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Borislav Ivanov

Number of games in database: 20
Years covered: 2009 to 2013
Last FIDE rating: 2318
Highest rating achieved in database: 2342
Overall record: +10 -5 =5 (62.5%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games.

Repertoire Explorer
Most played openings
D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav (3 games)
A45 Queen's Pawn Game (2 games)
A41 Queen's Pawn Game (with ...d6) (2 games)


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BORISLAV IVANOV
(born Dec-21-1987, 37 years old) Bulgaria

[what is this?]
Borislav Krastev Ivanov is a Bulgarian chess FIDE Master. During 2012 and 2013 his results improved significantly, and he beat several grandmasters. This led to cheating accusations against him, and he was subsequently banned by the Bulgarian Chess Federation in December 2013 and excluded from FIDE's rating list in January 2014.(1) What follows are links to a number of news articles that chronicle his chess career:

1. 4 Jan 2013 - <Cheating Suspicions at the Zadar Open in Croatia>: http://en.chessbase.com/home/TabId/... - initial suspicions concerning Ivanov after a 2697 performance, 450 points above his actual and highest ever rating.

2. 8 Jan 2013 - <Cheating scandal in Croatia – feedback and analysis>: http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId... - skeptical feedback from readers

3. 13 Jan 2013 - <Letter and Report (PDF file), addressed to the Association of Chess Professionals in regard to the performance by Borislav Ivanov at the 2012 Zadar Open.>: http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~regan/c... - statistical analysis by Kenneth Regan concluded that: <"... for a 2300 player to achieve the high computer correspondence shown in the nine tested games, the odds against are almost a million-to-one. The control data ... show several respects in which the performance is exceptional even for a 2700-player, and virtually unprecedented for an untitled player.">

4. 17 January 2013 - <Cheating scandal – Borislav Ivanov speaks out>: http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId... - interview in which Ivanov makes the comment that:

"I practiced a lot with the computer, and after beating Rybka and Houdini by 10-0 each, I was absolutely sure that no-one was gonna stop me winning."

5. 23 March 2013 - <A Game of Chicken: Ivanov rides again>: http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId... - analysis of the contrasting results by Ivanov in Plovdiv, where he placed 88th with a TPR of 1942, and then won a short time later with a 2696 performance at Villava ahead of a large battery of IMs and GMs. Includes video analysis by Valeri Lilov.

6. 24 March 2013 - <Open letter by the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) to FIDE on anti cheating>: http://www.chessprofessionals.org/c... - addressed to the FIDE President and signed by over 700 players.

7. 21 May 2013 - <CHESS Magazine: Cheats are prospering>: http://chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211... - editorial by the Executive Director of CHESS Magazine, Malcolm Pein, concerning the increased prevalence of cheating amongst young players and recommending specific sanctions.

8. 3 June 2013 - <The show goes on: Ivanov in Kustendil>: http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId... - further report on Ivanov following his win at the 2nd “Bogomil Andonov” Memorial rapid tournament with 7.5/9.0 ahead of another phalanx of IMs and GMs, including Kiril Georgiev, whom he defeated in their individual encounter. Also concerning his 8/9 result at the 1st Cup “Old Capital” International Open where he was denied first prize due to three forfeits accumulated by players boycotting their games against him. Includes another video analysis by Lilov.

9. 5 June 2013 - <Experts weigh in on Ivanov's performance>: http://chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211... - comments by Kiril Dimitrov Georgiev; by Kenneth Regan, a member of the FIDE Anti-Cheating Committee and "statistics professor and International Master from the University of Buffalo who have studied extensively the correlation between computer and human moves in tournament games"; and by Robert Houdart, inventor of Houdini.

10. 6 June 2013 - <Chesschat discussion about cheating> including a comment by GM Ian Rogers: http://www.chesschat.org/showthread...

11. 12 June 2013 - <Chess bid to checkmate cheats>: http://www.theage.com.au/national/c... - newspaper article concerning the appointment of Australian master and International Arbiter Shaun Press to the anti-Cheating Committee, including comments by Press.

12. 19 June 2013 - <Rombaldoni: "He never calculated moves">: http://chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211... - interview with Axel Rombaldoni concerning his impressions of Ivanov and the manner in which he played their face to face game.

13. 3 July 2013 - <Irina Lymar: FIDE must develop anti-cheating rules>: http://chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211... - Interview by Oleg Korneev with lawyer Irina Lymar concerning some legal aspects to be considered and the shortcomings of professional chess in the modern day.

14. 8 July 2013 - <Anti-Cheating Measures – the discussion continues>: http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId... Article by David Neil Lawrence Levy with Reader Feedback

15. 11 July 2013 - <Ivanov misses an anti-cheating test organized by the BCF>: http://chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211...

