Did you miss Borislav Ivanov?

[rcmaddox]

Here's more on this episode.

http://www.chessvibes.com/official-stat ... anov-story

[Henk]

I am convinced that he is a cheater only by the fact that he is very unstable in his results.

If someone is ill or not feeling well but still able to play chess his rating may drop.

If the player is very ill then usually he does not appear to the game and if he slightly ill then the drop is not more than 200 elo so I expect a player who beat GM's in one tournament not to draw against players with rating below 1900 and lose against players with rating 2100 in another tournament
and what I saw with Ivanov is not one tournament with strange bad results and there is more than one based on checking the fide statistics.

He could be an extraordinary unstable player or maybe for some reasons he just decides the next games I play much worse than usual.

Like a holiday.

There are many artists that are no longer able to perform well as soon as they become popular or famous.

[RJN]

wow!

CENTRAL NUCLEAR DE ALMARAZ, and due to the information published, which has sometimes been inaccurate, we issue this press release to try to cast light on this episode. This is no judgement of value. We'll just stick to a faithful narration of what happened and the insight of some people involved. Let everyone draw their own conclusions.”

1. The full participant list, including Mr. Borislav Ivanov, was published before the start of the tournament. The organizers did not receive any official statement against his taking part in the event.

2. The first day of the tournament some players, especially Grand Masters, verbally stated their disagreement with Borislav Ivanov's presence. They were advised to file a written complaint, but none of them did.

3. Once the tournament started, in view that other players were becoming more and more suspicious and in order to clear any existing doubts, the organizers proceeded to examine Borislav Ivanov's shoes at the end of round 4 and before he could leave the playing hall. It was widely remarked that a hidden device could be placed inside his footwear.

4. Player Borislav Ivanov willingly consented, so he was escorted to a private area in the hotel and, in front of two members of the organizing team, he was requested to take off his shoes, which he did. His footwear was thoroughly examined and nothing out of the ordinary was detected. He was examined as well, using a mobile app for metal detecting. We don't know exactly how reliable and accurate that app is, but nothing was found that could imply the existence of a hidden device inside his footwear.

5. Once this inspection finished, Borislav Ivanov motioned to take off his pants as well, as he asked the organizers if he should go on stripping. Since all complaints had focused only on his shoes, organizers decided not to go further.

6. During round 5, one of the participants in the tournament, Mr. Andrés

Holgado Maestre, noticed a suspicious bump on Mr. Ivanov's back (the Bulgarian played with his coat and scarf on, though the heating was working in the playing hall). This suspicious bump was noticed by other participants as well, and was reported to the chief arbiter. He deemed it untimely to interrupt the game in that moment. After the game, in a very tense atmosphere, Mr

Andrés Holgado Maestre suddenly took a hold of the bump on Mr Ivanov's back through his clothes, and pulling, asked him (in Spanish) what was hidden on his back. Mr. Ivanov gave some answer in Bulgarian. Then Mr. Holgado accused Mr Ivanov of cheating (in English) and requested help from other participants watching the scene, to find out what Mr. Ivanov was hiding. No-one helped him though, so he let Mr. Ivanov go and the Bulgarian player promptly left the playing hall.

7. Mr Holgado states he could touch an oblong object, similar to an mp3 player, attached to Mr. Ivanov's body.

8. The following day, moments before the start of round 6, it was Mr. Ivanov's opponent Mr. Namig Guliyev who verbally requested to the arbiter and the tournament director a new examination to Mr. Ivanov.

9. Mr. Ivanov was asked if he was willing to undergo a new search, and he agreed, while he remarked it was odd to do it before the round and not after it. In contrast with the previous search, this time Mr. Ivanov was visibly nervous, according to one of the organizers.

10. The search was carried out in the same place as before. Mr. Ivanov stated he wouldn't strip and his opponent Mr. Guliyev, who was there as well, stated there was no need for a full striptease, just to show he had nothing to hide. Then, Mr. Guliyev emptied his own pockets and felt his own body showing there was nothing odd, and he even lifted the tight sweater he was wearing, allowing his shirt to be seen. Mr. Ivanov consented to take off only his coat and his scarf. Then Mr. Guliyev was requested to leave the room and just two members of the organizing team stayed with Mr. Ivanov.

11. Mr. Ivanov took off his coat and scarf and then a more thorough examination (frisking) was suggested. He willingly consented. In order to safeguard Mr. Ivanov's privacy, the tournament director Mr. Juan Antonio Sánchez

Bermejo (a retired policemen with a long experience) stayed alone with Mr. Ivanov and frisked him.

12. He started with the hair, neck and shoulders. When he felt his chest, though, Mr. Ivanov dodged back. However, before Mr. Ivanov avoided contact, Mr. Bermejo could feel something odd near his left armpit, but couldn't say exactly what. Perhaps because of Mr. Ivanov's rushed movement unfastened one of his shirt's buttons, and a kind of strap could be seen crossing his chest from side to side. When asked what was under his shirt, Mr. Ivanov insisted he had nothing. Then Mr. Ivanov refused to go on and he was warned that in that case he could be expelled from the tournament. However, that was unnecessary because Mr. Ivanov stated he would willingly leave, but he requested the entry fee was refunded, as he didn't have enough money to leave.

