Zeliakov - Furdzik scandal at the FIDE World Chess Championship

As the FIDE World Championship in Moscow begins, Grandmaster Andy Soltis in his column in the New York Post points out that there is a controversy concerning the disqualification of one of the qualified players, Rafael Furdzik of the USA.

In order to encourage Internet play and to open the competition to outsiders, FIDE decided that 8 of the 128 players would be qualified through an Internet tournament. Rafael Furdzik finished second and thereby qualified.

However, a committee headed by Former FIDE World Champion Khalifman disqualified Furdzik, saying that he had cheated by use of a computer. The Khalifman Committee ruled that Nugzar Zeliakov had qualified instead.

The problem is that Zeliakov is a business associate of Khalifman. They both work together in the Grandmaster Chess School in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Also, the reasons given for disqualifying Furdzik are not convincing. For example, Khalifman said that in his game with Capa, Furdzik played moves that only a computer would play and no human would ever play, because on move 11 Furdzik as black moved his bishop from g6 to f7 and then on the very next move brought his bishop back from f7 to g6.

However, looking at the actual moves of the game, it is obvious why Furdzik did this. Furdzik retreated his bishop on move 11 because Capa had just moved his knight to f4 attacking the bishop. However, on move 12, Capa moved that knight to d3, so by bringing his bishop back to g6, Furdzik attacked the knight with the bishop enabling him to play e5 on the next move which otherwise would not have been possible. Also, being black, Furdzik probably would not have minded if Capa had repeated positions by returning his knight to f4.

Furdzik is not well known. However, a look at the USCF rating list shows that Furdzik is an active player with a rating averaging about 2250. His current USCF rating is 2213. http://www.64.com/uscf/ratings/12655955 While this is a low rating to be competing for the world chess championship, it is still higher than Zeliakov's rating, because Zeliakov has no rating at all. Zeliakov as a result of the ruling by Khalifman became the only player in the FIDE World Championship who is completely unrated.

In addition, Zeliakov has no published games, whereas Furdzik has a few published games in the chess databases. Furdzik has played in big tournaments like the World Open and the New York Open, so it is clear that he is a real player.

As soon as he was disqualified, Furdzik threatened suit. However, his problem is that there is nobody to sue. The tournament is in Moscow. How could Furdzik be expected to fly to Moscow to file suit?

Sam Sloan http://www.grandmastercorner.com/fideblow.htm

Furdzik's Greatest Games of Chess

Here are games played by Rafael Furdzik in the World Internet Computer Championship. After Furdzik had finished second and had thereby qualified to the FIDE over-the-board world championship, he was disqualified by Khalifman who said that Furdzik had cheated by using a computer.

However, to say a human would not make these moves is insufficient. It must be proven by identifying the program that generates the moves in given positions. Kalifman should have fed the games into a computer program and duplicated the move or group of moves. He must also identify what computer program was used. Although Khalifman said that Fritz would have played many of the moves that Furdzik played, that is not enough.

I would like to see readers run these games through various computer programs and see what results they produce. Even if these tests show that Furdzik received some help from a computer, the next step would be to test the games of Zeliakov to see if he had computer help as well.

Note that Furdzik played in this competition under the screen name "kubiel". Since all of his opponents also used screen names, we do not know who they were.

Sam Sloan http://www.grandmastercorner.com/fideblow.htm http://www.samsloan.com/chess.htm


[Event "WICC"]
[Site "FIDE"]
[Date "2001.10.15"]
[Round "08"]
[White "capa"]
[Black "Furdzik"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bh4 c6 4.Nd2 Qa5 5.c3 Nxd2 6.Qxd2 d5 7.f3 Bf5 8.g4 Bg6
9.Nh3 Nd7 10.Bg3 f6 11.Nf4 Bf7 12.Nd3 Bg6 13.e3 e5 14.h4 Bd6 15.h5 Bf7
16.Bh3 h6 17.a3 Qc7 18.O-O-O Nb6 19.Qh2 Nc4 20.Rhe1 Qa5 21.Nb4 c5 22.Nd3
cxd4 23.exd4 Bxa3 24.Qc2 Rc8 25.dxe5 O-O 26.e6 Bxe6 27.Rxe6 Nxb2 28.Kd2 d4
29.Ke2 Nxd1 30.Qxd1 Qd5 31.Re4 dxc3 32.Qc2 Rfe8 33.Bg2 b5 34.Nf4 Rxe4+
35.fxe4 Qc4+ 36.Ke3 b4 37.e5 b3 38.Qf5 Bc5+ 39.Kf3 Re8 40.Qd7 Rxe5 41.g5
Qe4+ 42.Kg4 Rxg5+ 43.Kh4 Qe3 44.Qd8+ Kh7 45.Qd3+ Qxd3 46.Nxd3 c2 47.Be4+ f5
48.Bd5 b2 0-1

