The basis of the story is a post by Kramnik on Twitter/X that is connecting Navara’s name with “stats” on “Cheating Tuesdays”. As Kramnik admitted, he is not making accusations but allegations. These allegations are based on data that Kramnik compiled himself and used an undisclosed method to analyze and tweet about.

In a post titled Checking the cheating allegations made by Kramnik on David Navara on Reddit, the user bhajji22 presents his analysis on Kramnik’s data and specifically the data in the tweet. Bhajji22 says, “I downloaded Navara’s and 8 other players’ all games they played in Titled Tuesdays in 2024 from letsdotheprocedure.com. Then I calculated their average centipawn losses and compared the results. […] Firstly, even the most basic thing – the number of moves Navara and others made when time on their clock < 10 seconds was wrong in Kramnik’s post. For instance, on his post , Kramnik said that 748 moves were played by Navara but I found nearly 1500 moves. Similarly, other values are also wrong.” Bhajji22 continues, “Now the cheating part – It can be seen that average centipawn loss for Navara is infact lower than one might expect but statistics is not that simple. Let us understand through an example. Let us say that a position is +5. Then a move that reduces the evaluation to +4 will not have the same effect as reducing the position from +1 to 0. As we all know, in blitz, the top players have the ability to simplify the game to a winning endgame which is necessary in time pressure and hence the +5 to +4 is a common thing. So instead of the Average Centipawn Loss, a better metric would be the Average Relative CPL. This would scale down the large values. So when this was calculated for each player, Navara’s value came out to be quite normal. Not only this, I also plotted a graph for the critical moves when the evaluation is between +1 and -1. And infact, Navara was the weakest player in that scenario.”

User fuettli comments, “I already did something like this and have done some more in the mean time with a little more info. I limited the data to the same time frame Vladimir Kramnik used (you used the entire year 2024) but of course even if you try to go as close to what VBK did, the results are always way different. According to some tweets he used positions with +2 to -2 and a loss of at least 100 centipawns.
But what about blunders from +8 to -1? Aren’t those also real blunders?”

Bhajji22, unlike Kramnik, published the full method and code behind his findings. While the period of Bhajji22 calculations is off, it is public for the mathematicians, statisticians, and chess experts to analyze the centipawn loss vs the suggested Relative centipawn loss. Check out the full post on Full post on Reddit here

Timeline of events

23.05.2025 Navara publishes an open letter about Kramnik’s actions
23.05.2025 Reactions to Navara’s open letter – Aronian, Polgar, etc
23.05.2025 Navara and Kramnik to meet at FIDE World Rapid and Blitz
24.05.2025 David Navara, “I firmly believe that Mr Dvorkovich should resign”
24.05.2025 Kramnik, “I am deeply disappointed Navara participates in unjust PR campaign against me”
24.05.2025 Kramnik rage-blocks Chessdom over a comment on David Navara’s case
24.05.2025 Live: David Navara at French Top 16
25.05.2025 Kramnik admits to allegations, FIDE has grounds to act
25.05.2025 Open call to action for FIDE
26.05.2025 David Navara now has personal chess calendar
26.05.2025 Czech Chess Federation: We stand behind chess legend GM David Navara
28.05.2025 MrDodgy : “Kramnik bullies Navara, will he be satisfied if he ends in hospital or worse?”
29.05.2025 Emil Sutovsky : “I find Kramnik’s latest address to David Navara inhuman”
12.06.2025 David Navara: “When I heard Kramnik’s reaction, I slept really poorly”
26.06.2025 Official Statement of Hetman GKS Katowice Chess Club + Keti Tsatsalashvili of support of David Navara
28.06.2025 Levon Aronian addresses Kramnik’s lawsuit threats towards David Navara
29.06.2025 FIDE addresses the Kramnik vs Navara case
29.06.2025 The entire Nový Bor Chess Club stands firmly behind David Navara
29.06.2025 Prague International Chess Festival thanks cFIDE for taking a clear stance on Kramnik vs Navara
04.07.2025 David Navara in an interview with Greg Mustreader
08.07.2025 Average centipawn loss vs Avereage Relative Centipawn loss in Kramnik vs Navara

Context (28.05)

Kramnik is known to have published numerous articles and videos regarding cheating in chess. On multiple occasions he uses a small sample size. As a result, his conclusions may be perceived as accusations (this is the case in a multitude of well documented videos, articles, and opinions by experts here, here, here, here are just a few examples), allegations, or suspicions about cheating in chess, and even as insults to players’ professionalism. Despite how each individual perceives his words, on Chessdom, starting 25 May, we have adopted a term that Vladimir Kramnik used himself – allegations.

