His trips to the toilet between two shots alerted the other players and the tournament organizers. A good feeling since they found a cell phone in the cabin used by the great chess player, Kirill Shevchenko, suggesting that he could have used it. Accused of cheating, the player was expelled from the team chess championship in Spain on Monday, reports The New York Times.
The 22-year-old young man, born in Ukraine, has been playing for Romania since 2023. Having become a grandmaster at 14, he already has an impressive track record. He notably won the European Team Chess Championship in 2021 with Ukraine, and the individual blitz at Lindores Abbey in Riga (Latvia), reports Chess.com. He is currently 69th in the world chess rankings.
The chief referee of the competition, Bruno de Prado Rodriguez, explains that he is “firmly convinced” that the player used a mobile phone during the game in view of “the evidence collected”. A note written in a handwriting similar to that of the player was found near the phone. The referee also notes that Kirill Shevchenko ignored his requests to warn him when he was leaving the room.
“I would say things started to get weird on the sixth move,” one competitor told chess.com. He played his move and left the playing room for more than 10 minutes and this was repeated several times in the following moves. I thought he had stomach problems! But at one point I decided to go out to see where he was and he was standing in front of the toilet and when he saw me he went back into the playroom.”
In a press release, the Spanish Chess Federation (FEDA) explained that it wanted to act “as firmly as possible in all cases (of cheating) detected”. “We also wish to state that, in any case, this individual behavior has nothing to do with the impeccable performance of his club and the rest of his team members,” she added. The Romanian team’s first two draws were turned into defeats following the revelation of the cheating.
The Romanian Chess Federation confirms its “zero tolerance” against rule violations, but awaits “solid evidence” before drawing conclusions. “Until then, we are on the side of our chess player, who denies the accusations against him,” she told CNN.