[Event "WICC"]
[Site "FIDE"]
[Date "2001.10.14"]
[Round "07"]
[White "kubiel"]
[Black "pboy22"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e6 2.Qe2 c5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O Nge7 7.c3 d6 8.d4 cxd4
9.cxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Bxd4 11.Rd1 Nc6 12.Bh6 Qf6 13.Nc3 g5 14.Nb5 e5 15.Nc7+
Kd8 16.Nxa8 Qxh6 17.Rac1 Qf6 18.a3 h5 19.h3 a6 20.b4 Ba7 21.Rd2 Nd4 22.Qc4
Bd7 23.Qc7+ Ke7 24.Qxb7 Nf3+ 25.Bxf3 Qxf3 26.Qxa7 Rxa8 27.Qxa8 Bxh3 28.Rc7+
Kf6 29.Qh8+ Kg6 30.Rxd6+ 1-0

[Event "WICC"]
[Site "FIDE"]
[Date "2001.10.13"]
[Round "06"]
[White "Meteo"]
[Black "kubiel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 O-O 8.Rc1 dxc4
9.Bxc4 c5 10.O-O cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bd7 12.Ne4 Qe7 13.a3 Ba5 14.Qh5 Bb6 15.Rfd1
Rd8 16.Nd6 Be8 17.Nxe8 Rxe8 18.Bb5 Rd8 19.Qf3 a6 20.Ba4 Ra7 21.Qe4 Bxd4
22.Rxd4 b5 23.Bc2 g6 24.h4 Rad7 25.Bb3 Qf6 26.h5 g5 27.Rcd1 Kg7 28.Bc2 Rxd4
29.exd4 Rd6 30.b4 Nc6 31.d5 Rxd5 32.Rxd5 exd5 33.Qxd5 Nd4 34.Bd1 1/2-1/2

[Event "WICC"]
[Site "FIDE"]
[Date "2001.10.12"]
[Round "04"]
[White "kubiel"]
[Black "Banzai"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Qe2 Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O Nge7 7.c3 d6 8.Rd1 f5
9.exf5 Nxf5 10.d3 O-O 11.Nbd2 d5 12.Nb3 Qd6 13.d4 cxd4 14.Nbxd4 Nfxd4
15.Nxd4 Nxd4 16.cxd4 Bd7 17.Be3 Rac8 18.h4 Qb4 19.Rac1 Rxc1 20.Rxc1 Bxd4
21.Bxd4 Qxd4 22.Rc7 Rf7 23.Rxb7 e5 24.Qe3 Qxe3 25.fxe3 Be6 26.Rb8+ Kg7
27.Rd8 e4 28.Rd6 Re7 29.Kf2 Bf7 30.Ke1 Rb7 31.b3 Rc7 32.Kd2 Bg8 33.Bh3 Kf8
34.Rd8+ Kg7 35.b4 Bf7 36.Rd7 Rxd7 37.Bxd7 Kf6 38.Kc3 Ke5 39.a4 h6 40.a5 g5
41.hxg5 hxg5 42.Bc6 Kd6 43.Bb7 Be8 44.Kd4 Bc6 45.Ba6 Ba4 46.b5 Bb3 47.Bb7
Bc4 48.b6 axb6 49.axb6 Ba2 50.Bc8 Kc6 51.b7 Kc7 52.Be6 Kxb7 53.Bxd5+ Bxd5
54.Kxd5 Kc7 55.Kxe4 Kd6 56.Kf5 g4 57.Kxg4 Ke5 58.Kg5 Ke4 59.g4 Kxe3 60.Kf6
Kf4 61.g5 Ke4 62.g6 Kd3 63.g7 Kc2 64.g8=Q Kd3 65.Qe6 Kd4 66.Qe5+ Kd3 67.Qf4
Ke2 68.Ke5 Kd3 69.Qe4+ Kd2 70.Qf3 Kc1 71.Qe2 Kb1 72.Kd4 Ka1 73.Kc3 Kb1
74.Qb2# 1-0

