ETHICAL CONDUCT NOW NO. 1 PRIORITY
By ANDY SOLTIS
July 29, 2007 — Chess THIS weekend, the world chess federation (FIDE) is holding an unprecedented “ethics trial” to consider a complaint by champion Vladimir Kramnik against rival Veselin Topalov for charging that Kramnik cheated in the 2006 match that reunited the world title.
If found guilty at the public hearing in Athens, Greece, Topalov could be punished, possibly with up to a three-year ban from FIDE competition.
That it got this far is astonishing because world federation has never paid attention to cheating allegations at the highest level.
Garry Kasparov charged for years that Deep Blue cheated him in their 1997 match. Although he never provided evidence – and Blue’s programming logs vindicated IBM – FIDE never addressed the issue.
Kasparov privately voiced suspicions to officials about Kramnik’s frequent bathroom visits during their 2000 world championship match. The matter was quickly dropped.
And after Topalov won the FIDE championship in 2005, several Russian masters accused him of using a computer. Again, no trial, no investigation.
Now the Russians say they’re the victims. Alexander Morozevich refused to shake hands with Topalov at two big-deal tournaments this year, explaining that the Bulgarian had “offended all Russia.”
The irony? Under proposed new FIDE ethics rules, Morozevich could be forfeited for failing to shake hands with an opponent.
Source: NY Post
Danialov put that World Championship on the front
page. Had it occured without
the cheating allegations we
would still be waiting for
the mainstream media to
publish the results. Yawn.
They ought to give Danailov
and Topalov a medal for that
ingenious publicity stunt.
putting stuff like what happened in elista is like putting the tour de france on the front page because of consistent drug scandals.
Might get you a front page article, but is not a good look for the sport.
Any news about what came out of the trial?
Comparing the situation with Kasparov is not at all right. He complained about Deep Blue? So what – it is a computer, not a hman being.
He complained about Kramik privately – Danailov and Topalov shouted it from the top of their lungs.
“Now the Russians say they’re the victims.”
Oh, Russians are always victims even when they invade neighbouring countries 🙂
It now looks like the Tour de France is in big trouble from the doping alligations. It was front page news Saturday in the newspaper I saw.
Apparently the Tour de France is now called the Tour de Farce in France. The entire multimillion dollar sport race might collapse. apparently sponsors are running away.
Chess needs to learn from this. We need to project a super clean image for sponsors to want to put money into chess.
I hope that FIDE brings at least some small sanction against Danailov and Topalov as a signal that the players must stop this kind of behavior. The new ethics rules that players must shake hands is a sign that they want a good image.
Now I lived through the Danailov fiasco and would simply ban him for life but allow him to ask for probation after 25 years of good behavior. That would send a signal. Then ban Topalov for life with no probation after 25 years for good behavior.
How does the last post work out if Kramnick WAS cheating?
Banjanx
“Now the Russians say they’re the victims.”
Is that going to be Topalov’s defense? That the crime was committed against “The Russians”? Good luck with that.
The real victim is chess. There’s no way to attract any real sponsorship if the perception is that the game is rife with cheating. Irresponsible accusations are every bit as harmful to the game’s image as the actual cheating itself.
Soltis usually knows what he’s talking about, but in this case, he seems to have forgotten that Kasparov-Deep Blue was NOT a FIDE match. Kind of silly to complain that FIDE didn’t punish misbehavior in a match that they didn’t even run.
There are other examples, in events that FIDE DID run, of course. Sure, Fischer SHOULD have been sanctioned for his remarks after Curacao, accusing Korchnoi of throwing games without showing any evidence. It’s a shame he wasn’t punished for that, but it’s kind of ridiculous to argue that chess was dirty before, and so now its obligated to always remain dirty. We’re not obligated to repeat the mistakes of the past.
>>How does the last post work out if Kramnick WAS cheating?
Banjanx>>
Very simply.
a) You have to prove it.
b) You have to prove it to the proper authorities, not try to organize a lynch mob.
Topalov’s wrong no matter what. Kramnik is only wrong if he was actually cheating. This ain’t rocket science.
Topalov and Danailov found the wires in Kramnik’s restroom that he was using to cheat. Furthermore Danailov proved that Kramnik’s moves matched Fritz’s almost all of the time. So we have:
a] The motive: to win at all costs.
b] The method: the wires in the bathroom.
c] And the means: the frequency that Kramnik had to go to the bathroom.
d] The evidence: That Fritz was playing the match and not Kramnik
e] The Result: That Kramnik won the World Championship.