16. 27 July 2013 - <Thirteen Sigma>: http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2013/... - Ken Regan article that reports the outcome of a computer analysis of the Don Cup 2010 International and concludes that the games were fabricated, confidence level for the conclusion being a z score = 13 sigma, ie: 6.15 times 10^-39 or 1-in-163,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000- ,000,000. The two tailenders in this event were found to have intrinsic performance ratings of over 3000.

17. 3 August 2013 - Jens Kotainy disqualified from Dortmund Open: http://www.chessvibes.com/dortmund-...

18. 3 October 2013 - http://chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211... - Ivanov refuses to allow his shoes to be searched, forfeits the game against Maxim Dlugy, but is allowed back into the tournament by the organizer for the final round.

19. 5 October 2013 - http://chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211... - Ivanov retires from chess.

20. 9 December 2013 - http://en.chessbase.com/post/ivanov... - Ivanov restarts his chess career. Ivanov expelled after round 5 (when he was leading) when he refused to allow his shoes to be examined.

21. 12 December 2013 - http://en.chessbase.com/post/ivanov... - Ivanov in Navalmoral – the real deal. <An examination was requested by his round six opponent, and a suspicious device was detected. But Ivanov refused to allow the search to proceed and left the event voluntarily.>

22. 1 January 2014 - http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?... - Ivanov's FIDE player card purged from FIDE's database.

*****

Lilov's video analyses of Ivanov's games include:

- <Chess Mysteries - The Cheating Scandal in Zadar>: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr0J...

- <Chess Mysteries - The Zadar Scandal Conclusion>: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Vv...

- <Chess Cheating - The Zadar Investigation and New Revelations>: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhfC...

- <Chess Cheating - Episode 4: A New Hope>: http://www.tigerlilov.com/chess-che...

*****

On 4 June and in consultation with the ACP, FIDE set up a 10-person Anti-Cheating Committee to make recommendations to be put to its General Assembly when it meets in Tromsø in 2014: http://www.fide.com/component/conte....

There is also a <Facebook Group Against Cheating> accessible via https://www.facebook.com/login.php?...

*****

(1) Wikipedia article: Borislav Ivanov


Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 1; 20 games  PGN Download 
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. B Ivanov vs D Komarov  0-1532009Albena opD14 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation
2. G Grigorov vs B Ivanov  1-0332011Bulgarian OpenD45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
3. V Vasilev vs B Ivanov ½-½382011Team Ch GrB MenD04 Queen's Pawn Game
4. B Ivanov vs M Schachinger 1-035201219th Open AE92 King's Indian
5. B Ivanov vs B Kurajica 1-035201219th Open AE00 Queen's Pawn Game
6. O Jovanic vs B Ivanov 1-0118201219th Open AD45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
7. D Kuljasevic vs B Ivanov  ½-½34201219th Open AD85 Grunfeld
8. B Ivanov vs R Zelcic 1-032201219th Open AA45 Queen's Pawn Game
9. Z Kozul vs B Ivanov 0-134201219th Open AA37 English, Symmetrical
10. A Sumets vs B Ivanov ½-½42201219th Open AA61 Benoni
11. B Ivanov vs Predojevic 0-134201219th Open AD11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
12. Saric vs B Ivanov 0-140201219th Open AB80 Sicilian, Scheveningen
13. B Ivanov vs M Momchev  1-0242013Blagoevgrad OpenA41 Queen's Pawn Game (with ...d6)
14. B Ivanov vs Saric  ½-½492013Blagoevgrad OpenD45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
15. Y Gelemerov vs B Ivanov  0-1312013Blagoevgrad OpenB11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights, 3...Bg4
16. V Petkov vs B Ivanov  1-0512013Blagoevgrad OpenA07 King's Indian Attack
17. G Gavriilidis vs B Ivanov  0-1312013Blagoevgrad OpenE07 Catalan, Closed
18. B Ivanov vs Z Angelov  1-0532013Blagoevgrad OpenA45 Queen's Pawn Game
19. A Kralevski vs B Ivanov  0-1622013Blagoevgrad OpenB13 Caro-Kann, Exchange
20. B Ivanov vs V Vaklinov  ½-½502013Blagoevgrad OpenA41 Queen's Pawn Game (with ...d6)
 page 1 of 1; 20 games  PGN Download 
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Ivanov wins | Ivanov loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 77 OF 77 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Mar-25-17  csmath: Looks like Borislav will have plenty of time for his chess hobby now. Forging diplomas and driver's licences was his real job, chess was just a passion. :-)
Apr-06-17  whiteshark: Another cheater (*) caught in the act at the Dubai Open 2017:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/indian...

http://en.chessbase.com/post/jeel-s...

