Anna Rudolf’s case update
a look at FIDE ethics code
Vandoeuvre open – report with photos
The story of Anna Rudolf – as told by Marie Boyarchenko
Interview with Anna Rudolf – emotional interview with Anna after Vandoeuvre open
Anna Rudolf’s case that Chessdom published several days ago has risen several important questions.
1. The shaking hands problem has been described in http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1391. Has there been anyone punished for not shaking hands until now? What is the standart procedure to file a complaint to the ethics commision?
2. Can false accusations be punished and in what way according to the FIDE laws?
3. If a player is at the place of Anna, where should he look for his rights during the tournament?
4. If the player who did not shake hands is forfeited according to FIDE laws, will the standings change?
5. What is more dangerous today, cheating or cheating paranoya?
With the kind help of our friend Mr. Geoffrey Borg, CEO of Global Chess, we finally got in touch with the FIDE office. From there came a fast reply to our questions.
FIDE letter
With reference to your email to Geoffrey Borg regarding the above event, I attach the link to the FIDE Code of Ethics.
http://www.fide.com/official/handbook.asp?level=A10
If any party believes that they have a complaint under this code, then it should be forwarded to the FIDE Secretariat at office@fide.com who will then forward it to the Ethics Commission.
The laws of chess have not been amended for the refusal of players to shake hands. The matter was discussed in Antalya at the Ethics Commission and the Arbiter’s Council but no final decision was taken. Further consideration will be given to the matter.
Regards,
David Jarrett
Executive Director
Simple and clear. The answer to some of the questions above do not leave any doubt. There are serious violations of the FIDE ethics code in the Anna Rudolf’s case. First, she was deprived of the “fair play and good sportsmanships” stated in the Introduction point 1.1. and point 1.2 continues, “In most cases common sense will tell the participants the standards of behavior that are required.” General and not specific one would say, but this is only the introduction. Point 2.2.4 specifies a breach as, “Failure to comply with normally accepted standards of courtesy and chess etiquette. Misbehavior of a personal nature which is generally unacceptable by normal social standards.”
Now if there is an active FIDE ethics commision this should not leave any question. The rules even resolves the non shaking hands problem, that “was discussed in Antalya but no final decision was taken”. Point 2.2.4 says it is a violation and no further addition to the Ethics code is necessary. Adding to these events the possibilyty of “3.6 intimidating conduct” should leave to a fast decision.
Stay tuned for updates as letters are expected from the tournament director, the chief arbiter, GM Bauer, and several more players.
Source: http://rules.chessdom.com/anna-rudolf-case
I hope the 3 guys will be severely punished. They have no evidence and it’s clear that they’re trying to rattle her.
The reality: Technology made it possible for chess players to cheat.
The above is the bottom line, the rest are details which must be explored. Must be explored, because human nature will always “produce” people who will try to cheat. The presence of the cheaters will disturb chess more than some way of checking. If someone is not a cheater, the person won’t be (shouldn’t be) disturbed to walk through a metal detector or some other reasonable way of checking.
If Anna Rudolf didn’t cheat, no need to get outraged, all she had to do is to declare:”No, I didn’t cheat. Prove it otherwise, if you can.” And at that point the burden of proof is on the accusers.
FIDE should develop some standards and enforce it accordingly.
“The reality: Technology made it possible for chess players to cheat.”
Fritz and Rybka in a small container of lip balm? What do you think this is? Russian Spy chess?
The charges were ridiculous!
They would have had better luck accusing her of tatooing the future moves of her opponents on the insides of her eye lids.
The moves were transmitted from her future self who rules the world from her chess throne in Hungary 1000 years from now.
Unfortunately this type of story reflects what is happening out there:
1. There are a lot of lower masters who are for lack of a better word “grubbing” for prizes.
2. There is clearly technology which makes it possible to play with assistance from a computer program.
Ultimately we’ll see players have to go through metal detectors and play an a prescribed area with “secured and scanned” bathrooms. Unfounded accusations can certainly be used as a very poor low form of gamesmanship and should be deplored.
I’m glad that I’m only interested in chess for a fun and my livelihood doesn’t depend on results over the board – this has to be one of the toughest times to be an active chess pro.
I hope the 3 guys will be severely punished.
