The Spanish Team Championships are being held from October 12 to 18 in the enclave of Melilla (in the Moroccan rif). A competition that has come to an abrupt end for Ukrainian Grand Master Kirill Shevchenko. Shevchenko, who represents the Romanian team, was excluded from the competition following allegations of cheating. The 22-year-old is accused of using two cell phones during his games, as reported by chess.com.
The Ukrainian aroused suspicion during his second match, going back and forth outside the room, sometimes leaving for more than ten minutes to go to the toilet. And all this without ever having informed the head referee, which is already a first breach of the rules.
After investigation, the referees found a cell phone in the building’s toilets, accompanied by a note whose handwriting seems to match that of Shevchenko. Bruno de Prado Rodriguez, head referee for the event, was informed of the situation by the Romanian team’s opponent in the second round, Francisco Vallejo.
Once the phone was found, the toilets in question were locked during the game. Kirill Shevchenko, during another bathroom break, was reportedly seen waiting outside the locked door when the other cubicles were free, before returning to the room when he was spotted. A maintenance worker then revealed that he had already found a telephone in the same cabin the day before, and had taken it to the building’s reception desk.
A case that directly penalizes his team
Following his exclusion, Kirill Shevchenko’s two matches were turned into losses. A decision that has little impact on his first round, as his team won by a wide margin.
By contrast, the Ukrainian had won his second round and his team had drawn 3-3. After this change, the score was 4-2 for their opponents. Very soon after the event, the Spanish Chess Federation issued the following statement a press release confirming the forfeit defeats, but also thanking Shevchenko’s team for their cooperation and reminding them that they are well aware that this is an individual act and in no way detracts from the team as a whole.
“I try not to think too much about someone cheating because then you can’t play properly, but when it happened a few times, it was really not good, especially because when he came back to the table, he played very fast and very well!”
Egyptian chess player Bassem Amin
Shevchenko’s first opponent during the competition, Egyptian chess player Bassem Amin confirmed that the 69th in the world had already behaved similarly during their duel and explained the impact his opponent’s behavior had on his own game : “In general, I try not to think too much about someone cheating because then you can’t play properly, but when it happened a few times, it was really not good, especially because when he came back to the table, he played very fast and very well!”
Shevchenko supported by his federation
The Romanian federation also published a press release in which it reiterated its zero-tolerance policy on the issue of cheating when supported by solid evidence. As things stand, the player denies all the accusations against him, and the federation offers its full support to his representative. The federation also reserves the right to modify its position during the course of the investigation.