In accordance with established journalistic practices, we work with information and quotations from sources, including Kramnik himself. Kramnik has never contacted Chessdom via its official communication channel posted in the header of the website. Our attempt to contact Kramnik was futile and met with a swift block. The latest threats by Kramnik on social media leave little room for any good-faith discussions (further details to follow)

Regardless, we stand by accuracy, fairness, and independence of journalism and will continue reporting on the Kramnik – Navara case and its tremendous social importance.

New: This month of April, Chessdom is launching a newsletter that you get DAILY to your mailbox for FREE. Daily material, exclusive interviews, and the hottest chess topics as the Hans Niemann story will be inside. Signup with your mail in the form below

As we are awaiting the official reaction by Hans Niemann, here is a collection of reactions by the chess world

Patricia Llaneza (@PattyLlaneza Twitter/X): He’s letting his withdrawal speak for itself.

Zachariya (@zachariya55 Twitter/X): This guy might be searching for convincing reason to share in public – my only question is if he’s confident that he never cheated then why would he deny the lie detector test that Dubov claimed and now withdrawing from this tournament after new anti cheating system was announced

Anish Giri: Classical, a lot of drawing. Freestyle, a lot of withdrawing #TweetOftheDay

Popileviz (Reddit): Didn’t he literally go to Russia recently because no one was inviting him to tournaments? The vibrations are off on this one

Imaginary-Ebb-1724 (Reddit): Now I’m interested in this “higher level” security. We’ve seen Hans with metal, electronic and thermal detectors now. Are they gonna start CT scanning brains for neuralink lol.

kramnikstudentc24 (@kramnikstudent on Tiwtter/X): Chess Song: Disappearing stars (Hans Niemann & Alireza Firouza)

Chess Lifestyle (@chess_lifestyle Twitter/X): This is going to be the biggest “I told you so” from Magnus to Jan Henric Buettner

Hans Niemann fan account: new propaganda run by Magnus

Weshtonio (Reddit): Guy complaining about not being invited withdraws after being invited.

rio_ARC (Reddit): Kramnik, Hans Nieman, Magnus, Hikaru in the same room. Seemed too good to be true

yoda17 (Reddit): Backing out of the lie detector test with Dubov and now withdrawing from this sure isn’t going to do Hans any favors with the crowd that thinks he’s cheated over the board

Brad Crockett (@pizzapimp812 on Twitter/X): Organizers announced new security technology: The Bead Detector 9000!

trews96 (Reddit): If he had placed last he would have made $5,000 still. And it goes up to $200,000 for first place.

Thorsten Cmiel: Hans could have played

anyonecandoanything (Reddit): the lack of chess speaks for itself

Sad_Sir1605 (Reddit): The security equipment is on hire from the local hospital’s colonoscopy department

Coming this year: Netflix UNTOLD 2025 – the chess cheating scandal Carlsen – Niemann

Kevin Brodi: Après Firouzja c’est Niemann qui se retire du Freestyle Chess Paris

The Other Guy (@Gyan49485 on Twitter/X): I don’t think people even begin to see how silly this speculation is. If they decide to increase security and Hans is indeed a cheater, he can decide not to cheat and pocket easy cash. And the field is so stacked that people will understand even if someone finished 10th or 12th.

Good News First
It’s only been the best part of 30 years, but finally chess has reappeared on terrestrial television screens in the UK with the opening edition of Chess Masters. It’s not a conventional chess tournament, but rather a competition between amateur players, each with their own back story of course. 

The eight-part series is done rather in the style of shows like Bake Off, with an added touch of The Traitors thrown in, with the inclusion of Birmingham chess coach Anthony Mathurin as sidekick to the imperious GM David Howell on commentary. David is superb, of course, and the whole thing is held together by the wonderful Sue Perkins of Mel and Sue fame, amongst many other things. 

