Cheating in chess

[Matt Mackenzie]

One day, people might learn. But today is evidently not that day

[Mick Norris]

https://www.chess.com/news/view/kirill- ... ampionship
Oh dear. Basic phone in loos default, but probably the strongest player ever sanctioned

I think he won one of those Titled Tuesday tournaments recently.
Edit: Yes, in fact it was very recently! https://www.chess.com/news/view/shevche ... ber-8-2024

Does that mean that chess.com didn't detect cheating then?

[Roger de Coverly]

In similar circumstances, the late Igor Rausis got a six-year ban and was stripped of his GM title.

(The current player in the dock is Kiril Shevchenko.)

That might yet happen. Presumably the case goes to the FIDE Ethics Commission or is there a more directly focused FIDE body on computer assistance?

[John Upham]

Presumably the case goes to the FIDE Ethics Commission or is there a more directly focused FIDE body on computer assistance?

Yes, there is:

https://fpl.fide.com/

[LawrenceCooper]

He's listed as a player in the European Club Cup which starts this Sunday: https://chess-results.com/tnr989841.asp ... turdet=YES

[Paul Cooksey]

Whenever I'm asked about cheating in chess, I say the same thing every time: the extent of cheating on the Internet is underestimated, but the real problem is that we have no idea how widespread cheating is in OTB. Perhaps, this high-profile incident will affect the situation.

Seems right to me.

[NickFaulks]

One day, people might learn. But today is evidently not that day

I honestly believed we would never see a top level Rausis clone, because you are guaranteed to get caught.

Could he have believed that many GMs cheat, so by extension most of them don't get caught? I am at a loss for a rational explanation.

edit : This is a genuinely talented player. He gained his GM title at the age of 14, so unless he has been relying on a phone in the toilet for the past eight years... What is going on?

[Roger Lancaster]

One day, people might learn. But today is evidently not that day

I honestly believed we would never see a top level Rausis clone, because you are guaranteed to get caught.

Could he have believed that many GMs cheat, so by extension most of them don't get caught? I am at a loss for a rational explanation.

edit : This is a genuinely talented player. He gained his GM title at the age of 14, so unless he has been relying on a phone in the toilet for the past eight years... What is going on?

I share Nick's incredulity. Either (a) he is a total fraud who has cheated for many years without being caught, in which case anti-cheating measures would seem to be totally ineffective, or (b) he is a genuinely talented player stupid enough, even after seeing what happened to the late Igor Rausis, to employ the same procedure as Rausis and put his chess-playing career at risk. I am not sure which is more worrying.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Roger,

Or (c) based on the handwritten note supposedly in his hand writing telling people to leave the phone alone! It could be he is having some kind of mental episode, which is a possibility.
Or (d) even a joke. In which case I hope he has let others in on it.

Yes a joke. I have 5-6 old mobiles knocking about, I did consider hiding them all in different but easy to be found places in the toilet at a tournament just to watch Alex Mac's face as one by one each mobile was being discovered. Maybe me and Kirill have the same sense of humour.

[NickFaulks]

Yes a joke.

I hadn't thought of that. It sounds highly implausible, but so do all of the other explanations. When combined with a note in the player's own handwriting which roughly says "please catch me", maybe?

Anyway, we await further information.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Nick,

The lad was spending quite a while away from the board. Although in this day and irrationally anxious and hyper sensitive age this could be an OTB ploy to throw your opponent off kilter.
If they are wondering where their opponent is and up complaining to an arbiter then they are not looking at the board.

The joke (or maybe it was a set up - is the note a forgery?) came to me because the first mobile was found but not handed it. (they never figured on that) So hide another, this time with a note! It is the mysterious note that has raised the humerous bar up a level.

He has denied it. So I suppose 'joking aside' we see what happens next.

[Thomas Rendle]

By far the simplest explanation to me:

Kirill Shevchenko became an extremely strong GM legitimately, reaching 2694 in June 2023. More recently he's fallen back a bit to his current 2656.

He feels he really should be 2700, maybe suspects other players are cheating - he decides to cheat in order to get back towards 2700 (where the invites might start coming again). Hopefully no one will suspect him, because he's already established how strong he is.

Unfortunately he choose a very low tech and easy to detect cheating method and got caught. Being a strong chess player doesn't mean you make good decisions elsewhere!

It should be said that he denies the cheating apparently - this is the response from the Romanian Federation:

https://frsah.ro/2024/10/15/pozitia-ofi ... hevchenko/

"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."

[LawrenceCooper]

FIDE Fair Play Commission statement: https://www.fide.com/news/3266

[Roger de Coverly]

FIDE Fair Play Commission statement:

He's susoended pending further investigation. That at least establishes that he isn't allowed in the European Club teams doe to start shortly.

[Ian Thompson]

FIDE Fair Play Commission statement: https://www.fide.com/news/3266

I haven't seen anything saying whether or not either of the two mobile phones found have been proven to be Shevchenko's. If not, is highly suspicious behaviour enough to convict him?