13. In view that Mr. Ivanov was in dire straits, Mr. Bermejo decided, on a personal basis, to give Mr. Ivanov 50 € from his own pocket, as an act of kindness, not as a compensation of any kind.

14. The tournament organizers believe to have respected at all times current Spanish laws, since all searches were carried out with the prior permission of Mr. Ivanov.

Navalmoral de la Mata, 11 December 2013

Translation into English thanks to Patricia Llaneza.

[Henk]

I am convinced that he is a cheater only by the fact that he is very unstable in his results.

If someone is ill or not feeling well but still able to play chess his rating may drop.

If the player is very ill then usually he does not appear to the game and if he slightly ill then the drop is not more than 200 elo so I expect a player who beat GM's in one tournament not to draw against players with rating below 1900 and lose against players with rating 2100 in another tournament
and what I saw with Ivanov is not one tournament with strange bad results and there is more than one based on checking the fide statistics.

If you try out a new chess playing system your play can become much worse too.

Or it could be a split personality. One time he thinks he is the best chess player ever lived and so he plays like a chess machine and other times he thinks he is a chess amateur and so he plays like an amateur.

[Milos]

If you try out a new chess playing system your play can become much worse too.

Or it could be a split personality. One time he thinks he is the best chess player ever lived and so he plays like a chess machine and other times he thinks he is a chess amateur and so he plays like an amateur.

Man do you really believe so???
I don't think so, I think you are just trolling as usual.
Just grow up!

[RJN]

What's incredible to me is that they seemed to find something on him, then let it slip away, so that doubt could still continue. It's as if they were the monkeys who want to see, hear, and speak no evil.

Or maybe Ivanov wears straps across his chest to play head games with people who search him!

BTW, how did he plan to leave if he didn't have enough money and happened to lose? This story is amazingly bizarre.

Mr. Ivanov stated he would willingly leave, but he requested the entry fee was refunded, as he didn't have enough money to leave.

[carldaman]

What's incredible to me is that they seemed to find something on him, then let it slip away, so that doubt could still continue. It's as if they were the monkeys who want to see, hear, and speak no evil.

Or maybe Ivanov wears straps across his chest to play head games with people who search him!

BTW, how did he plan to leave if he didn't have enough money and happened to lose? This story is amazingly bizarre.

Mr. Ivanov stated he would willingly leave, but he requested the entry fee was refunded, as he didn't have enough money to leave.

If they 'had' him with an unexplained device on his body and let him slip away, then that's pretty spineless. No wonder he keeps trying it.

[M ANSARI]

Well, mystery solved! He had something strapped on underneath his shirt and I doubt it was heroin or some other illegal drug. The fact that this was discovered and he only resisted further search after that is very telling. Hard to believe they let him off so lightly, he should have been arrested immediately for theft. He was basically stealing money from other participants. Would be interesting to read his side of the story ... maybe he was using a home made pace maker?

[rcmaddox]

The mystery is not solved. There is still no explanation as to how he is _interfacing_ with a device. I haven't heard a plausible explanation yet! Wiggling his toes or receiving beeps from a remote computer (etal) - these explanations just seem improbable to me.

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

Well, mystery solved! He had something strapped on underneath his shirt and I doubt it was heroin or some other illegal drug. The fact that this was discovered and he only resisted further search after that is very telling. Hard to believe they let him off so lightly, he should have been arrested immediately for theft. He was basically stealing money from other participants. Would be interesting to read his side of the story ... maybe he was using a home made pace maker?

The fact that they 'found' something, and then did not check what it was, simply means they did not find anything. It is amazing how many people like propaganda instead of truth!

Simple facts of the story told by Navalmoral club:

- one player reported there was a lump on his back, and then suddenly there is not a lump, but a flat tape??

- a retired police officer checked him, obviously, he is not responsible for his actions, neither entitled to do such checks

- very funny Spanish names reported: Bermejo and Holgado, do they really exist

- the Navalmoral were unreachable immediately after the event for comments, but they issued a statement couple of days after that, obviously the time necessary to make up the story

Are there really so many people even on this forum liking propaganda instead of truth?

There is not a single move in Ivanov's games that would match the tactical level of play of any top engine. Some of his moves are maybe 2700 elo tactically, but not the 3500 elo tactical moves top engines play. Do you know how modern top engines play tactically?

Again, anyone, please answer: how on Earth did they establish that he has been using Houdini 3 (and that was the main accusation, after which, if accepted for an established fact, he simply becomes the culprit)? What was the hardware that Ivanov remotely used? What was the hardware Houdini 3 run on when they established a 95% (wow) move matching? If everyone knows that Houdini 3 on different cores, with different settings and different thinking times, provides distinct first choices, how did they know how many cores and what thinking time Ivanov was using on the remote computer?

Is not this an obvious hoax? What is the statistical probability (and maybe here Mr. Kenneth Reagan can help) that the remote machine and people establishing move matching used the exactly same number of cores and thinking time for Houdini so that there is a 95% move matching?

As Rob rightly noticed, the story is very bizarre, because the accusations are not true.