Statement made by the B&DCL and DCCA
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 5:49 pm
Joint Statement made by the B&DCL and DCCA on behalf of Declan Lovelock
(in response to recent comments and speculation on the English Chess Forum)
In light of recent comments made on the English Chess Forum concerning one of our league players, Declan Lovelock, and also having due regard to his age and inexperience in matters such as these, we feel obliged to step into this debate on his behalf at the earliest opportunity.
Therefore, without wishing to ignore the speculation surrounding his performances at the board as outlined on several pages on this forum, we believe the following post to be the most serious in terms of unfounded pre-judgement of the allegations of cheating raised and have accordingly directed our response to it in the hope that, by doing so, the matter can be dealt with as speedily as possible.
by Matt Bridgeman Tue Dec 10, 2019 7:20 am
Based on his run of Dorset games I think Declan is set to be the highest rated, or top 2-3, highest rated under 16 in the country. I think it puts Alex in a slightly awkward position in that he may have to consider inviting him onto the England Junior Team, especially if Declan manages to similarly increase his standard play FIDE somewhere. I get the impression Declan’s method of cheating is quite sophisticated, and may continue for quite some time if he now avoids high scrutiny events like the London Chess Classic and the 4NCL. There may well be some more highly rated ‘victims’ to come in 2020. Whether one idea might be to pool his games on this thread for people to consider? His win over Allan Pleasants was an engine-like destruction apparently.
The Bournemouth & District Chess League (B&DCL) and Dorset County Chess Association (DCCA) wish to make it unequivocally clear that no evidence to support the allegations of cheating made on the EC Forum has been uncovered by our organisations and we are very concerned and disappointed to see how quick to condemn some forum contributors have been, simply on the basis of supposition, conjecture and circumstantial evidence. Furthermore, one poor tournament performance by a 15 year old wearing a cap is hardly valid proof.
Mr Bridgeman may be in no doubt about Declan's guilt but unless he is prepared to elaborate on sketchy findings to date we would, with respect, advise him to formally apologise to Declan and his family for these flippant and inflammatory remarks, preferably on the EC Forum as soon as possible. We would like to see a positive response but not to do so would necessitate us taking further action as this may already have had an adverse affect on a promising chess career that has hardly began. For our part we shall continue to keep a watching brief without jumping to conclusions and suggest others do the same.
Alan Dommett - B&DCL President
Martin Simons - B&DCL Chairman
Ian Clark - DCCA President
(in response to recent comments and speculation on the English Chess Forum)
In light of recent comments made on the English Chess Forum concerning one of our league players, Declan Lovelock, and also having due regard to his age and inexperience in matters such as these, we feel obliged to step into this debate on his behalf at the earliest opportunity.
Therefore, without wishing to ignore the speculation surrounding his performances at the board as outlined on several pages on this forum, we believe the following post to be the most serious in terms of unfounded pre-judgement of the allegations of cheating raised and have accordingly directed our response to it in the hope that, by doing so, the matter can be dealt with as speedily as possible.
by Matt Bridgeman Tue Dec 10, 2019 7:20 am
Based on his run of Dorset games I think Declan is set to be the highest rated, or top 2-3, highest rated under 16 in the country. I think it puts Alex in a slightly awkward position in that he may have to consider inviting him onto the England Junior Team, especially if Declan manages to similarly increase his standard play FIDE somewhere. I get the impression Declan’s method of cheating is quite sophisticated, and may continue for quite some time if he now avoids high scrutiny events like the London Chess Classic and the 4NCL. There may well be some more highly rated ‘victims’ to come in 2020. Whether one idea might be to pool his games on this thread for people to consider? His win over Allan Pleasants was an engine-like destruction apparently.
The Bournemouth & District Chess League (B&DCL) and Dorset County Chess Association (DCCA) wish to make it unequivocally clear that no evidence to support the allegations of cheating made on the EC Forum has been uncovered by our organisations and we are very concerned and disappointed to see how quick to condemn some forum contributors have been, simply on the basis of supposition, conjecture and circumstantial evidence. Furthermore, one poor tournament performance by a 15 year old wearing a cap is hardly valid proof.
Mr Bridgeman may be in no doubt about Declan's guilt but unless he is prepared to elaborate on sketchy findings to date we would, with respect, advise him to formally apologise to Declan and his family for these flippant and inflammatory remarks, preferably on the EC Forum as soon as possible. We would like to see a positive response but not to do so would necessitate us taking further action as this may already have had an adverse affect on a promising chess career that has hardly began. For our part we shall continue to keep a watching brief without jumping to conclusions and suggest others do the same.
Alan Dommett - B&DCL President
Martin Simons - B&DCL Chairman
Ian Clark - DCCA President