This Danailov – Topalov video was put on YouTube by Mig of ChessNinja.com. It originally came from the Russian newspaper Kommersant. I watched it three times and I cannot see what evidence some people are talking about. All I see is a nervous manager and a players focusing on their games.
As I have said it many times, I do not believe that Kramnik or Topalov cheated. Poor behavior and cheating are two totally different issues.
This issue will not go away unless Kramnik and Topalov want it to go away. Either one of them can hold a news conference at any time and publicly state that his opponent did not cheat and put the nonsense to rest once in for all.
Some people asked me why Kramnik should speak up? These recent accusations are not about him. Some in the past were. But I would not be surprised if some lame videos will pop up in the future. Do we want to see retaliation and wild attacks for months and months to come? We have seen the trend of retaliation in the past, haven’t we?
Kramnik is a World Champion. What he says do matter. He can help ease the tension and make himself look good at the same time. This is just my opinion and this would be my advise to him to help our sport if I would be his manager.
Unfortunately, I do not see this matter being resolved any time soon and it will most likely end up in nasty and ugly court battles.
Click here to watch it for yourself.
Susan,
Do you support putting one sided mirror screens in between spectators and players so that players can not see the spectators including their managers ?
Susan,
I totally agree with you. Danailov displayed a natural behavior, nothing he did on this video indicates some coded communication. The accusation is absurd.
Gabor
If you cannot see any evidence, it’s because there is none.
The footage shows suspicious behaviour, not “hard proof”.
Whether or not Danailov is doing anything wrong, he is not a complete idiot. If he were to signal, he wouldn’t do it in a painfully obvious way that anyone could field after seeing 2 minutes of footage.
People see what they want to see, poor guy cant even pick his nose without being accused of signalling Knight E6!
As I see it, if there is visual communication between a player and an audience member there is an opportunity to cheat. Doesnt matter who the player is or who the trainer is.
I dont want to hear any lame garbage about whether its possible, you only have to look at how sophisticated sign language is for deaf people to know see that its pretty easy to come up with a system, and given the TINY amount of information that needs to be send (Ne5) it would hardly require someone to do anything that even looked out of the ordinary.
The video proves nothing, and it disproves nothing. At most, as in chessbase..it points to possibly suspicious behaviour, but when picking your nose is suspicious..then what the heck isnt?
All that said, I find it very easy to believe Danailov would use any and all means at his disposal to advantage Topalov, he displayed a complete lack of ethics in Elista, which makes it easy to believe his behaviour will be unethical in other respects too.
The biggest defense I can mount for Danailov is that he seems pretty clueless in PR terms. He must know that launching a court case against circumstantial evidence will just drag up a pile more suspicious evidence which will leave a bigger and bigger cloud over Topalov, while he continues to spout half baked crap nonsense about Kramnik which would be better placed in an Alistair MacLean novel.
Before Elista Topalov was well respected across the entire chess community, his style widely admired, and his talent seen as genuine. Danailov by his witless behaviour has pretty much ruined all that for Topalov.
Danailovs subsequent behaviour seems to me more that of a fool than a cheat. Purified by a descent into bathos.
J.
Those scandal-creators made the best advertisement for Topalov and Danailov ever! For free.. It’s hard to imagine bigger idiots than those russians and germans wearing special eyeglasses.
That paper is quite neutral. Check your english.
Yep the video is quite damning. Danailov got caught right handed picking his nose. Then he hurriedly left the tournament hall to make a phone call and take a leak.
I support any measure that is fair to ALL parties to stop this cheating accusations. Topalov did not object to having the mirrors in Elista. But be careful what you wish for. You are asking the organizers to spend more money and time and you may end up losing some of the sponsors.
The easier solution would be to ban all managers from the playing area.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
It would help to simultaneously have on the screen both Danailov and Topalov on video. Then we can learn more of what is happening. For example. Does Danailov catch Topalov’s eye and then give the signal and then Topalov makes his move after considering the signal.
Based on what I see in the video there is definitely enough evidence to call for a closer examination of what is happening at the tournaments.
I hope that Morelia and Linares is videotaped closely and professionally with the hope of settling this controversey.
The video proves conclusively that the anti-Danailov people are paranoid dimwits. There was nothing suspicious about his behavior. Some of the people around him were acting strangely though.
Danailov made some unusual hand gestures that could be interpreted as numerical signals. Obviously this is not proof of anything, but looks a bit suspicious.
What does Kramnik have to do with anything? He has never accused Topalov of cheating, nor has he said he suspects him of cheating, why on earth should he have to hold a “news conference” about anything? How would that make the suspicions that OTHERS have disappear? Ridiculous.
I saw the video and Danailov is doing the same that me in many tournaments, when after finishing my game I am looking how my friends or my team-mates are doing it … and I hope they will win: it is normal to be worried.