If this were a criminal case it would mean jail, but since it is in Russia it means victory.
In the interest of truth, I’d like to briefly shine a light on a couple allegations made above, namely:
“The method: the wires in the bathroom.”
Let it be noted that:
* The restrooms were alternated after each game, as the players sat on different sides of the table, and used the rest area on the side they were sitting
*When the wires were found, Topalov was the most recent player to have used that particular restroom
*It was regular computer networking wire as found in all modern buildings, was not in a location with easy access, was not connected to anything and it was decided to be nothing and cleared by both teams.
So there we have the truth! Topalov most recently had access to the wires during match play, knew right where to find them, and allowed play to continue without tearing all the wiring out of all the walls in all of Chess City.
rubypanther, I would add that, unless you connect the wire to your nose you need some sort of device to receive the data. As chess players we have to think things through to their conclusion. Stopping at the wire isn’t enough.
And when Karpov and Korchnoi are agreeing on something, it’s worth considering.
icebear:
Yes, and so it turns out the accusation that Topalov made didn’t include wires in the wall, but that the KGB dropped another wire through the window, with some sort of computer viewing device.
I guess if it was Anand, they’d just accuse him of having a retractable scalp to plug it into the socket that was supposedly installed when he was 12.
>>Topalov and Danailov found the wires in Kramnik’s restroom that he was using to cheat.
>>
Interesting. And since Topalov used that same restroom half the time, you’re saying that proves he cheated in the odd numbered games?
>>Furthermore Danailov proved that Kramnik’s moves matched Fritz’s almost all of the time.>>
Danailov’s claim was 78%. Not exactly “almost all the time”. According to New in Chess, Topalov’s percentage was slightly higher, something Danailov didn’t bother to mention. So again, you’re saying Topalov cheated?
With friends like this, Topalov doesn’t need enemies.
>>
*It was regular computer networking wire as found in all modern buildings, was not in a location with easy access,
>>
To put it mildly. Here’s a picture of it:
http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3670
The joke that was making the rounds back then was that the restroom visits were one thing, but why on earth did the arbiter let Kramnik take that ladder in there with him?
The pictures with the ladder also reveal that the bathroom was fairly spacious. I am told it made up about half the space of the entire rest area, but no one I’ve asked has confirmed this for me.
If the bathroom was about 50% of the rest area, then it is not surprising that Kramnik would pace in and out of there. In Kramnik’s early June ChessBase interview, specifically this last part, he said he was doing “what people do in toilets” and splashing some cold water on his face.
A match percentage of 78% would be suspicious if the positions offered many nearly-equal options, but not when they consist of many only-moves (as in the last half of Elista Game 2). Fritz 9 often changes its mind at various ply depths, and taking that into account gave me a “fair-weighted match statistic” closer to 50%—for both players! Details are on my site, Google Kenneth Regan fidelity.
This actually explains a lot of what has happened over the past many years. Ethical conduct wasn’t number 1 then – probably number 4 after self-aggrandizement, abuse of power, and nepotism. I’m sure that all of this will change now that is number 1. I’m very happy that FIDE has fully cleared this up!
Kasparov accusing a machine and complaining about kramnik visiting the toilet too often is different from what topalov did. It is obvious. Unfortunately, your bias is also obvious.
Instead of fighting over whether it was Kramnik or Topalov (cheated, violated ethic rules, etc.) go out to the street and ask hundred people to name the world champion of chess.
I am willing to bet that max about 5 people or less would know it. And that should tell the story, that the chess world better switch priorities, or the popularity of chess will further decrease. Young people play sports, videogames, watch far more tv than they used to, the amount of potential activites are far more than in the past. Chess will have to be more attractive than in the past, not less.
Instead of fighting over whether it was Kramnik or Topalov (cheated, violated ethic rules, etc.) go out to the street and ask hundred people to name the world champion of chess.
I am willing to bet that max about 5 people or less would know it. And that should tell the story, that the chess world better switch priorities, or the popularity of chess will further decrease. Young people play sports, videogames, watch far more tv than they used to, the amount of potential activites are far more than in the past. Chess will have to be more attractive than in the past, not less.