I certainly have some reservations about the way it’s turned out, particularly in the editing suite. However, since my services were dispensed with once the programme had secured its commission, I probably shouldn’t say anymore, other than to emphasise what a great thing it is for British chess that the game has received the recognition of the national broadcaster. Let’s hope it leads to even more coverage of chess in future.

Suit You, Sir!
Talking of Anthony Mathurin, the highlight of early January/February TV in both the UK and the USA has been the surprise hit reality game show The Traitors – based on the original Dutch programme De Verraders – filmed back-to-back in the same location of Ardross Castle, the 19th-century country pile of the McTaggart family, set deep in the vast wilderness of the Scottish Highlands, about 30 miles north of Inverness.

The tag line states: “Get them before they get you. 22 strangers play the ultimate mind game of trust and treachery.” And perhaps inspired by last year’s Swedish version of the now international franchise, Förrädarna, that had popular chess streamer WFM Anna Cramling among its contestants, both the UK and US adaptations opted to include chess. 

One of the challenges was an outdoor living chess contest to whittle the field down. Many on social media were quick to point out that the board was the wrong way round, and also how it seemed to mimic the Wizards Chess scene in the first Harry Potter movie; the twist here in Traitors being that the contestants had to pit their wits against an oversized black chess piece with an attitude, who would hover (or should that be hoover?) around the board, almost as if standing on an oversized Roomba.

But the American Traitors in February might well have given FIDE something of a headache about whether or not to penalise its multi-award-winning host, Scottish actor Alan Cumming, for infringing any possible number of dress code violations. Cumming has a reputation of being a flirtatious popinjay, and his outfit for the chess challenge proved to be nothing short of a haute couture hoot with it being a fusion of K-Pop and punk, the pièce de résistance being what many initially thought were African Bantu knots in his hair, but was in fact a bespoke chess piece headband.

As it went viral on social media, his stylist, Sam Spector excitedly gushed: “When I saw this Charles Jeffrey Loverboy red suit with its enlarged plaid, I was immediately reminded of a checkerboard. So, naturally, I had to add the perfect amount of absurdity and created this custom-made chess piece headband. Topped off with a blown-up houndstooth coat, it all came together and Alan worthy!”

ChessFest 2025
It’s happening in Trafalgar Square, the fourth edition on July 13th. Come along to this free for all the family event and enjoy the fun!

Do come down and enjoy the living chess in Trafalgar Square at ChessFest on Sunday July 13th! There will also be free simuls, coaching, the beat-the-master tent and sets to use galore.

Our Golden Generations
Congratulations again to the England over-65 team who triumphed at the World Senior Team Chess Championships last month in Prague. Fantastic performances all round, particularly from IM Peter Large, a stalwart of the weekend circuit back in the day, who scored a tremendous 7/8. Peter annotates inside, where we have a report from Terry Chapman, who also had a fine tournament. Our over-50 team led by Mickey Adams was once again outgunned by the USA, who, as Leonard Barden pointed out, are backed by the largesse of Saint Louis Chess Club. England can though compete for the gold medals at this level if we can get all our players to turn out. Supratit Banerjee, 11, from Sutton was given his first opportunity in a all-play-all tournament recently at Lawrence Cooper’s Wood Green event at Stafford and did extremely well, scoring 3/9 for a 2340 performance.

Unfair Play
As we know from politics, any legislation, however well intentioned, sometimes has unexpected consequences, even negative consequences. We also know that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Ever since the Olympiad in 2022 at Chennai, FIDE events have had the joy sucked out of them to varying degrees by the activities and policies of the Fair Play Commission. FIDE understandably felt it had to act after a few high-profile scandals and made the now – with hindsight – clearly terrible decision to devolve the implementation of fair play measures into a new Commission with sweeping powers, over and above those of the arbiters. 

Ironically, it all has the whiff of Soviet times, in that, to draw a rough parallel, jobbing policeman became subservient and were ruled by a new more secretive group (KGB/FSB) of policemen with absolute power. So it came to pass in FIDE that the Arbiters Commission and the arbiters themselves found that a smaller number of their erstwhile colleagues (and friends; relationships of decades’ standing have been fractured) now ruled over them with more and more sweeping powers, employed in the name of preventing cheating. 