If this is the “prove”, I think that accusation is completely baseless.
Susan,
The video is a poorly cobbled up job which does not offer slightest proof of cheating…These allegations of cheating have just become a cynical and absurd vehicle to impugne the reputation of Topalov.It is obvious for most in the Moscow establishment his ascendancy to the apex of chess rankings has been a source of envy. Danailov for his part in the theatrics in Elista,is the easy target of the Moscow establishment, in their bid to rattle and unsettle Topalov.
His behavior is a little odd:
1.)He looked to be waiting for some type of recogntion from someone.
2.)The gestures that he made were patterned (i.e. touch below the nose immediately followed by a single finger to the side of the neck).
3.)He left the area right after making the gestures and reached into his pocket for his cell phone.
This is more than likely ALL a coincidence and very innocent.
However, I can definitely see how people are suspicious and to say that it is completely out of the question is ridiculous and naive.
I agree with Susan that the managers just need to be kept away from the playing area. They are a distraction and a nuisance.
The cheating affair in Indian chess was handled far more discreetly and maturely by the authorities.
This considering the fact that any kind of cheating – although corruption is rampant in India, and I say this as an Indian – is not tolerated, and our cricket players were punished the worst in the match fixing case, while other countries let their culprits off easily.
Please note that in the recent Parsvanath International that Dreev won, D P Singh (a suspect) with a rating of 2523 finished at 96th, way below plenty of 2200 players. Being under the scanner affected him, or he was simply prevented in some way or the other.
So if the authorities are willing to do something, they indeed can.
But for heaven’s sake, Topalov and Kramnik fans please stop this mud-slinging.
That video proves nothing.
Of course there’s already been a news conference in which one of Kramnik or Topalov said they didn’t think the other was cheating. Topalov said in Elista he didn’t think Kramnik was cheating.
Naturally, being Topalov, he later said he’d been lying at the time. But I don’t think one could expect a mere news conference to clear it up.
I know of course, Susan, that you have told us many times that your site is unbiased. So perhaps you could explain why you think that Kramnik has anything to do with this, bearing in mind that he has never at any stage said that he suspects Topalov of cheating. On the contrary he said in New in Chess 2006/8 that he didn’t think Topalov’s play had changed that much since 1996. You haven’t, er, bought into the Topalov camp’s conspiracy stuff at all, have you?
Percy
Well, if Topalov was russian then there would be no problemo…it would have been in Putin’s hands to say who was the champion. But now the situation is a bit complicated for the russian camp. So, they are in action.
In the video, Danailov is not exactly flashing signs like a third base coach.
I’m unfamiliar with Danailov and have no idea whether he normaly stands with his arms folded or with his chin in his palm, but many people do, including me.
Like many, I am offended at the behavior of Danailov and Topalov during and since the Elista match, but that is no reason to suspect Topalov of cheating.
An investigation into allegations of Topalov cheating is not in order at this time. We’ve heard a lot of rumors and some pretty strained arguments (no one gets better after 30? Korchnoi didn’t peak until he in his mid-forties). Those who would accuse Topalov of cheating need to put up a better case than this.
susan why do you drag kramnik into everything, just because he defeated topalov ???kramnik is not accusing anybody for god sake and i doubt he is powerful enough to spy on danailov-topalov.
Абсурдната ситуация в света на 64-те квадрата ще продължи докато ФИДЕ е под руско влияние
Вече е ясно, че цялото зло в световния шахмат е въплатено във Веселин Топалов и Силвио Данаилов. Капакът на всичко беше „разобличението” от маргиналната Асоциация на професионалните шахматисти. В стил „Империята отвръща на удара” някой си Павел Трегубов обяви, че мисли за разследване за съмнителното поведение на 19-ия световен шампион, на когото – видите ли – му подсказвали. И то не кой да е, а Злия гений Данаилов. Даже и запис имал един руски вестник!
Посланието е ясно: оставете нашия Вова Крамник на мира или ще имате проблеми. И да не си помисляте за някакви реванши извън територията на Русия!
Със сигурност това няма да е последната помия, излята върху Топалов и щаба му. Първото предупреждение беше след интервюто в „АБС”, в което Веско обяви, че зад Крамник седят спецслужбите, наследили КГБ. Веднага „възмутени другари” поискаха изключване на българина от шахматното движение за 3 години (а защо не направо разстрел?), заради нарушаване на етическия кодекс на ФИДЕ.
И така по изпитан социалистически начин след всяко обвинение за нечестна игра на Крамник в Елиста, следваше отговор, но в повечето случаи от странични фактори, а не от щаба на сегашния първенец. Така че не се учудвайте, ако в най-скоро време кръжок на стоманолеярите шахматисти разобличи българския Остап Бендер (между другото любим образ на шефа Илюмжинов) като измамник, за което има доказателства, но ще ги представят друг път. И руските медии да тиражират твърденията и да клатят глава с укор.
