The “best chess player in the world”, the one and only Borislav Ivanov, has been arrested on March 17th by the police in Kiustendil. He is facing 8 years of jail time and additional charges will be pressed by the prosecutors. This is a developin story, stay tuned with Chessdom.com as the details unfold.
The arrest of Borislav Ivanov
For many months the chess world was in check by an amateur chess player who was playing “exactly as good as a modern chess software”. While everyone was convinced that Ivanov was a cheater and used computer help, no one could prove it. But sooner or later everyone gets what they deserve, even in the most unexpected way. The arrest of Borislav Ivanov came after a serious journalist investigation of Masters of the Broadcast (Gospodari na Efira). You might remember the most influential Bulgarian TV show from their earlier report on the shady dealings of the Bulgarian Chess Federation on several occasions. One thing is certain about this TV show – when they start an investigation they often function better than the local authorities. They have promised to come back for BCF and Danailov, but first they completed an earlier promise to hunt down Borislav Ivanov.
In the months long investigation it turned out that cheating in chess was not the only “hobby” of Borislav Ivanov. He had mastered another art – that of counterfeiting drivers licenses! For the price of 1000 eur Ivanov was supplying valid and authentic documents for a future driver. Or so the clients thought, as the shenanigans of Ivanov were of a much higher level. Ivanov, under the fake name “Rusev”, communicated with his clients through skype requesting the needed information for the documents. Then he setup a fake website for online check of the state of the documents and when the victims fell in the trap he requested the payment – a true “drivers license gambit”!
Borislav Ivanov was arrested on March 17th in Kiustendil after the police caught him red handed as he was sending counterfeited drivers license in a local post office. Ivanov is facing eight years of jail for producing fake documents, but at the time of writing of this article (March 21st) to the charges of Ivanov was also added producing of fake university diplomas.
The story with Borislav Ivanov is developing and Chessdom will continue to cover the case. The Masters of the Broadcast hope that the chess cheating scheme will also be revealed in the process, while they will certainly not leave their investigation and observation of the Bulgarian Chess Federation scandal as well. More news will be coming with a press conference by the authorities expected in the next days.
The arrest of Borislav Ivanov in pictures
Borislav Ivanov on his way to send counterfeited documents
Borislav Ivanov exiting the courier office after a successful shipping
On the way back to his car, Borislav Ivanov is confronted by the leading investigation journalist from Masters of the Broadcast
The face of Borislav Ivanov when asked for documents by the police
Borislav Ivanov being arrested
The top part of the picture is the fake website Ivanov created to trick his victims. The bottom shows the actual Ministry of Interior site. They look absolutely the same way