Post
by Jon Mahony » Wed Apr 15, 2015 11:31 am
I strongly suspect it won’t have been his first time, as the articles say Petrosian suspected him at a previous tournament, that suggests to me he has likely being doing it on and off for years (probably not in every game). I agree with Nigel Short’s opinion that there should be harsh reparations, 15 year ban (effectively the end of his career) and stripped of his GM title sounds about right.
If this case allowed to slide there will be 5 cases of this in the next 12 months, and so on until it’s an epidemic, leading to the aforementioned Chess apocalypse, which will eventually filter down to the amateur leagues - I’m no good at Fisher Random, I don’t want this to happen!
I just don’t understand how anyone could be so stupid - the articles try and excuse his behaviour saying lower ranking GM's can't afford to eat if they don't win prize money - this may be true but would it be such a hardship to teach some rich kids, or write some books? It beats working in a factory 12 hours a day as some people have to. At the very least its certainly preferable to bringing the game into disrepute and risking your whole career by attempting to cheat, especially so crudely.
It's perfectly possible he got his GM title through dishonestly, and, as an example, the strongest possible action should be taken against him - if we carry on like this OTB will go the same way as CC in my opinion, and I suspect few of us here would adjust well to a life without competitive Chess.
EDIT - just fixed the paragraph spacing.
Last edited by Jon Mahony on Wed Apr 15, 2015 12:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"When you see a good move, look for a better one!" - Lasker