Topalov and Danailov got away with an animadversion for doing the same thing on the largest scale possible. Demanding capital punishment in this minor case is simply disproportional. Besides: what should one expect from the youngsters being given such bad examples?
She was protected because she was female. nerves and the ability to not get rattled are essential qualities to a champion. I do not see why one must be forced to engage in bodily contact prior to the round. Especially if you do not like the opponent. Psychology plays a role in chess and a stable psychology is needed. The guys were unsportsmanlike, sure, ( unless the accusations were true) but I see a clear double standard here.
If Anna had the flu and had just coughed on her hands, would the ruling be the same. What if one’s opponent hasn’t bathed in 3 days?
The shaking hands requirement is ridiculous.
Bathrooms seem to be getting a big problem in chess. Organizers should consider to close them. Too much suspicion is raised by people going in there. What are they doing there? Only people who have something to conceal hide themselves. Decent people don’t need bathrooms. Already Louis XIV could do without them in his Palace in Versailles. Therefore, I suggest (in addition to proper dressing, proper personal hygiene, proper manners, proper PR, etc.) the removal of bathrooms as the final cornerstone for the vindication of the good name of chess.
Yes, being forced to shake hands is ridiculous. I do not like to touch someone else’s hand, who knows what they have done with it before.
It should be OK to make some other gesture, Asian style perhaps. Or I guess to wear gloves.
By the way, some players use handshaking as a way to intimidate or harass female players, either using too much force, or too long.
Fritz and Rybka in a small container of lip balm? What do you think this is? Russian Spy chess?
That is not the point.
The point is that high-tech cheating is possible. The permutation of the ways it can be done is too high for each case to be analyzed on its own merits, on the premises. Nobody in a chess tournament can be expected to be an expert on high-tech tranmission devices, radio-wawes,etc. That’s why FIDE should work out a standard and that would have to be followed, rains or shines.
We need new standards for chess tournaments in our computer-cheat times, that’s obvious.
I BTW don’t like it, when my oppenents leave the room and chat outside with their friends; or when they wear headsets (mp3-player or other, I don’t care…)
The 3 jerks should be punished as severely as possible (presuming these reports are accurate). This sort of intimidation has absolutely no place in chess.
A lot of the comments in this thread are ridiculous, it must be said. This has nothing to do with her gender, or with the ritual of handshaking in particular. These *ssh*les (seem to have) engaged in the worst sort of bullying and intimidation. If the rules of sportsmanship had called for another gesture of goodwill and sportsmanship, they would have violated that just the same.
No, it is not and should never be necessary to deal with this type of low behavior in order to compete in chess – that’s a pathetic thing to say.
I do not like to touch someone else’s hand, who knows what they have done with it before.
Some cultures solve this problem by strictly defining which hand to use for which purpose.
Imagine telling a professional football player he shouldn’t have to deal with opponent’s anger, or psychological games in order to compete. Seriously, chess is a competition. If your opponent hates you or doesn’t want to acknowledge you, deal with it, focus on your moves. Don’t run out of the hall crying.
For this particular case, I am happy to let those present input to FIDE if they wish, and then we can hear what FIDE say.
I was not there, and don’t know whether the reporter’s report, apparently via only one party in the scenario, fairly reflects the facts or not.
For the future, FIDE should certainly discourage unsubstantiated accusations [and so should this blog]. One way to do this is to define standards of evidence which any accusation should meet.
kwregan is doing some work in this area which I understand only well enough to say that … some sort of analysis of probability is needed. There will be plenty of occasions when a good player and a good chess engine will agree on the moves.
Let us see the games played: did Anna Rudolf’s opponents lose despite playing ‘well’ or for some reason, did they all play ‘badly’ – for example, below Rudolf’s FIDE level. We just do not know.
So let’s not rush to judgement – ever. And please can we have the facts.
to anonymous (Jan 7, 2:06 PM),
are you seriously equating the physical, testosterone-fueled, trash-talking combat of football with
chess?
do you seriously believe that chess should be played in a stadium filled with 40,000 screaming fans, alcohol, fireworks, cheerleaders, (…wait, that’s not such a bad idea….) –
no really –
you actually believe that trashtalking, verbal intimidation is a part of chess playing (at any level)?
why not throw in, the strobe lights and chanting while you’re at it.
In the name of emancipation, ask yourself if such hysteric reactions would appear if a 2270 rated man performed on a 2600 level during 8 rounds, and some of his opponents wanted to check him.
