by HeavyMetal on Mon Jan 24, 2011 6:35 pm
An announcement on Friday on the French Chess Federation’s Web site accuses three of its own players of cheating during last year’s Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
The players are grandmasters Sébastien Feller, ranked No. 5 in France, and Arnaud Hauchard, No. 16, and Cyril Marzolo, an international master, who is ranked No. 46.
The announcement did not provide any details about what the players are said to have done, but it is extraordinary for a national federation to have accused its own players in this way. Usually, cheating involves getting help from chess computers during games, which is forbidden by the rules of competition.
France is the No. 3 ranked country in chess, and Feller, 19, is one of its most promising young talents.
He was the only one of the three mentioned by the federation who played for the national team during the Olympiad, so the others may have been accused of helping him. Feller started out with two wins, two losses and a draw before winning three games and drawing his last. His record is on the Olympic Web site.
His performance was good enough to earn an individual gold medal as the top Board 5 player in the competition.
If the accusations are substantiated, presumably he would forfeit that prize.
Cheating accusations and incidents are nothing new. In 2006, two people were accused of cheating at the World Open, the biggest tournament in the United States each year.
A year later, a Dutch player was banned for three years for using using PocketFritz, a hand-held version of the popular computer program Fritz, during a tournament.
In December 2006, an Indian player named Umakanth Sharma was caught with a receiver in his cap and was banned from playing in India for 10 years.
Май намирисва на мега скандал, за пръв път официално са обвинени толкова силни шахматисти. Обикновено измамите ги вършат слаби шахматисти, които не се страхуват особено дали ще бъдат заловене и изхвърлени от официални турнири, тъй като за тях това не е професия и практически нищо не губят. Тези тримата обаче могат да отнесат такова наказание, че това да означава на практика край на състезателната им дейност. Тук фрапиращото е, че френската федерация показва висок морал и не само че не се опитва да прикрива случая, но сама го оповестява. Дано и другите федерации се заразят от примера им. ФИДЕ засега винаги се е правила на ощипана мома. На неофициалните обвинения срещу Топалов, Крамник, Азмайпарашвили и др. винаги е отговаряла с хладно мълчание и отказ от разследване от страх да не и се срине имиджа. Само че ясно е, че това явление взема застрашителни размери и крайно време е някой як бушон да изгърми за 10 години поне, че да им държи влага и на останалите, които се опитват да го правят. Вече не са един и два случаите на обвинения дори срещу гросмайстори.