Империите не обичат да ги дразнят разни малки бунтовници. Когато съвременните Астерикс и Обеликс отказват да млъкнат – следва наказателен поход. Ситуацията в световния шахмат е абсурдна и ще продължи да бъде такава, докато ФИДЕ е под руско влияние. Защото Топалов и Данаилов допуснаха стратегическа грешка с това, че приеха мача с Крамник да е в автономна република под контрола на Москва. Те го направиха, за да укрепят авторитета на Кирсан Илюмжинов, който бе обещал мача за титлата да е в Елиста. Но се оказа, че президентът и неговата Калмикия са толкова зависими от Русия, че той нямаше как да оцени жеста на българите.
От обвиненията в нечестна игра губи шахматът като игра, но това не впечатлява ръководителите на най-голямата и силна школа в света. Защото е важно руснак да е световен шампион, но и първият в ранглистата трябва да бъде от тази необятна страна. А Веско за негово нещастие е №1 в света. Когато някога успеят да го свалят от върха, някои фактори сигурно ще се успокоят и войната ще свърши. Само че тогава вече няма да говорим за древната игра като за спорт, а като за политика.
Yes, Danailov displayed some very NATURAL behaviour.
But especially the part which is also showed in slow-motion at the end is not only unnatural, but very suspicious.
It VERY MUCH looks like someone giving a signal.
When Danailov behaves natural, he seems to have all the time in the world. But somehow, WHILE doing what was shown in slowmotion, and AFTER he did it, he seems to be in a hurry to get away. Can’t even wait till outside to take out his cell phone.
The action of putting his finger to the back side of his neck is not only unnatural, but the whole behaviour around it stinks.
I was in Wijk in 2006. I did not know Danailov. I only knew Cheparinov was Topalovs second. Cheparinov ran outside the players hall after each of his moves. However, noone thought it was suspicious (not even Danailov and Topalov ;-).
I ate in the same restaurant Topalov and his team did and I watched how they acted etc. That I thought something is wrong about them is no evidence. But with all the stuff I am hearing now, I can very much believe: YES, Topalov is cheating, and the Video just supports my view on that.
susan i feel all these cheating accusation is due to kramnik he is completely responsible for anything wrong that happens in the world in fact recent tsunami in indian ocean was also planned by kramnik to distract his opponents from chess to more miserable things. ;-)no offence. just in jest.
In 1979, Tal’s rating (which had been about the same for years) suddenly jumped from 2615 to 2705 in just one year. Given that in today’s terms these ratings represent ratings about 100 points higher, this is indeed an extraordinary jump. Especially considering that Tal was aged 42.
This looks very suspicious. So what happened?
Well, the previous year, Tal had helped Karpov considerably as his second in his World Championship match with Korchnoi, so it would appear that in exchange, Karpov agreed to ‘help’ Tal for a year. I think they must have used a program like Sargon 1 or something. Isn’t it amazing that there was a program around 28 years ago that was about as strong as Rybka?
After the year was up, Tal’s rating very quickly returned to its previous level.
Naturally, Karpov doesn’t want all this to come out, so of course this is why he is supporting Danailov!
So obvious when you think about it.
Susan said:
>>This issue will not go away unless Kramnik and Topalov want it to go away. Either one of them can hold a news conference at any time and publicly state that his opponent did not cheat and put the nonsense to rest once in for all.>>
How can Kramnik hold a press conference to say that Topalov didn’t cheat against Van Wely or Ivanchuk? That doesn’t make any sense. This determination, in advance of the facts, to blame both players equally, even in cases where one isn’t involved at all isn’t doing a very good service to the truth.
>>This is more than likely ALL a coincidence and very innocent.>>
We shouldn’t have to wonder about it. Simply ban managers, seconsd, and cell phones from the Playing area.
“The footage shows suspicious behaviour, not “hard proof”.”
Of course, according to Danailov, suspicious behavior IS hard proof. He even commissioned a book about it.
It’s hard to really see anything suspicious in this video. It is amazing to me that people find any support for their suspicions in it. I really wonder why the amateur who took it even bothered.
Just look at any of the *other* people who walk through the video. It looks like everybody in the audience was signalling to the players — what with all the fidgeting, scratching, nose wiping, etc that was going on. Can’t chess audiences keep their hands in the pockets, or something?
Exactly… If there is a book about a dangling internet cable above the toilet in Elista then there ought to be a book about about the Danilov hand signals at Corus.
