http://www.chessdom.com/news/anna-rudolf
Ugly story at Vandoeuvre Open
False accusations, refusal of shaking hands, and ridiculous behavior by players
An ugly story took place at the Vandoeuvre Open that has finished a few days ago (read full report with photos). Vandoeuvre Open was going as every normal chess event. As usual there were some surprises, as the young Hungarian girl Anna Rudolf, who was winning game after game and was sharing the first place with 3,0/3. However, several players could not believe what is happening and could not accept Anna’s success as gentlemen. Here is what another participant in the event, Marie Boyarchenko, told us.
“Right after the third round the Latvian chess player Oleg Krivonosov directly accused Anna Rudolf of using Fritz. He did not provide any logical explanation of his words, nor he brought any proof of his claims. However, the next day he came back with support – Oleg Lazarev and Ilmars Starostits – and all of them accused Anna Rudolf of using… Rybka. The three players claimed that Anna was going too much to the bathroom and that her bag had a secret internet connection. To be more precise, they said that “the secret internet connection was transmitting the best moves with the help of Anna’s lip balm.”
No, it is not the international day of the joke. This is exactly the story of Anna Rudolf from the Vandoeuvre Open. Anna was put under tremendous pressure as she was showing top form and no one was counting her among the favorites for the prizes. The climax was in the last game against Starostits. Here is the continuation of the story by Marie Boyarchenko.
“As Anna Rudolf had to play against the Latvian Starostits, he asked the arbiter to control her bag and to confiscate it. Plus she was no more allowed to use her lips balm, nor to go out of the playing hall without the permission of the arbiter. It is clear that Anna was morally destroyed, especially when Starostits refused to shake hands with her. And still she prooved during the whole game that she played solid and beautiful chess, even when she lost.”
If all this gets proven Starostits is in serious trouble. Before the game Anna Rudolf was half a point ahead and had all the chances of grabbing a medal with a draw. Starostits needed the full point, if not he was out of the prizes. Is there an easier way than to put under strong pressure a young girl? To what extenct FIDE laws will affect him we do not know. There is an ethics comission, it has to examine the case. However, the refusal of shaking hands is penalized severely since 2007 according to a new FIDE law and since there were many witnesses of this, Starostits has to face the concequences of his actions.
Anna Rudolf suffered a lot from all this flying of accusations. After the last game she went away crying and did not appear at the players’ reunion in the bar. People were trying to calm her down, as everyone saw the unfair attacks against her in the last round, but she was still down and could not believe this is happening to her.
Later on, during the prize giving, the president of the Vandoeuvre club Gérard Simon explained the spectators, that Anna was a simple victim and the whole conflict was destinated to divert her during the last round. “You should have heard the applauses,” Marie Boyarchenko told Chessdom’s reporter, “they lasted for five minutes!”
Sounds like a happy end, but it is not. This event has surely affected Anna and may reflect on her in the long run. What is worse, is that Krivonosov promised to accuse Anna again, but in Cappelle-La-Grande, where they will meet again.
Thanks to www.chessdom.com for bringing us this story. I hope that FIDE will severely punish the people who made the false accusations.
You have to be ready for the scrutinity in today’s environment when you are performing above expectation.
The accusation that she was transmitting thru her lip balms is so ridiculous that the intent was clearly to upset her. But chess is also a game of nerves. This ridiculous accusation distracted from a legitimate concern of her taking frequent break with her handbag.
It is a legitimate concern that the organizer could easily address by searching her bag before every game.
I don’t think the accuser needs to be penalized for a legitimate inquiry.
Refusing to shake hands with a little girl? He should be banned for a year for being a jerk.
I agree. Those guys should be banned for at least a year. There was no proof against this girl. They’re the cheater, not her.
I am unsympathetic to accusations without evidence wherever they occur – tournaments,this blog, wherever.
The absence of evidence makes them ‘unfounded accusations’ rather than ‘false accusations’. The use of the word ‘false’ suggests a rush to judgement which is premature.
The refusal to shake hands is discourteous and outwith the normal protocols.
The genders of the players involved are irrelevant. Bags obviously should be inspected.
It would be helpful if the relevant games could be published, together with other information like move-timings and the FIDE ratings of the players.
Ilmars Starostits, Oleg Krivonosov and Oleg Lazarev should forfeit their prizes and receive a 24 month suspension.
Ugly behavior? WIll anybody argue that result of Anna Rudolf seems strange? Especially victory over Bauer with Black. It’d be very interesting to look at the games. Of course, if the accusers said such things without any evidence, just to hurt a girl, they should be punished somehow. But what to do if the player was really a cheater? I think the punishment should be much more strict, irrespective of the gender and age.
Such stories (both false accusations and cheating) will happen until the time when check-up for banned devices is legal and usual procedure, like doping tests in other sports.
FIDE must undertake such measures as soon as possible.
This report cannot be interpreted by us readers, because it is vague on a crucial point: Did the arbiter agree or not to place on Anna the restrictions requested by Starostits? The article does not say.
