Source: French Chess Federation
home page
Translation
French Chess Federation engages its Disciplinary Committee against
members of the French team for “cheating”
The French Chess Federation (FFE) announced that it initiated on December
22, 2010, disciplinary action against the International Grandmasters Arnaud
Hauchard and Sebastien Feller as well as against International Master Cyril
Marzolo, on suspicion of "organized cheating, serious breach of sport ethics,
undermining the image of the national Olympic team, at the World Team Chess
Championship that took place in Khanty-Mansyik (Russia) from September 21 to
October 3, 2010”.
Information on this procedure has also been sent to the International Chess
Federation (FIDE), and Ministry of Sports, as the overseeing administration
of the FFE.
Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, January 21, 2011
The players accused of cheating are grandmasters Sébastien Feller, France’s
fifth-ranked player, Arnaud Hauchard, No. 16 in the country, and Cyril Marzolo,
an international master, ranked No. 46. The announcement does not provide any
details about what it is they are said to have done, but it is extraordinary
for a national federation to accuse its own players in this way. Usually, accusations
of cheating involve getting the help of chess computers during games as computers
have surpassed people as chess players. Such aid is illegal under the rules.
France is the No.
3 ranked country in chess, and Feller, 19, is one of its most promising
young talents. He was actually the only one who played on the national team
during the Olympiad, so perhaps the federation was accusing the other two of
helping him. He started out with two wins, two losses and a draw in his first
five games before winning three games and drawing his last. His
record is on the Olympic Web site. His performance was good enough for him
to earn an
individual gold medal as the top Board 5 player in the competition. If the
accusations are substantiated, presumably he would forfeit that prize.
Cheating accusations and incidents are nothing new. In 2006, two people were
accused of cheating
at the World Open, the biggest tournament in the United States each year.
A year later, a Dutch player was banned for three years for using using PocketFritz,
a hand-held version of the popular computer program Fritz, during a tournament.
In December 2006, an Indian player named Umakanth Sharma was caught with a receiver
in his cap and was banned from playing in India for 10 years.
Source: New
York Times Chess Blog