“I support any measure that is fair to ALL parties to stop this cheating accusations. Topalov did not object to having the mirrors in Elista. But be careful what you wish for. You are asking the organizers to spend more money and time and you may end up losing some of the sponsors.
The easier solution would be to ban all managers from the playing area.”
Susan,
Given the cost of a tournament like Corus or Linares, those screens would be a very small percentage of the total cost. And putting those screens would be fair to ALL parties who would attend the tournament. Given the current state of paranoia, that would be a very good measure against all these allegations.
Furthermore, banning all managers from the playing area is a very naive solution. It is not a solution at all. If a team wants to cheat, they might hire somebody else who would pass the signals to their player. And you should be smart enough to think about this scenario. That’s why I think you are trying to manipulate people here.
Linares and Corus are tournaments with good budgets. What about other events without the same budget? The solutions have to be for ALL players and ALL events. You cannot have different rules for different players.
I have never said that I disagree with the screen. I just said that be aware of the costs and inconvenience to the organizers when we do not have enough sponsors and too many professionals do not make enough money.
Please don’t go and insult me when you did not fully understand what I said.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
I’m confused — this video is from last year’s corus not this year’s.
It seems that most of the other people are signaling too. But I guess they are working with the other players?
What a crap.
It’s called a witch hunt, and decent people ought to be ashamed to be a part of it.
“Kramnik is a World Champion. What he says do (sic) matter. He can help ease the tension and make himself look good at the same time. This is just my opinion and this would be my advise to him to help our sport if I would be his manager.”
Kramnik has not instigated the cheating row and has, from Elista, been the wronged party. Not sure why you want to drag him into this.
“Linares and Corus are tournaments with good budgets. What about other events without the same budget? The solutions have to be for ALL players and ALL events. You cannot have different rules for different players.
I have never said that I disagree with the screen. I just said that be aware of the costs and inconvenience to the organizers when we do not have enough sponsors and too many professionals do not make enough money.
Please don’t go and insult me when you did not fully understand what I said.”
Susan,
In your initial response, you said “ALL parties”, not “ALL players at ALL events”. “ALL parties” is much more obscure, and can be interpreted in many ways. Please be more analytical in your response.
And in your reply,you don’t mention about your NON solution. You don’t admit that it is weak.
I tried to follow the body movement of Dainalov, and it just almost the same as my body movement when my daughters playing chess in tournament. I really wanted to shout to them and tell them the next move, but offcourse I didn’t because it was not allowed. But Im not sure if a manager or a coach will behave like I do with so tense.
And I was also informing my wife about the position of them at that time using cellphone, offcourse not in the tournament area, it was not allowed.
This will be a nice movie if we make it in drama movie and hopefully it won’t be a war movie between Rusia and Bulgaria. 😉
Gotta remind everyone of one important aspect: The video shooter is cited in the Kommersant article as observing this behavior for many moves, including regular phone calls. The ChessBase report says:
In the video Danailov also quickly leaves the auditorium, while pull[ing] out his cell phone. The Dutch chess fan told Kommersant that Danailov was continually coming and going from the auditorium and using his cellular phone outside. Then he would return to a corner where he could see Topalov, cough and do other things that looked like signs for Topalov. I noticed that no one else was concerned by it, although the signs were obvious.” [Bold emphasis added by me, KWR.]
I have not noticed any statement identifying the kind of camera/camcorder used to make the video. It might be an ordinary digital camera that takes videos in VGA (480 x 640 pixel) mode. These were available in Jan 2006 when the video was shot, and (then) the lack of more video may simply be explained by size and length limitations for the camera and its video card.
For more factual information and critical-thinking questions (one of mine answered well), see this part of the Feb. 3 ChessNinja thread
Thanks to Danailov, now every coach are allowed to make eye contact with their player, and make a phone call between every move. Otherwise it wouldn’t be fair play. Equal rules must of course apply to all players.
This was going to happen sooner or later. Separate rooms only for players is the only solution, since one can transfer information in many different ways – sound for example. The mere possibility is the problem. The many reports from Topalovs games is more than enough reason to do something about it now.
It’s absolutely normal for a top rated player to do chilidish gestures during important games at big tournaments!!! WTF?! This video is A proof? For what ?! So take a look at this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ht_yJBU3C30
Obviously Kasparov is making no less gestures and stupid faces than Topalov. And if you are a great “X-Files” fan, than it would be easy for you to imagine a computer aided supporter of Kasparov in the crowd, standing a few meters from him.
Krum.
Oh, i forgot, the topic in bulgarian here is the best and most illuminating one. Too bad i’m too lasy to translate it for you.
Krum.
Check http://veselintopalov.net/
for interesting fresh stuff 😉
>>It’s called a witch hunt, and decent people ought to be ashamed to be a part of it. >>
Well, we can hardly boycott the book, as it isn’t out in English yet.