“Anonymous said…
In the name of emancipation, ask yourself if such hysteric reactions would appear if a 2270 rated man performed on a 2600 level during 8 rounds, and some of his opponents wanted to check him.”
I can’t believe you even used the word emancipation! It is like trying to say someone could not possibly possess the proper intelligence because of what they are: He’s pretty smart for a Black guy or she is pretty smart for a woman. Or he knows nothing about chess because he is an American. Your thinking is narrow,outdated, and quite frankly unwanted. You just don’t get it. People have no boundaries: 2200, 2300, 2500, or 3000 level playing ablility is possible if they put their hearts and minds into chess! Perhaps this is why men hate women chess players. Women use their hearts as equally as they use their brains. I see this as an advantage for women.
Look at history as a clear example of a brilliant woman brain from a chess player performing above her rating. Let me mention Sofia Polgar and the Sac of Rome.
Sofia Polgar is a two-times Gold medallist with Hungarian national women’s team in 1988 and 1990. Her biggest success was in Rome, 1989 with a performance rating over 2900! (Kasparov’s current rating is 2838) In a field of strong GMs she won the competition with 8.5/9, which at the time was a record in open tournaments.
Get used to seeing women beating men Grand Masters. What Susan and her sisters have done cannot be undone. More women will win and there is nothing that can be done about it. Of course the men can say they were sick the day of their lost chess games, but what else is new?
Face the facts: Anna Rudolf beat those cry-babies fair and square. I hope she puts more men to shame just to show how petty and shallow many male chess personalities can be.
Nobody complains when Lahno or Humpy beats some 2500 or 2600 players. It is not about gender, it is about unusual results AND unusual behavior (washing your face nearly every move).
Kramnik behaved strangely and he was accused as well.
“Anonymous said…
Nobody complains when Lahno or Humpy beats some 2500 or 2600 players. It is not about gender, it is about unusual results AND unusual behavior (washing your face nearly every move).”
Maybe she likes to stay clean?
Nothing wrong with a little compulsive disorder during a chess match. The water calms her nerves, I am sure.
“Kramnik behaved strangely and he was accused as well.”
Kramnik was a World Champion. He doesn’t need to cheat. He is the best. He beat his accusers just like Anna will do the same.
Time will be the ultimate Judge.
Stay tuned!
re bathrooms etc It is all open to interpretation.
The Australian Open is currently being played in Paramatta (Sydney). In the ‘Major’ a player with less than 60seconds on his clock asked the international arbiter to stop the clock so that he could visit the toilet. The arbiter agreed to the request despite the opponent’s complaint!
Where are the games?
Neither chesslive.de, nor TWIC have those games. Does anybody have the PGN scores from this tournament? It is really hard to have any opinion about the case without seeing the games Anna played.
Regarding lip balm – there is nothing ridiculous here. Of course nobody suggest that PC could be hidden there, but there are cheap communication devices which could well be put in such a container.
During discussions about Ejsmont case, the following offer was mentioned:
http://www.specteam.pl/index2.php?p=p_11&sName=mikrosluchawki
http://www.specteam.pl/index2.php?p=productsMore&iProduct=3&sName=ms-03-petla-indukcyjna-standard
The pages are in Polish, but the pictures are readable for anybody 😉 Those are micro-receivers. The coin showed on the pictures is the smallest Polish coin. The prices are 200-300$ to buy or significantly less to borrow. One must put such receiver into ones ear and have a loop hidden somewhere nearby (on the neck, under the shirt or skirt, in the pocket etc).
If the tournament is relayed, displayed on tele-beams etc, then one only need to add a friend with a laptop to cheat. If not, then some microcamera to transmit the board position may be added (here also tiny gadgets are available)
Blogger spoiled urls above, let me retry:
Sample receiver
(scroll to the bottom for pictures)
Even better picture
(and no, I in no way claim that Anna was using such a thing, this is just illustration that such devices are easily and cheaply available)
Cheaters are usually the first to accuse people of cheating.
Re abraham lincoln: Is my english so bad or did your reply go its own direction??
Anonymous said…
Re abraham lincoln: Is my english so bad or did your reply go its own direction??
No, your comments were good.
I get a little grumpy late at night and I tend to feel a little preachy at times.
I am a dead American President after all…
Go Vishy!