With one round left to go, the toiletgate affairs just won’t go away. Now new allegations against Topalov are coming from a German source.
This was just published by ChessBase (www.chessbase.com):
“For over a year rumours have persisted that Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria may have used illegal resources to win the title at the world champion in San Luis, Argentina. The allegations raised by other participants in the world championship, who however did not want to be named, was that his manager Silvio Danailov may have been surreptitiously signalling him moves checked with a computer.
Just a conspiracy theory of bad losers? Or does the 31-year-old, who in the meantime has lost his title, secretly receive help in some of his games?”
Kramnik’s fans believe that Topalov cheated. Topalov’s fans believe that Kramnik cheated. In the mean time, FIDE is not stepping forward to end this mess. Will this ever end?
I just read a bunch of comments by fans and here are some of their sentiments:
– Why did this article come out today, 1 day before the last round?
– Are they trying to distract Topalov because it would be a tragedy for Kramnik if Topalov wins and retain the World #1 ranking?
– It smells bad and it has Carsten Hensel’s finger prints all over it! The journalist is an old friend of Hensel and wrote a book about the Kramnik – Leko match.
– An article with speculations and wild charges by a German news source helping a German manager, how credible can they be?
– This clearly confirms the suspicion of some people about Topalov dating back to San Luis.
– No one can get this good at this age. It means that Topalov found a way to cheat somehow.
– No one can trust Danailov so this means that Danailov is signaling his client during the game.
Please remember that this article was NOT written by ChessBase but by a major German Newspaper. It is the duty of ChessBase to report just as it is my duty to report it.
This is what I wrote in my ChessCafe monthly column when I was asked about the cheating issue:
What do you think about the cheating problem and what should be done about it?
“I think this has become a serious problem, which includes real computer-assisted cheating in amateur events and the false accusation of cheating against professionals. Anyone can be accused cheating; for instance, I was once accused of using a computer to cheat against a 1700 player and even world champions such as Kramnik and Topalov have been accused.
I believe that there should be severe penalties for both cheaters and those who make baseless accusations. A reasonable penalty is a one year ban from chess for the first offense, a three year ban for a second offense and a lifetime ban for a third offense. In fact, Reuters just recently reported that the Indian Chess Federation banned a player for ten years for computer-assisted cheating.”
Let me save you the search.
Here is the ChessBase link:
With the thumb in the corner of the mouth
You can draw your own conclusions but let me point out something very clear.
The following are two quotes which are just two paragraphs apart in the ChessBase article.
“On move 26 again the ritual was interrupted for a moment, when someone asked Danailov for
a spontaneous TV interview. Both left the hall.”
“Neither Danailov nor Topalov were available for comment during the past week, in spite
of repeated attempts to contact them.”
Obviously Danailov was available for “spontaneous interviews” but
at the same time was not available during the whole past week.
So, before you spend more time on this (like me), please,
think twice and more importantly read twice what you have to say.
I think to stop this claims and to stop cheating (if there are cheating in amateur events or professionals) FIDE have to do something more radical.
For example game saloons must be in some conditions that’s suitable for FIDE rules. What those rules must include for me
1-Players must play in a completely isolated saloon. When game starts only players and referees must be therein and players must not see any other men than their opponents. There must be no auidences in the saloon or they have to be behind a glass that giving one direction view only.
2-When a player accused to cheat the accuser must get some acceptable arguments like photos, highlights or records of voices or any electronic transmission via wireless devices. If accuser can not get this he must be punished hardly. This surely will stop people to accuse each other without suitable evidences or clues.
And finally if those accusations continues than the live coverage of tournaments must be banned, people must learn what happened just after the game!
And there may be some other things to add.
For me Kramnik never cheated I am sure that he has a strong understanding of game better than fritz 10! I can not say anything about Topalov time will show the thruths!
It is disappointing that Chessbase News does publish such an severe article, with a strong headline against Topalov, with no substance behind it. Give us some facts, evidence, please, not just accusations. Did the reporter film the event?
Opinion of the fans of Topalov
http://www.veselintopalov.net/article/media-attacks-continue
I wonder, will there now be a formal letter or mention of condemnation of Topalov’s accusers by Susan and other grandmasters, such as the way that Topalov was vilified by his accusers?
If not, the hypocrisy will be more than obvious.
Topalov is the kindest person amid the top chessplayers.
He will be the last one to cheat.
Moreover he is strongest player for many years.
He has a feeble psyche,so he blunders
more often than other players,but he’ been in the top 10 for more than 10 years.
Now he blunders a bit less so he’s natural talent makes his clmb on top.
