New Cheating in Chess: The Danov Case

Today’s blog post I have devoted to a sensitive topic, particularly in chess, one that has been discussed and decided upon for the last few years. The matter to be discussed today is namely chess cheating.

After a spike of tournament cheating cases in recent years throughout Europe and around the world, we have become increasingly sensitive to the sudden displays of extreme genius over the board by otherwise consistently average players. A case of similar kind has been widely covered by me in 2013, which as a result, led to the exposure of the notorious cheater Borislav Ivanov who was further caught in the act and banned permanently.

Now, in my video below, I want to cast some light on a recent case which in some ways resembles Ivanov’s cheating, though this time, the person is much smarter in trying to avoid all the concrete and circumstantial evidence. Certainly, guilt cannot be unilaterally proven without the relevant FIDE anti-cheating measures being put in place for this type of events, but I can at least give you my point of view on how a carefully planned and crafted  cheating may lead to a profitable “career”.
 
The video I am presenting you below gives my hypothesis of the abnormal cheating patterns applied, I hope they give you some food for thought, as well as the ultimate knowledge to decide for yourself on whether this case was a case of cheating or a streak of multiple wondrous coincidences.

If you want to follow the video attentively, you should maximize the broadcast window by clicking at the lecture title on top.