There’s hardly been any instances of cheating in FIDE events, although nobody denies the need for professionally implemented anti-cheating measures. There is general agreement about delaying transmission of moves nowadays, but things have got completely out of hand. This is largely due to the laissez-faire attitude of those in the upper echelons of the governing body, including the President and Managing Director.

Let me give you a fairly recent example from the 2022 Olympiad at Chennai. There was a separate corridor outside the playing hall separated by two sets of double doors with excellent soundproofing, where players and captains could get coffee and the toilets were located. 

The area was patrolled by arbiters and Fair Play operatives, and rightly so. I was getting a coffee during one of England’s games, when I met my old chum GM Ivan Sokolov. We hadn’t seen each other for years, so we had a chat. Up bounds the (then) chairman of the Fair Play Commission Yuri Garrett, someone for whom I’ve come to develop almost unlimited contempt for over the last few years and whose recent downfall – see below – I can only take the greatest delight in.

“You can’t talk here!” he said. My initial reaction was that he was joking, but when I realised he was serious, I told him to get lost. Given that captains cannot open their mouths in the playing hall nowadays and have been reduced to the role of waiters, the idea that we might be cheating by consorting in an outside corridor is absurd, but not for Yuri. What followed was comedic, yet somehow sinister at the same time. We were literally in each other’s faces.

“I’ll take your name and report you to the chief arbiter,” he said. “I think you know my name Yuri,” I replied. “We’ve known each other for about 20 years.” I think my subsequent words were unprintable and he slinked off.

A few days later, I was watching the closing stages of the match between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Azeri board one Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had been frustrated in his game and had remained in his chair after it, staring into space as strong players do when they’re trying to figure out what the hell went wrong. At this point an Indian teenager turned up working for the Fair Play team and started trying to manhandle him from his chair and out of the playing hall. I was so outraged I said to the little whippersnapper, “This is one of the strongest players in the world and you will treat him with the respect he deserves. Now clear off!”

Since August 2022 at Chennai things have got a lot worse. Fair Play rules have become both more restrictive and more invasive. At the Budapest Olympiad even federation presidents struggled to get into the playing hall. The arbiters too have become progressively more fed up with their Fair Play colleagues. As I said above, relationships have soured. Tournament organisers have baulked at the extra cost of engaging the extra Fair Play personnel, and players have become more and more upset.

This year alone, the FIDE Council has received letters of complaint from the a self-styled “rebel group” of arbiters. That includes multiple arbiters who have been Chief Arbiter of at least five world championship matches between them, Chief Arbiters of several Olympiads, and our own Alex Holowczak (pictured left). 

In addition, a group of 13 established organisers of FIDE tournaments have written saying they are now discouraged from organising tournaments due to the extra cost and aggravation. The Mitropa European group of countries has also written to express their concern, and the cacophony has grown to such an extent that the players and captains’ petition I was going to organise, hardly seems worth it, given the volume of criticism that has been levelled at this Commission and its antics.

What really needs to happen is that the Fair Play Commission needs to be merged with the Arbiters Commission, and some common sense needs to prevail in the implementation of anti-cheating measures. That’s just a start, I have a lot of sympathy for the views expressed by the anonymous arbiter from the World Senior Teams at Prague – see below. The Fair Play Commission should be a separate body that will concentrate mainly on the technological threats we face in the battle against cheaters. Let the arbiters run the show, like they used to, and still do at every event that isn’t a FIDE event.

FIDE’s reaction, which was really that of the President, who I had lobbied in person on this matter, has so far not been encouraging. The Chairman of the Fair Play Commission, Yuri Garrett, has been removed, but as far as I can tell the functions of the organisation remain intact. It remains for the FIDE Council which meets on March the 21st to take further action, which in my opinion should include the dissolution of this disastrous Commission. Recent events, including an open revolt from players and captains at the World Senior Teams in Prague, demonstrate the sorry state of affairs, where again players weren’t allowed to remain in the tournament hall after finishing their games, which is most unpopular.

