indication of foul play was found’.

“As per the rules I won't be allowed to play in this tournament and I respect this decision. However, I sincerely want to apologise to my family, coach, federation, friends and supporters for this honest mistake from my side. There’s no denial that I am upset however I don’t want this one incident to define me. I assure to work hard and come back stronger.”

With an ELO rating of 2326, Priyanka was the top-rated Indian at the championship in the girls section.

The championship started on the Italian island of Sardinia on October 11 and will conclude on October 23.

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