*Indian Jeel Shah, with a standard FIDE rating of 1764

Apr-06-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <csmath: Looks like Borislav will have plenty of time for his chess hobby now....>

Lovely stuff.

Lmao

Apr-20-17  Conrad93: So did he actually cheat? Because his Wiki says no devices were found on him when the cheating accusation was made.
Apr-20-17  schweigzwang: <OCF> :)
Jun-01-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: In the book 'The Best in Chess' by I. A. Horowitz and Jack Straley Battell. Published by Hodder and Stoughton in 1966. page 209.

A short story titled 'Libido Ex Machina'.

The World Champion in the story is called Boris Ivanov.

(just thought I'd mention the coincidence.)

Feb-12-18  Marmot PFL: <Looks like Borislav will have plenty of time for his chess hobby now. >

Probably he is allowed to play correspondence games.

Feb-12-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: <Marmot PFL> perhaps the cg world team can challenge him as the next opponent; computer assisted, of course.
Feb-27-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: We use to joke that players would one day be playing in just their underwear....

...but it FIDE may soon be implementing a no shoes rule.

Some clever chappie has invented shoes that sends and receives toe-typed coded messages.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/techno...

Feb-28-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: <Sally Simpson: We use to joke that players would one day be playing in just their underwear.... ...but FIDE may soon be implementing a no shoes rule.>

But not if FIDE invests in these new shoe scanners, which are intended for airports:

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/...

<Airline passengers could soon be able to pass through security scanners without removing their shoes, the Department for Transport has announced.

It has awarded £1.8 million of funding to eight projects developing more efficient screening technology...>

Feb-28-18  morfishine: 71 pages of kbitzing but only 10 games credited to this master

Somethings fishy here

Feb-28-18  whiteshark: Cheaters gonna cheat...
Mar-11-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <CIO: <Marmot PFL> perhaps the cg world team can challenge him as the next opponent; computer assisted, of course.>

Of course.

Have to keep things on an even footing, don't you know.

May-09-21  Messiah: Terrible boy! Unusually bad!
Jul-28-23  zaxcvd: was the cheating method ever revealed?
Or similar to Hans - never caught redhanded?
Aug-17-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <csmath: <Jim: On the other hand, the CPU in my brain is capable of replying to kibizes before they're posted.>

If you can apply that on stock market you will become a rich man.>

A fine path to riches, though the SEC might well come calling.

Aug-21-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <zaxcvd> Read the reports in his bio above. There was physical evidence such as suspicious lumps under his clothing.
Jan-31-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: When I first dared to suggest that this player was an obvious cheater - based simply on his moves matching the best chess engines ... my posts were deleted. Later, I was muzzled - for like six months - for continuing to insist he was a cheater.

Of course, now that FIDE has banned this player ... for life! - I feel a little better ... But not much.

Jan-31-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Ivanov cheated without question, but in the aftermath of your unfounded accusation in Nakamura vs A J Goldsby, 2003, why should anyone give your rants credibility?

By the bye, dropped in at the club in Pensacola lately?

Naw, didn't think so.

Jul-03-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: His main method was a keypad for blind people ... he would hide this device in his armpit, on his leg, even in his crotch area.

He also used a clicker ... the kind often used by special forces ... hidden in his shoe.

Jul-03-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: And while B. Ivanov is gone ...
retired from chess ...
was banned by both the Bulgarian Chess Federation and FIDE ... ... ... GM U Y T Hans Niemann carries on in the best B. Ivanov tradition.

Note that - in one tournament - Nieman was playing "God-like chess," but after they implemented a time delay in their broadcast of the tournament ... Niemann did not win another game!!!

Ha, ha, ha!!!!!!!

Jul-03-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: And yet, with the eye of the world watching his every move, looking for any clue of cheating, Niemann has played and played, reaching top 30 in the world with a 2703 elo.
Aug-23-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: Well, the latest accusation against Niemann is that he had electronic devices ... hidden in places in the body ... that not many people would think to search. And he was banned - again - by a popular server for allegations of cheating during an online tournament.

As an ex-cop, I will only say that some criminals can never be reformed.

Aug-24-24  Petrosianic: <LIFE Master AJ>:

Why are you posting about this in the Ivanov forum, when you posted the same thing, virtually word for word, in Niemann's own forum. Technically, that's considered spamming (i.e. duplicate posts).

Aug-25-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: BTW ... and for the record and the benefit of those who do not know ... many of this players games were deleted. (Especially after he was banned by FIDE.) But CB and many other databases still have records of his games.

The sad part? No one will ever know his own moves from the ones that were generated by a computer.

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