The following letter was sent by IM Nigel Povah to the FIDE Council following ridiculous goings on:

Dear Mr Dvorkovich and FIDE colleagues,

I’m writing to highlight the widespread concerns about the Fair Play regulations, that were expressed by many of the captains and players at the World Senior Team Chess Championships, which have just concluded in Prague.

The attached email, which I sent to Mr Dvorkovich on 25 February was shared with the other players (including captains), who numbered over 500 in total, coming from 28 different Federations. I was only able to get access to some of those present, because we were playing in two different tournament halls and players from the 50+ tournament hall were not allowed access to the 65+ tournament hall, and vice versa. However, there was a Captains’ WhatsApp group and many of the captains expressed their support for the content of my email through that channel.

I think I can say with some confidence that the vast majority of players present agreed with my comments and although many were willing to sign the letter to show their support, some made it clear that they were not able to speak on behalf of their federations. However, such was the strength of feeling, I would be astonished if most, if not all, federations would not concur with the views of their players.

I hope the attached email clearly sets out what I was concerned about, but since writing this, I was alerted to two alarming examples of the post-game Fair Play checks, that seem to be totally out of proportion with what is required. The first case was reported to me first hand by IM Mehrshad Sharif, who told me that after a 15-move draw, he and his opponent were selected for random checking and taken to a room, where they were both thoroughly searched and this lasted about 30 minutes! Given the result of the game, suspicions of cheating would surely have been low and whilst random searches are generally a reasonable idea, the duration and nature of this sounds excessive.

The second case, which I only heard about second-hand, sounds to have been far worse. A woman player had won her first four games and was searched after her game by two female Fair Play staff and was in effect ‘strip searched’, and I was told that she and her team mates were very upset by this. Hopefully they will report this themselves, but the point is that some of these Fair Play guidelines are just going too far, and they are spoiling the nature of what has always been a highly enjoyable and friendly series of chess events.

I would also like to ask, has there ever been any examples of anyone caught cheating in Seniors’ chess, because I’m not aware of anyone having done so? I do appreciate that FIDE naturally wish to prevent/discourage cheating, but these preventative measures are penalising the vast majority of honest chess players. Perhaps FIDE should look to introduce much harsher penalties for anyone caught cheating and should publish and disgrace those individuals. Anyway, I do think that Senior chess players should be treated with a great deal more dignity and respect than is evident with these very harsh Fair Play regulations.

Finally, I hope that FIDE will give some serious thought to this matter, as I don’t think things should continue as they are.

– Nigel Povah – IM and England Chess Federation Seniors Manager

One arbiter at Prague added:

“It looks like the whole world – except for a few fools in FIDE’s leadership – understands that the World Senior Championship isn’t a top-tier event like the World Championship title matches or the Olympiad. It’s primarily a social gathering where old players meet up with long-lost friends. Banning hearing aids – without which many are completely deaf [Ed. – This happened in the 2024 event.] – kicking them out of the playing hall as soon as they finish their games, or suspecting them of assembling a computer in the toilet (which is the official explanation from the Fair Play commission for why you can’t have a SIM card hidden in your wallet so as not to lose it) immediately turns them against the organisers.

“We tried to be somewhat accommodating, but some Fair Play arbiters reported us to Mr. Garrett, who then ordered them to tighten the checks even more. That led to long queues forming at the entrance, which the seniors certainly didn’t appreciate. Moreover, they found pocket searches and wallet inspections undignified and humiliating. And that’s how the letter from England captain came about.

“One of the Fair Play arbiters said that while the experience helped him get to the Olympiad, he never wants to do this job again. They don’t have thick enough skin to voluntarily spend ten days as a ‘useful idiot’ hated by all sides – players, organisers, actual arbiters, and even their own supervisor in the end.

“Everyone agrees the entire Fair Play commission should be abolished immediately, its members should apologise to the chess community for ruining their beloved pastime (no wonder no one wants to host FIDE events anymore), and its leadership should be publicly punished – exclusion from the chess community and a subsequent public execution would be the bare minimum. The only debate is whether the highest official should bear personal responsibility as well.”

I can only add that it’s high time for change, but nobody needs to die!

