My compliments to the Ethics Commission. IMO, an excellent decision.
I was hoping the removal of the GM title when I read Nigalidze had cheated at Dubai.
Christmas came early 
Where, as here, there is no doubt of the accused player’s guilt the penalty should be a lifetime ban, not the three years given Nigalidze. Who is ever going to feel comfortable playing this guy in the future? What organizer is ever going to want him in their tournament?
Given the precedents in other similar cases (French national team; Natsidis; Allwermann; etc.), it would be a bit difficult to justify a lifetime ban for a first cheating offense. The Ethics Commission decision already represents a significant step forward. A three-year ban, plus the stripping of the GM title, plus the stigma attached to his name, effectively removes chess as a serious professional option for Mr. Nigalidze going forward.
Was Mr. Nigalidze also stripped of his Georgian titles as champion for 2013 and 2014? A Life time ban would be very severe indeed, and the Ethics Committee for FIDE acted totally appropriate given the severity of this offense. I guess it would be time for Mr. Nigalidze to find another profession.
Respectfully Submitted,
David A. Cole, USCF Life Member, Franklin, NJ
Presumably, the Georgian Chess Federation would have to do that.
All I’m saying is that if FIDE wants to get serious about eliminating cheating they need to get serious about penalizing it. I understand that with the rules as they are the 3 year ban for Mr. Nigalidze was the most the Ethics Committee could impose for a first offense, and I applaud them for taking that action, but in a better world a professional player caught red-handed cheating in a significant event would be banned for life.
Most people have at least heard of the Black Sox scandal in which eight members of the team were caught throwing the 1919 World Series. What most people don’t know is that cheating was fairly widespread in baseball leading up to it. The 1919 scandal affecting the World Series was only the tip of the iceberg, but it generated so much adverse publicity that the owners finally decided that something needed to be done. They hired Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis as baseball’s first Commissioner, and gave him a mandate to get rid of cheating, and dictatorial powers to get it done. He banned from baseball for life anyone including, but not limited to, the eight Black Sox cheaters, as well as anyone who even knew about an incident of cheating, but did not come forward to report it. The penalties were admittedly harsh, but they did the job, and baseball has been free from cheating since. If FIDE wants to get serious about getting rid of cheating in chess they need to do something similar.
One difference to consider between chess and baseball is that a professional player’s income is derived largely from lessons, at least in the United States. (I don’t know how true this holds in other parts of the world.) Certainly IM Nigalidze will be unlikely to receive invitations to high level tournaments with large prize funds in the future, and it is difficult to imagine that a disgraced player who has admitted to cheating and who has been stripped of the GM title would find much work giving lessons, or would be able to charge substantial amounts of money for lessons.
I agree with Mr. Reed. IM Nigalidze’s days as a professional chess player are very likely over.
I agree with you and Mr. Reed that Mr. Nigalidze is likely finished as a professional player. I guess that the difference between our positions is that I think it should be made official instead of being left to the vagaries of the marketplace.
The FIDE response was interesting. Instead of being draconian, it was measured. This give the player a chance to redeem himself. He received due process and a chance to defend himself, if he so chose. On many occasions, posters on this forum have alleged that FIDE is corrupt, a sweeping indictment of all facets of the organization. Here we see another aspect of FIDE in its committee processes. Are we lucky this time in that the offender, Nigalidze, pled guilty to the charges, or can we trust that FIDE will continue to operate above board on technical matters like this?
I would not use the baseball analogies with regard to this chess case. The Black Sox scandal and the aftermath which granted sweeping powers to the commissioner are a moment in time that does not shed a great positive light on baseball. MLB turned a blind eye to integration for decades. It failed to see the use of amphetamines by the players. Baseball was slow to the point of ignoring steroids while it was rebuilding its fan base after the baseball strike. Home runs brought in the fans. Only after being grilled by a Congressional committee did baseball start taking measures to rein in the use of steroids and other PEDS. As a paragon of virtue, MLB is way down on the lists.
Whether Nigalidze decides to continue in chess is up to him. He can probably find students, be a second for another player, or help in managing developmental programs for players. He has only been denied the right to compete in FIDE rated tournaments. It is interesting why his IM title was not lifted. Why was that title not taken away? It appears that only events after 2009 were questioned, though no charges about those events were brought up.