A smartphone in a toilet cubicle has undone chess Grandmaster Gaioz Nigalidze’s run to win the sixth round of a world tournament.

Nigalidze from Georgia was banned from the tournament and faces three-years exile from competitive chess.

His opponent, Armenian Grandmaster Tigran Petrosian noticed Nigalidze was visiting the same toilet cubicle after each move, a Dubai Open Chess Tournament statement said.

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When the cubicle was checked, officials found a smartphone hidden in toilet paper and stuffed behind the pan. Nigalidze has denied owning the device.

Gaioz Nigalidze. Picture: Wikipedia.

Nigalidze would make his move then “literally run to the toilet,” Petrosian said, as quoted in the Telegraph.

“I noticed that he would always visit the same toilet partition, which was strange, since two other partitions weren’t occupied.

“I informed the chief arbiter about my growing suspicions and asked him to keep an eye on Gaioz.

“After my opponent left the very toilet partition yet another time, the arbiters entered it.”

Tournament Arbiter Mahdi Abdul Rahim said they did not find any device on Nigalidze, who denied owning the “smart device” they found in the cubicle.

Mahdi Abdul Rahim holds the found smartphone which ban Nigalidze from competition. Picture: Supplied.

“Officials opened the smart device and found it was logged into a social networking site under Nigalidze’s account. They also found his game being analyzed in one of the chess applications,” the statement said.

But Gaioz has continued to deny parts of the allegations against him.

“Not everything is true in what Petrosian said,” he told Chess-news.ru.

Abdul Rahim suspended Nigalidze from the tournament and said he would report the grandmaster to the International Chess Federation, where he will face three years suspension from sanctioned tournaments. A second offence will attract a 15 year suspension.