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.
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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...
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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?...
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