Read the full editorial by Malcolm Pein here

Kirill Shevchenko’s alleged phone cheating case so far

14.10.2024 Breaking: Kirill Shevchenko caught with a phone at Spanish Team Chess 2024
14.10.2024 Kramnik: The cheating case of Kirill Shevchenko is expected
14.10.2024 The team captain not sure in the innocence of Kirill Shevchenko
14.10.2024 The chess world reacts to Kirill Shevchenko’s case
14.10.2024 Second phone found at the Spanish Team Championship
15.10.2024 Romanian Chess Federation issues a statement on the case of Kirill Shevchenko
16.10.2024 Mark Crowther: the alleged cheating in Shevchenko’s case is not sophisticated in any way
17.10.2024 Paco Vallejo on Kirill Shevchenko case, “Cheaters should get 10 year ban”
17.10.2024 EMP shockwave is a solution for chess tournaments

FIDE Fair Play Commission comments on the incident involving GM Kirill Shevchenko

Following the incidents that occurred at the Honor Division of the Spanish Club Chess Championship, which involved Grandmaster Kirill Shevchenko (FIDE ID: 14129574), the FIDE Fair Play Commission immediately initiated preliminary investigations, which led the sole investigator, Vincent Geeraets, to be “comfortably satisfied that a prima facie case has been established against GM Shevchenko”. The measure is deemed to be necessary “because it would be inappropriate for a player of GM Shevchenko’s caliber to take part in tournaments or competitions under the auspices of FIDE while he is under investigation for a cheating offense (“use of phone”).” The request, which was formally presented by FPL Chair Yuri Garrett to EDC Chair Yolander Persaud, is strictly based on the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Code in force: “Art. 12.1e of the Ethics and Disciplinary Code stipulates that a player may be prohibited from participating in chess activities during an investigation. Relevant is art. 12.4a, which indicates that a provisional suspension requires that a prima facie case can be made against the player in question. Art 18.2 of the EDC Procedural Rules indicates that in cases of urgency, such a ban may be imposed directly without the party concerned having been heard beforehand.” It is of paramount importance to highlight that “Such a provisional suspension, however, would not indicate that GM Shevchenko is guilty of a cheating offense. This needs to be carefully investigated on the assumption that the player is innocent.” To this effect, an Investigatory Panel chaired by Vincent Geeraets has been appointed.

Lausanne, October 17, 2024

Kirill Shevchenko has played two games. In round 1 Kirill Shevchenko made a draw vs Amin Bassem, while in round 2 he won vs Francisco Vallejo Pons. The frequent visits to the bathroom by Shevchenko provoked an investigation that caught the player. A complete report, with all the evidence, will be submitted to the FEDA Technical Committee of Arbiters and the FIDE Ethics Committee.

Francisco Vallejo Pons aka Paco Vallejo was the one who asked for a detailed investigation on the frequent visits of Shevchenko to the bathroom. Vallejo is convinced that the game against Kirill Shevckenko was not normal. For El Mundo and Federico Marin Bellon, Vallejo shares, “The first key moment of the game is move 4. My opponent moves and leaves running from the playing hall. I played a line that the dude could not expect because I never played this before. I waited for a minute and he was still not there. I asked the arbiter, ‘where is he, this is very strange?’ Then [Shevchenko] returns and lashes out series of diabolical moves. All of them precise and by the hand – without thinking. Its utterly interesting what he plays in a line that he does not expect.” The game continues and Vallejo still hangs in there. Then the Spaniard, after a 15 mins think, finds a move that could save the draw – a pawn sacrifice. Shevchenko blitzes out the perfect answer to the unexpected sacrifice. “I was agitated at this point, I said to myself, what do I know, probably the dude is amazingly strong.” But later in the position his suspicions grow even more, as Shevchenko exchanges rooks, where, according to Vallejo, no human player would.

After losing the game Vallejo goes to his room, checks the moves with the computer and exclaims, “Me está ganando la p*ta máquina” (“The f*cking machine is beating me”)

The disappointment of Vallejo

“This is the fifth game I play against someone that is later penalized [for cheating],” say Vallejo. “This is the world we live in, where there is no honor anymore. That’s how everything goes. The only thing that matters is winning. We see it in politics, in sports and everywhere.” Then adds, “For me the minimum sanction for cheating should be 10 years ban.”