[Event "WICC"]
[Site "FIDE"]
[Date "2001.10.10"]
[Round "03"]
[White "crest"]
[Black "kubiel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.Nf3 Qf5 7.Qxf5 exf5 8.Bf4
Be6 9.a3 Bd6 10.Bxd6 cxd6 11.e3 Nbd7 12.Bd3 Ke7 13.Ke2 Nb6 14.Nd2 Rac8
15.Rhc1 a6 16.Rc2 Rc7 17.Rac1 Rhc8 18.h3 g6 19.f3 h5 20.e4 fxe4 21.fxe4 Kd8
22.a4 a5 23.b3 Ne8 24.Ke3 Nf6 25.Kf3 Ne8 26.Kf4 Nf6 27.Kg5 Nh7+ 28.Kh6 Nf6
29.d5 Bd7 30.Kg5 Ke7 31.Be2 Nxa4 32.bxa4 Bxa4 33.e5 Ne8 34.Nde4 Bxc2 35.Rxc2
dxe5 36.d6+ Nxd6 37.Nxd6 Kxd6 38.Nb5+ Kd7 39.Nxc7 Rxc7 40.Ra2 e4 41.Kf6 Kd6
42.Ra4 Rc5 43.Kxf7 Rg5 44.g4 hxg4 45.hxg4 Ke5 46.Rxa5+ Kf4 47.Ra4 Rd5
48.Kxg6 Rd2 49.Bf1 Kxg4 50.Rxe4+ Kg3 51.Rb4 b5 52.Bxb5 Rd6+ 53.Kf5 Rd5+
54.Ke4 Rc5 55.Bd3 Rc8 56.Ke3 Kg2 57.Rg4+ Kh3 58.Rg7 Rb8 59.Kf4 Rf8+ 60.Bf5+
Kh2 61.Rg5 Rd8 62.Kf3 Ra8 63.Be4 Rf8+ 64.Ke3 Rb8 65.Bf3 Rb3+ 66.Kf2 Rb2+
67.Be2 Rb3 68.Bc4 Rb2+ 69.Kf3 Rb6 70.Rh5+ Kg1 71.Bd5 Rb2 72.Ke3 Re2+ 73.Kd4
Rd2+ 74.Ke4 Re2+ 75.Kf4 Rf2+ 76.Bf3 Rh2 77.Rb5 Ra2 78.Rh5 Rh2 79.Ra5 Rb2
80.Ra7 Kf2 81.Be4 Rb4 82.Ra2+ Kf1 83.Ke3 Rb3+ 84.Bd3+ Kg1 85.Rd2 Ra3 86.Kf4
Ra7 87.Be4 Ra3 88.Bf3 Ra7 89.Kg3 Rg7+ 90.Bg4 Rf7 91.Rd8 Rf6 92.Bh5 Rf2
93.Bf3 Rg2+ 94.Kf4 Rb2 95.Rh8 Rh2 96.Ra8 Rb2 97.Ra1+ Kf2 98.Rh1 Rb4+ 99.Be4
Ra4 100.Rh2+ Kg1 101.Rb2 Ra3 102.Bc6 1/2-1/2

[Event "WICC"]
[Site "FIDE"]
[Date "2001.10.10"]
[Round "02"]
[White "kubiel"]
[Black "RBakic"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O e5 7.Nc3 Nge7 8.Nd2 O-O
9.Nc4 Be6 10.a4 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Bd2 h6 13.Re1 Ndb4 14.Ne4 b6 15.a5 Rb8
16.axb6 axb6 17.Na3 Nd5 18.Nb5 Nd4 19.Ned6 Nxb5 20.Nxb5 Nc7 21.Nxc7 Qxc7
22.f4 Kh7 23.Qf3 Rbd8 24.fxe5 Bxe5 25.Bxh6 Bxb2 26.Bxf8 Bxa1 27.Rxa1 Rxf8
28.Ra6 c4 29.d4 Rd8 30.Qf6 c3 31.Ra1 Qd6 32.d5 Qc5+ 33.Qf2 Qxf2+ 34.Kxf2 Bf5
35.Ra2 Kg7 36.Bf3 g5 37.g4 Bg6 38.Ra3 Rc8 39.d6 Rd8 40.Rxc3 Rxd6 41.Ke3 Kf6
42.Rc7 Ke5 1/2-1/2

[Event "WICC"]
[Site "FIDE"]
[Date "2001.10.08"]
[Round "01"]
[White "MarilynM"]
[Black "kubiel"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.Ne5 Bd7 7.Nxc6 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3
Bxc6 9.Qa3 Ne4 10.Be3 dxc4 11.f3 Nd6 12.Bf2 f5 13.e3 O-O 14.Be2 a6 15.O-O
Qd7 16.Bg3 b5 17.Rae1 Rae8 18.Bd1 Bb7 19.Bc2 Rd8 20.Re2 Ne8 21.Rfe1 Nf6
22.Be5 Rf7 23.Bb1 Rdf8 24.Qc1 Qe7 25.e4 fxe4 26.fxe4 Ng4 27.Bg3 h5 28.h4 e5
29.a4 Rd8 30.axb5 axb5 31.Rd1 Rdf8 32.Qb2 Bc6 33.Qd2 exd4 34.cxd4 Qa3 35.Bh2
Nxh2 36.Kxh2 Qe7 37.g3 Rf3 38.e5 Rxg3 39.Kxg3 Rf3+ 40.Kg2 Qxh4 41.Re4 Qh3+
42.Kg1 Rg3+ 43.Kf2 Rg2+ 44.Ke1 Qh1# 0-1


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