Embedded-Chip Chess Cheating or Genius?

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

The chess world is abuzz with another episode of alleged cheating at a chess tournament in Croatia. There is an article in the Croatian Times and another in Focus, about a chess player being strip searched on allegations of using embedded chips to cheat in a chess tournament. Though nothing could be proved, the doubts linger among the chess players at the tournament.

An international chess tournament in the Croatian city of Zadar witnessed the organisers searching a Bulgarian chess player Borislav Ivanov for implanted chips, writes Croatian Jutarnji List daily. There were 36 competitors at the tournament, including 16 gross-masters, 5 international masters, and 10 FIDE masters. 

According to the rating, the Bulgaria was supposed to be an easy rival but surprisingly he started winning game after a game. In the first rounds he managed to defeat Croatian masters Bojan Kurajica, Robert Zelcic and Zdenko Kozul.

“After the eighth round we received a signal about Ivanov’s game and after his game with Borko Predoevic, who later on won the tournament, we decided to check on both of them. There were suspicions that Ivanov has some electronic tools to help him and in my capacity of a judge I decided to make a move in line with the FIDE rules,” said Stanislav Maroja, chairperson of the chess union in Zadar District.

Ivanov is 26 years old and he is a programmer. Everyone was looking at him but he did not reveal any evidence of using illegal help; he did not even have headphones, but all his moves were astonishing. “It is not true that we made him strip naked. He himself took off his t-shirt, while we emptied his pockets,” Maroja said.
Knowledgeable sources though the Bulgarian was cheating. 

However, they were wondering why he would take part in a tournament, which costs a couple of thousands of euro, while the cheating equipment, which can be integrated into contact lenses, for instance, costs thousands of euros more.

The suspicions about Ivanov’s cheating were based on the fact that when the organisers stopped the broadcasting of the round before the last one, when Ivanov played vs Predoevic, the Bulgarian lost the game.

The chess players, however, commented that Ivanov did not make any unique moves, neither was it unusual for an ordinary player to beat a gross-master. Croatian gross-master Zlatko Klaric, on the other hand, said that Ivanov was cheating, because he was already accused of this at chess competitions in Bulgaria and Serbia.
“Ivanov is chess programmer, who since mid-2011 until now had won only one rating point, while at the Zadar tournament – 60. He made moves like a computer, which was obvious in the game vs Jovanovic,” Klaric remarked.

“Technologies are so developed now that theoretically, since the games were aired live, Ivanov’s friends in the neighbouring room, from Sofia, or even from the Antarctic, could have sent him hints for his moves through chips, which could have been placed under the skin, in the ear, or in the teeth,” Klaric added.

The problem of cheating has become a serious issue in chess. Here are all the previous posts at Chess Blog on episodes of cheating in chess in the recent past. 

In November, this year, the Fide Trainer Committee accepted GM Konstantin Landa's complete proposal for anti-cheating measures. GM Konstantin Landa, Elo 2640, is a senior FIDE trainer, and long-time coach of Alexandra Kosteniuk and Arkadi Naiditsch. You can read details of GM Landa's proposal at this Chess Blog link.

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Hrvoje Stevic Claims Zadar Chess Open 2011

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

Such is the fascinating sport of chess and such has been the recent thrilling growth for the game that we have a good tournament every other week - somewhere or the other on the planet. So, here's the latest tournament chess news via www.chessdom.com.

GM Hrvoje Stević, Croatia’s top board from the recent European Team Chess Championships, scored two victories in the final rounds that secured him a clear first place with 7.0 points from nine games at the Zadar Chess Open 2011.

The International Chess Tournament Zadar Open took place on 11-17th December at the Falkensteiner Hotels & Resorts Borik in Zadar, Croatia. The tournament consisted of two groups, Open A for the players rated above 2300 FIDE and Open B for the players rated U2200. Players rated between 2200-2300 were choosing the group in which they would prefer to compete. 

IM Matej Šebenik, who dictated the pace throughout the tournament, finished second with 6.5 points and claimed a GM norm in an impressive fashion with the rating performance of 2714!

IM Milan Franić and IM Denis Kadrić also earned GM norms. Full standings bellow.

Open B had 80 participants. MK Ivo Jelečević, Senior IM Rikard Medančić and MK Marko Stipić shared the first place with 7.0 points each. MK Josip Stočko was the top placed junior with 6.5 points.

GM Hrvoje Stevic

Final standings:
1. GM Stević Hrvoje CRO 2612 – 7
2. IM Šebenik Matej SLO 2518 – 6.5
3. GM Kožul Zdenko CRO 2577 – 6
4. GM Šarić Ante CRO 2497 – 6
5. GM Predojević Borki BIH 2642 – 6
6. IM Franić Milan CRO 2381 – 6
7. GM Šarić Ivan CRO 2648 – 5.5
8. GM Šolak Dragan SRB 2629 – 5.5
9. GM Sedlak Nikola SRB 2592 – 5.5
10. GM Berczes David HUN 2555 – 5.5
11. GM Pap Gyula HUN 2492 – 5.5
12. GM Janković Alojzije CRO 2564 – 5.5
13. GM Kulaots Kaido EST 2577 – 5.5
14. GM Cvitan Ognjen CRO 2523 – 5.5
15. IM Kadric Denis BIH 2403 – 5
16. GM Szabo Krisztian HUN 2548 – 5
17. GM Bosiočić Marin CRO 2593 – 5
18. GM Kuljašević Davorin CRO 2560 – 5
19. GM Zelčić Robert CRO 2568 – 5
20. GM Svetushkin Dmitry MDA 2621 – 4.5
21. GM Brkić Ante CRO 2605 – 4.5
22. IM Bukal Vladimir Jr. CRO 2423 – 4.5
23. GM Kovačević Aleksandar SRB 2563 – 4.5
24. GM Martinović Saša CRO 2504 – 4.5
25. IM Mazi Leon SLO 2353 – 4.5
26. GM Jovanović Zoran CRO 2581 – 4.5
27. FM Jakić Ivan CRO 2398 – 4.5
28. GM Dražić Siniša SRB 2537 – 4
29. IM Režan Saša CRO 2435 – 4
30. GM Jovanić Ognjen CRO 2476 – 4
31. IM Kovačević Blažimir CRO 2460 – 4
32. WGM Pokorna Regina SVK 2362 – 4
33. NM Matko Ognjen CRO 2244 – 4
34. FM Mandekić Ivan CRO 2288 – 4
35. FM Biliškov Vjekoslav CRO 2338 – 4
36. IM Rukavina Josip CRO 2421 – 4
37. GM Hecht Hans-Joachim GER 2379 – 3.5
38. IM Stojanović Dalibor BIH 2487 – 3.5
39. WGM Videnova Iva BUL 2297 – 3.5
40. FM Zelić Mladen CRO 2248 – 3.5
41. FM Brigljević Milan CRO 2291 – 3.5
42. IM Feletar Darko CRO 2385 – 3.5
43. FM Paljušaj Edmond CRO 2352 – 3
44. NM Vukelić Tomislav CRO 2236 – 2.5
45. CM Arjun Bharat IND 2178 – 2

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com