Police Checkmate Chess Grandmaster

On the rugby field, certainly. On the football pitch, probably. But yesterday, the usually genteel game of chess was embroiled in its own version of the soup scandal when a grandmaster was arrested at the closing ceremony of the chess olympiad for allegedly headbutting a policeman.

Zurab Azmaiparashvili, who is also vice-president of the World Chess Federation (Fide), was trying to get on stage to point out a mistake in the medal ceremony when the altercation took place.

There are differing accounts of what happened next.

According to a statement released by the organisers, the Georgian, who was European chess champion in 2003, "butted the agent on the mouth" when a policemen tried to stop him climbing on to the stage.

However, other witnesses at the event, in Calvia, Mallorca, said the 44-year-old was jumped on and wrestled to the ground by security guards.

"As far as I could see, at no time was Azmai the aggressor," Paul Truong, captain of the US team, told the website ChessBase.com.

"He defended himself when he was constrained by a number of security people. All he did was try to get the attention of the Fide officials on stage to correct the errors before the closing ceremony ended."

Mr Azmaiparashvili, who has defeated the great Anatoly Karpov (playing chess, not in a fight), was handcuffed, dragged out of the hall, put into a car and taken to a police station, where he remained in custody last night.

The incident has dramatically soured relations between the chess community and the Spanish organisers of the 125-nation event.

Fide released a statement calling for his release without charge.

"Why a Fide official with VIP accreditation should be treated in such a way is beyond belief and leaves all the chess family astonished and angry," it said.

However, according to the organisers, the Georgian had been spoiling for a fight since his arrival in Spain.

"This is not the first time that the Fide vice-president creates [sic] problems to the organisation," a statement released on the tournament website said.

"When he arrived to the airport he demanded two hotel rooms, one as member of the Fide and the other one as player," the statement continued.

"When his demand was refused, he adopted an aggressive attitude and he stayed for five hours at the airport trying to get his requirement."

For the record, Ukraine won the men's team gold and China the women's. England's men finished 30th, their worst placing.