Chess Grandmaster Kirill Shevchenko Expelled from Spanish Team Championships for Alleged Cheating
The chess world has been rocked by a cheating scandal after 22-year-old Ukraine-born Grandmaster (GM) Kirill Shevchenko was expelled from the Spanish Team Championships on Monday. Shevchenko is accused of hiding and using a mobile phone in the toilet during his games.
The incident came to light after Francisco Vallejo, Shevchenko’s opponent in Round 2, complained that he was away from the board for an unusually long time. When questioned by the arbiter, Shevchenko claimed he was making frequent trips to the toilet due to feeling unwell.
However, other players and members of the organizing committee noticed his suspicious toilet visits. A search of the toilet cubicle revealed a mobile phone, which was confiscated.
According to a report by Chess.com, an organizing committee member saw Shevchenko visiting an individual toilet cubicle and found a mobile phone with a handwritten note that read, “Don’t touch! This telephone has been left so the owner can answer it at night!”
Similarities were found between the handwriting and ink used on the note and Shevchenko’s scoresheets for rounds one and two. Additionally, the confiscated phone’s time zone was set to an hour ahead of that of Spain, which is the time zone of Romania, the country Shevchenko currently represents.
The Spanish Chess Federation has modified Shevchenko’s results from the first two rounds to count as forfeits and losses.
GM Bassim Amin, who drew against Shevchenko in Round 1, told Chess.com, “Things started to get strange at move six. He played his move and left the playing hall for more than 10 minutes and this was repeated many times in the next moves. I thought he had some stomach problems! But at some point, I decided to go out to see where he was and he was standing outside the toilet room and when he saw me, he went back to the playing hall.”
Shevchenko has denied all charges against him. If found guilty by the FIDE Ethics Commission, it could be a rare case of a highly-ranked player being involved in cheating. Shevchenko has consistently been ranked in the top 100 and top 50 players in the world.
