A certain player was accused of cheating by manipulating the clock (according to the report a bystander saw that the clock times were changed). This player subsequently won the tournament. However he was disqualified - not for cheating - for playing in the tournament when his FIDE rating was above the maximum allowed. The player who accused him was awarded the top prize instead.
However, some people started commenting in various shoutboxes and the accused name came up. His name is now well known and now everyone is calling him a cheat. I have no knowledge of the truth of the claims but this man will forever be branded a cheater. I kind of have a problem with this. It is like presuming guilt without a trial, since the arbiter never tried to verify the accuser's claim (fairly easy by adding up the clock times factoring in any increments).
This is a dangerous trend - using shoutbox to accuse or smear a person's reputation. I am still considering whether to remove my own shoutbox. It will be a pity to do so, because it is still the best way to get feedback from readers.
2 comments:
All that can be established is that he cheated by not announcing his true rating. And that means he is still a cheater. I would like to see the arbiters ruling that a player has cheated in a game. I have seen it a few times but the arbiter has never ruled cheating as a cause of loss in my experience. And that is not good. I also hope that MCF will also take action against suspect tournaments. All these will take courage and will be an act of principle. I believe if these actions are taken, we will see chess standards improve.
Hi Jimmy,
This is exactly the reasons why i do not want to put shoutbox at my blog...accusation, smearing campaign, unstoppable advertisement...just not worth it.
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