If the arbiter did place the requested restrictions on Anna, the arbiter thereby legitimized Starostits’ behavior. Then the arbiter may need to be judged.
Odd tho it may sound, cheating must be tolerated when no physical evidence for it can be found even from an on-sight inspection.
Otherwise, players who are not expected to win should not be allowed to participate in the first place.
The good news is that once under scrutiny, it must be almost impossible for a player to cheat.
GeneM
Either the accusers are pathetic losers, or Rudolf is going to be a billionaire when she sells the rights to her supercomputing lipstick.
Gee, why would people think chess players are weird?
If Krivinosov is allowed to play, I hope she destroys him at Cappelle-La-Grande
I don´t know why you people overreact to such one-sided article. Go watching Michael Moore´s movies. I was not there so I won´t judge this story.
Oleg Krivonosov should be banned for 3 years and his buddies should be banned for 1 year for making false accusations against a little girl. How pathetic!
Ugly Behaviour – followed by picture of girl – leads one to believe girl is repsonsible for ugly behaviour.
Suggest Reformat
I didn’t know who Anna Rudolf was so I looked her up on the FIDE website. It says she was born in 1987 so I don’t think she should be referred to as a young girl as it does in the lead and in some of the comments here. Young woman sounds more appropriate and properly descriptive.
“I am unsympathetic to accusations without evidence wherever they occur – tournaments,this blog, wherever.
The absence of evidence makes them ‘unfounded accusations’ rather than ‘false accusations’. The use of the word ‘false’ suggests a rush to judgement which is premature.”
The absence of evidence that you have a brain is clearly obvious.
Unless I see your brain floating in a pickle jar, I do not believe you have a brain. Yes, this sounds as rediculous as your previous statements. No more words please, you are spreading your stupidness…
Yay to smart chess girls!
Boo to sore losers who need to get another job chess men losers!
To answer commenter #1 (polo mateo), the accusation made was of using a specific chess engine, according to the item first “Fritz”, then “Rybka”.
It should be globally-understood policy that such specific accusations must be accompanied by log files of runs of the engines on the moves in question.
Without that, the accusations should not be entertained at all, and should be considered harassment and liable to penalty. In no case should an accusation without such log files lead to differential treatment of competitors, as may have happened here.
If “penalty” sounds too strict, recall Kramnik’s fear in last June’s ChessBase interview, the segment on cheating: “…not only the problem of cheating but the problem of accusing others, of half of the players in a tournament accusing the other half…”
If there is any substance to the accusation, as there certainly was to the case in Poland last July, then these cases may be frequent enough to vest someone at FIDE with the responsibility for independent scientific testing. The testing should be subject to standard rules of due-process/transparency/public oversight. I still don’t know of anyone else conducting such tests in public, as I do and advocate for combatting the associated paranoia, so on receiving particulars I’m willing to do it.
Overall, popular news and blog sources for “the game of science” should foster the awareness that improper engine use is a scientifically testable assertion, and must be treated by the rules of science. Else we fall into the roils of gamesmanship and gullibility.
Sadly, FIDE already legitimized the technique of accusing your opponent of cheating without evidence in the Kramnik-Topolov match.
Once again, I’d like to say that really bites. I hope she kicks his rump in a 10-move blowout. She looks really nice. If you are reading this, Anna Rudolph, I wish you the best of luck and that you’ll play in a tournament in Las Vegas soon.
To be young and brilliant…
Sigh…
The world is a wonderful place.
In other news, Anna Rudolf kicks lots of (man) butt in chess!
Pass it on!
I’ve already called this incident “Lippygate”.
– TCG
anyway i think the arbiter doesn’t have much the choice in such a situation, but to controll the bag… So he really ISNT the faultive, but only the accusators themselves!!
anyway i think the arbiter doesn’t have much the choice in such a situation, but to controll the bag… So he really ISNT the faultive, but only the accusators themselves!!
If they believed Rybka was used, they should have provided lines and proof. If not, they should have been immediately suspended. What instead happened was ridiculous.
– Vinay
the jerk should be suspended..false accusations with no proof should be punished
My name is Ben Purton, I represent Slough Sharks in the 4NCL and we have played in ECC in 2006. Anna Rudolf is our women player. The real sad thing is, She is the one player out of all of us who would least likely do something immoral in anyway. By far our nicest player. I think this Krivonosov etc should be banned indefinately, the fact they mention they will tormatise her at cappelle, if FIDE dont act. Then My team will travel to Cappelle and ask Krivonosov to apoilgise and if he doesnt then well…..She is our good kind friend , and this guy is some jerk. I might insert Rybka up his arse and accuse him of cheating.
FIDE need to do something.
benpurton@hotmail.com
Ben Purton
Slough Shars
Ben Purton,
You are a saint and my personal hero!
You have my support!
He probably asked her for a date and she refused. Ugly old man gets rejected by beautiful young girl and decides to get even!