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Allegations of cheating against blind player
January 6, 2016
From: http://www.vg.no/sport/sjakk/blind-s...er/a/23591011/
A Norwegian chess player, Stein Tholo Bjornsen (50), who is legally blind, has played 66 tournament games in the past year without a loss and become something of a celebrity.
Unnamed sources accuse him of cheating. Each believes Bjornsen "play like a machine."
- No one can play like a computer. Not even Magnus Carlsen. While Carlsen has an average of 87 percent correlation with the best moves of the chess computer "Houdini". Bjornsen had 96 percent correlation with "Rybka 4" in in his games."I mean it is proof in itself," says chess coach and journalist Ole Valaker VG. He trains 11 year old Afras Mansoor, who lost to Bjornsen in the TV 2 Chess International.
Bjornsen rejected all allegations of cheating to VG when allegations surfaced Tuesday. Bjornsen who is virtually blind in both eyes, plays with a small speaker plug in his ear.
- I have not done anything wrong. The judges were 20 centimeters from me at all times in all games, and the recorder I use was checked during the tournament. The charges, in addition, are from people who were not present during the tournament, the 50-year-old said.
The Norwegian Chess Federation takes the allegations seriously. At the next board meeting, on 3 February, the matter will be taken up. Stein Tholo Bjornsen has been asked to submit a written explanation. In addition, the collected expertise of the International Chess Federation will be used in considering the verdict. An independent person will make use of computer programs approved by FIDE to analyze Norwegian's games.
Does he fear the data review with FIDE-approved equipment?
- No not at all. I do perhaps make some unusual moves because I play different. I played lines that were good for me and they turned out to be ingenious.
Sjakkbloggen.no has been in contact with an elite player who has analyzed Bjornsen's games. During his nine games and a total of 298 moves, he has not made a single mistake of significance, he writes on his site.
Bjornsen's games have also been submitted to Israeli grandmaster, Arthur Kogan. He has been involved in the fight against cheating in chess sport, and says the following:
- I would also add that it is very suspicious that a player at the 2000 level plays like a grandmaster with an absolutely perfect game in the critical phases, so this is a matter that will be discussed carefully.
Bjornsen denies any network access.
Since he is blind, Bjornsen has an assistant who plays for him the moves he chooses. In addition, he has a little mini board he controls with one hand, to feel the disposition of the men.
Bjornsen also brings a dictaphone to the side of the board. This is connected to a small speaker stopper he has one ear.
Since players can view their written moves, Bjornsen records their moves - and then rewinds and listens to them again during their games.
- It is my listing tool. I go through the moves when I need to. And I have been allowed this in accordance with the FIDE rules, he said.
Has the small speaker Bluetooth or any other network connection?
- No, no. The recorder is probably ten years old, the earpiece is maybe a couple of years old. I can not imagine what they think I should have done. I can play naked or in shorts. They can give me a new voice recorder, if they so wish. All my equipment has been checked 100 times.
Tournament Organizer Hans Olav Lahlum, told Sjakkbloggen.no:
- We implemented some security checks before the final round. In the tests we did, we found no evidence of cheating of any kind.
_________
Bjornsen is completely blind in one eye, with the second he sees only a little light. As a little boy he was out sledding, when on the way down the hill, he came too close to a tree and got a knot on the eye. It caused a lot of damage and he, despite a six-month hospital stay, never got back his sight.
But the sad situation got worse for Bjornsen. Soon afterwards, he was outside playing with a buddy. It was summer, and his friends played bow and arrow. Bjornsen's comrade shot an arrow into the sky, and both were standing and looking up to see where it went.
The arrow was hard to spot, but suddenly falling down again - it hit the unfortunate boy in the middle of the healthy eye.
Doctors were unable to save the sight in this eye either, thus Bjornsen was left with only dim vision in one.
________
I thought I heard every accusation in chess that could be made about cheating but this one is really over the top!
January 6, 2016
From: http://www.vg.no/sport/sjakk/blind-s...er/a/23591011/
A Norwegian chess player, Stein Tholo Bjornsen (50), who is legally blind, has played 66 tournament games in the past year without a loss and become something of a celebrity.
Unnamed sources accuse him of cheating. Each believes Bjornsen "play like a machine."
- No one can play like a computer. Not even Magnus Carlsen. While Carlsen has an average of 87 percent correlation with the best moves of the chess computer "Houdini". Bjornsen had 96 percent correlation with "Rybka 4" in in his games."I mean it is proof in itself," says chess coach and journalist Ole Valaker VG. He trains 11 year old Afras Mansoor, who lost to Bjornsen in the TV 2 Chess International.
Bjornsen rejected all allegations of cheating to VG when allegations surfaced Tuesday. Bjornsen who is virtually blind in both eyes, plays with a small speaker plug in his ear.
- I have not done anything wrong. The judges were 20 centimeters from me at all times in all games, and the recorder I use was checked during the tournament. The charges, in addition, are from people who were not present during the tournament, the 50-year-old said.
The Norwegian Chess Federation takes the allegations seriously. At the next board meeting, on 3 February, the matter will be taken up. Stein Tholo Bjornsen has been asked to submit a written explanation. In addition, the collected expertise of the International Chess Federation will be used in considering the verdict. An independent person will make use of computer programs approved by FIDE to analyze Norwegian's games.
Does he fear the data review with FIDE-approved equipment?
- No not at all. I do perhaps make some unusual moves because I play different. I played lines that were good for me and they turned out to be ingenious.
Sjakkbloggen.no has been in contact with an elite player who has analyzed Bjornsen's games. During his nine games and a total of 298 moves, he has not made a single mistake of significance, he writes on his site.
Bjornsen's games have also been submitted to Israeli grandmaster, Arthur Kogan. He has been involved in the fight against cheating in chess sport, and says the following:
- I would also add that it is very suspicious that a player at the 2000 level plays like a grandmaster with an absolutely perfect game in the critical phases, so this is a matter that will be discussed carefully.
Bjornsen denies any network access.
Since he is blind, Bjornsen has an assistant who plays for him the moves he chooses. In addition, he has a little mini board he controls with one hand, to feel the disposition of the men.
Bjornsen also brings a dictaphone to the side of the board. This is connected to a small speaker stopper he has one ear.
Since players can view their written moves, Bjornsen records their moves - and then rewinds and listens to them again during their games.
- It is my listing tool. I go through the moves when I need to. And I have been allowed this in accordance with the FIDE rules, he said.
Has the small speaker Bluetooth or any other network connection?
- No, no. The recorder is probably ten years old, the earpiece is maybe a couple of years old. I can not imagine what they think I should have done. I can play naked or in shorts. They can give me a new voice recorder, if they so wish. All my equipment has been checked 100 times.
Tournament Organizer Hans Olav Lahlum, told Sjakkbloggen.no:
- We implemented some security checks before the final round. In the tests we did, we found no evidence of cheating of any kind.
_________
Bjornsen is completely blind in one eye, with the second he sees only a little light. As a little boy he was out sledding, when on the way down the hill, he came too close to a tree and got a knot on the eye. It caused a lot of damage and he, despite a six-month hospital stay, never got back his sight.
But the sad situation got worse for Bjornsen. Soon afterwards, he was outside playing with a buddy. It was summer, and his friends played bow and arrow. Bjornsen's comrade shot an arrow into the sky, and both were standing and looking up to see where it went.
The arrow was hard to spot, but suddenly falling down again - it hit the unfortunate boy in the middle of the healthy eye.
Doctors were unable to save the sight in this eye either, thus Bjornsen was left with only dim vision in one.
________
I thought I heard every accusation in chess that could be made about cheating but this one is really over the top!
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