Kirill Shevchenko’s alleged phone cheating case so far

14.10.2024 Breaking: Kirill Shevchenko caught with a phone at Spanish Team Chess 2024
14.10.2024 Kramnik: The cheating case of Kirill Shevchenko is expected
14.10.2024 The team captain not sure in the innocence of Kirill Shevchenko
14.10.2024 The chess world reacts to Kirill Shevchenko’s case
14.10.2024 Second phone found at the Spanish Team Championship
15.10.2024 Romanian Chess Federation issues a statement on the case of Kirill Shevchenko
16.10.2024 Mark Crowther: the alleged cheating in Shevchenko’s case is not sophisticated in any way
17.10.2024 Paco Vallejo on Kirill Shevchenko case, “Cheaters should get 10 year ban”
17.10.2024 EMP shockwave is a solution for chess tournaments

Original article in Spanish in El Mundo

Mark Crowther, the author of TWIC that just celebrated its 30th anniversary, comments Shevchenko’s case, “The one thing that puzzles me is this is not sophisticated in any way. Disappearing off to the toilet to check a phone every few moves, I mean you’re going to get caught, or at least suspected pretty quickly as happened here.” Crowther adds, “I was told a tale about a guy people knew was cheating but they couldn’t prove it. He had connections to the tech industry. They just cut the live feeds and he stopped playing, because he was so weak in reality. That’s what worries me, not sneaking off to the bog every few mins.”

“There’s something very odd going on here don’t you think? It’s almost like he wanted to get caught,” concludes Crowther.

Kirill Shevchenko’s alleged phone cheating case so far

14.10.2024 Breaking: Kirill Shevchenko caught with a phone at Spanish Team Chess 2024
14.10.2024 Kramnik: The cheating case of Kirill Shevchenko is expected
14.10.2024 The team captain not sure in the innocence of Kirill Shevchenko
14.10.2024 The chess world reacts to Kirill Shevchenko’s case
14.10.2024 Second phone found at the Spanish Team Championship
15.10.2024 Romanian Chess Federation issues a statement on the case of Kirill Shevchenko

Kirill Shevchenko’s alleged phone cheating case so far

14.10.2024 Breaking: Kirill Shevchenko caught with a phone at Spanish Team Chess 2024
14.10.2024 Kramnik: The cheating case of Kirill Shevchenko is expected
14.10.2024 The team captain not sure in the innocence of Kirill Shevchenko
14.10.2024 The chess world reacts to Kirill Shevchenko’s case
14.10.2024 Second phone found at the Spanish Team Championship
15.10.2024 Romanian Chess Federation issues a statement on the case of Kirill Shevchenko

The official position of the Romanian Chess Federation in the case of Kirill Shevchenko

The Romanian Chess Federation has acknowledged the accusations made against Kirill Shevchenko, playing under the Romanian flag at the most recent edition of the Spanish Team Chess Championship. 

We have proven over the years that we take all anti-cheating rules very seriously and will continue to do so. We have had, have and will have zero tolerance for violations of fair-play rules!

But such serious allegations must necessarily be backed up by solid evidence, and so far only circumstantial evidence has been made public. 

We await for the details of the case and we will carefully study the accompanying evidence. So far, we only have press reports and alleged witnesses, but no official communication. Until then, we are on the side of our chess player, who denies the accusations against him. We will support him as we support all our chess players, within the limits of the regulations in place. 

If further information comes to light, we will decide within the Federation our next steps. 

14.10.2024 Breaking: Kirill Shevchenko caught with a phone at Spanish Team Chess 2024
14.10.2024 Kramnik: The cheating case of Kirill Shevchenko is expected
14.10.2024 The team captain not sure in the innocence of Kirill Shevchenko
14.10.2024 The chess world reacts to Kirill Shevchenko’s case
14.10.2024 Second phone found at the Spanish Team Championship
15.10.2024 Romanian Chess Federation issues a statement on the case of Kirill Shevchenko