Anyway he still blunders( a bit less often than before)
Any accusations are foundless until proven.
Topalov is the kindest person amid the top chessplayers.
He will be the last one to cheat.
Moreover he is strongest player for many years.
He has a feeble psyche,so he blunders
more often than other players,but he’ been in the top 10 for more than 10 years.
Now he blunders a bit less so he’s natural talent makes him climb on top.
Anyway he still blunders( a bit less often than before)
Any accusations are foundless until proven.
These are accusations with facts of Danailov’s behavior. Much more substantial facts then what Danailov said about Kramnik.
Sit back and watch. Topalov can not last long now. He will soon be gone from the scene.
The accusation of cheating against Topalov is very disturbing. A serious charge like that may need to be investigated, but it should not be reported unless proof is found. A good reputation is a difficult thing to regain. Then again, that is not a consideration that team Topalov made for Kramnik before they leveled their reckless accusations against him. Now that they know how it feels perhaps they will be more careful about what they say until they have more proof.
>>>Anonymous said…
I wonder, will there now be a formal letter or mention of condemnation of Topalov’s accusers by Susan and other grandmasters, such as the way that Topalov was vilified by his accusers?
If not, the hypocrisy will be more than obvious.
Saturday, January 27, 2007 9:09:00 PM
NO of course not. None is warranted. This is not an accusation by a player but by a news reporter.
The condemnation of Topalov was because he is a player who broke the fide rules on ethics. We do not have anything like that in this case. There is no player breaking ethics rules by accusing Topalov.
If anything there is another case here of Topalov and Danailov possibly breaking ethics rules by cheating. So the only one eligible for condemnation in this case is Danailov and possibly topalov.
I say the fox got caught in the hen house.
The evidence is piling up that Danailov and Topalov have been cheating. The next step is the proof.
a choker and a cheater, what a great role model for the children
Susan,
It did not start with the events at Elista. Topalov and Danailov has been doing this for a long time. Topalov will get back to the place he belongs to in the rating list as people will be more cautious about their suspicious behaviour. Bells are ringing for them. At Elista, Kramnik and his manager was wise enough that they wanted those screens so that players can not see speculators. We all know what happened afterwards : Topalov started going down. And then the accusations started coming from Topalov side. Everybody knew that there were electronic precautions so that mobile phones were not operating at the venue, and players were being searched for electronic devices by the use of metal detectors. With help from those corrupted fide officers (Macropoulos and Azmaiparashvilli)who actually have business relationships with Danailov, they obtained the videotapes of Kramnik, and grossly exagerated the number of times Kramnik visited the restroom. Macropoulos and Azmai did not say a word on the incidence afterwards, and immediately fired by Kirsan Ilyumzinovich. Kirsan is a clever guy, and he immediately understood what was going on.
Topalov is playing a couple of agressive moves, complicating the game and then relying on the computer. Yesterday he did not do anything against Kramnik to complicate the game, because he knew that he is close to getting caught.
When the screens used at Elista become the default for top chess events, Topalov will find his right place at rating charts.
This accusation is totally ridiculous and mean.
How do you think why does it appear just before the game Topalov-Kramnik? Just Coincidence? Don’t think so. This I call a dirty game. Not the one in Elista where the accusations were direct and open and having proof! Yes there is a proof that Kramnik cheated in Elista and this will become clear soon.
In fact there is a book describing this scandal containing pictorial and documentational prooves!!!Period.
By the way – someone let me know – what is this secret language?
A mouth+thumb+spectacles and this is enough to transmit 384 combinations of chess moves? That would be genious – you know:)
I think the best way is to observe Danailov’s behaviour for throughout the whole Corus tournament. And after that, write a report after that. This kind of report is not representative, if the purpose is to show some cheating is going on. Personally I’d like to know his behaviour in every round. Should he do this for every round where he can see Topalov, then I suppose it’s worth some thorough investigation. But at the moment, it’s not good enough.
Susan,
while you’re at it, why not mention the fact that Topalov is promoting a book based on the toilet gate, which came out just the day before. He is inviting trouble with his Spanish interview and this book.
Susan, this site is becoming an incitor against Kramnik. It’s better simply to keep quiet than mention only half the facts. Why not mention the book Topalov’s side just published?
Topalov team continues with this issue in every opportunity they have… at least someone to defend Kramnik that we is always concentrated in chess and his personal life even is his style doesn´t like to the majority there were always be offensive and defensive teams… exsmple the 41st superbowl: defensive bears, offensive patriots… is part of sport so I don´t undertand all that has been written…