Vladimir Kramnik commented on the Kirill Shevchenko case, “Expected. This will happen more and more because of the major chess forces are doing nothing in this field, at best, makes cheaters believe they will never be punished” He adds, “thanks to cheatcom for supporting such talents constantly and consistantly, despite old salty people reporting them. I did a year ago already reported this gentleman, nothing. Than again after recent brilliant TT win, nothing. Shame”

See the full developing story of Kirill Shevchenko caught cheating with a phone at Spanish Team Chess 2024 here

Kirill Shevchenko has played two games. In round 1 Kirill Shevchenko made a draw vs Amin Bassem, while in round 2 he won vs Francisco Vallejo Pons. The frequent visits to the bathroom by Shevchenko provoked an investigation that caught the player. A complete report, with all the evidence, will be submitted to the FEDA Technical Committee of Arbiters and the FIDE Ethics Committee.

Kirill Shevchenko’s alleged phone cheating case so far

14.10.2024 Breaking: Kirill Shevchenko caught with a phone at Spanish Team Chess 2024
14.10.2024 Kramnik: The cheating case of Kirill Shevchenko is expected
14.10.2024 The team captain not sure in the innocence of Kirill Shevchenko
14.10.2024 The chess world reacts to Kirill Shevchenko’s case
14.10.2024 Second phone found at the Spanish Team Championship
15.10.2024 Romanian Chess Federation issues a statement on the case of Kirill Shevchenko
16.10.2024 Mark Crowther: the alleged cheating in Shevchenko’s case is not sophisticated in any way
17.10.2024 Paco Vallejo on Kirill Shevchenko case, “Cheaters should get 10 year ban”
17.10.2024 EMP shockwave is a solution for chess tournaments
17.10.2024 FIDE Fair Play Commission starts investigation on the incident involving GM Kirill Shevchenko

Recent events of Shevchenko include the Romanian Team Championship, while he is in the list of player in the upcoming European Individual Chess Championship 2024

Spanish federation comments

Colin McGourty reports at Chess.com

Chief Arbiter Oscar Bruno de Prado Rodriguez summarized his decision

Firmly believing and in light of the evidence gathered throughout the investigation that this player has made use of the mobile phone during the game, in addition to ignoring my requests to notify me when he left the room, in breach of FIDE rules, I decide to impose the following sanction:

1. To forfeit the two games played, in round 1 against Amin Bassem, and in round 2 against Francisco Vallejo Pons based on article 12.8 which prohibits the use of mobile devices. The two opponents in rounds 1 and 2 win their games.
2. To expel Kiriil Shevchenko from the competition as it is considered a very serious infringement based on article 19.9.9.
3. A complete report, with all the evidence, will be submitted to the FEDA Technical Committee of Arbiters and the FIDE Ethics Committee.

The arbiter reminded the player that it was necessary to ask permission to visit the toilet. But the visits continued, with the arbiter asking a member of the organizing committee to investigate. He saw Shevchenko visiting an individual cubicle, and there found a new mobile phone with the handwritten note, “¡No toques! ¡El teléfono se dejó para que el huésped contestara por la noche!” (“Don’t touch! This telephone has been left so the owner can answer it at night!”) Federico Marin from El Mundo notes that the handwriting was similar to the one of Shevchenko, and even the ink of the letters coincided with the one fro Schevchenko’s pen.

Amin Basem comments

Amin Bassem, the player that Shevchenko played in round 1, told Chess.com he was “still shocked,” and explained:

For me I would say things started to get strange at move six. He played his move and left the playing hall for more than 10 minutes and this was repeated many times in the next moves. I thought he had some stomach problems! But at some point I decided to go out to see where he is and he was standing outside the toilet room and when he saw me he went back to the playing hall. And then at some point in the game he stopped going out till the game was finished.

Asked how it affected him during the game, Amin commented:

Generally I try not to think about it too much that someone is maybe cheating because then you can’t really play, but when it happened many times it was really not good, specially that when he came back to the board he would play very fast and really good!

See the full article by Collin McGourty at Chess.com

In round 5, besides the above mentioned two incidents, two players were forfeited for wristwatches and one for vape!

Kanchess from Top Chess Engine Championship commented, “No wonder, there is a vape brand called ‘Grandmaster’ “

The info by Mike Klein directly enters the collection #TweetOftheday. See the full collection #TweetOftheDay here