)
The European Women's Individual championship at Chakvi, Georgia, featured an unfortunate incident that could be best described as the chess equivalent of a witch hunt. The 11-round Swiss had 98 players with at least 14 spots available for the Women's World Championship. Natalia Zhukova won with a score of 9.5/11 and the top 21 players qualified under various criteria.
The 45th ranked player, WGM Mihaela Sandu of Romania (Elo 2300), started with 5/5. She beat four higher-rated players in a row (Salome Melia 2452; Aleksandra Goryachkina 2474; Olga Girya 2479; Lela Javakhishvili 2472) . "Naturally" suspicions arose, given recent high-profile cheating cases. First, 32 players wrote a letter to the organisers, naming no names but requesting that all live game transmissions be delayed by 15 minutes. This is a common-sense measure that makes it hard to avail assistance from outside the venue.
The organisers agreed to delay all transmissions, while stating that they did not think there was any cheating. It is worth noting that Melia and Javakhishvili are Georgians. The organisers could have been expected to favour their own "girls", if there were grounds for suspicion. The witch-hunt started with a second letter: 15 players requested that Sandu's games not be broadcast. The organisers refused with a blunt response, "We consider this accusation unfair, insulting and creating psychological pressure." The response also pointed out that player(s) making false accusations of cheating could be penalised.
Unfortunately, Sandu collapsed under pressure. She eventually scored only 6 - that is, she scored 1 from her last 6 games. The Romanian Federation has protested and threatened legal action. Those 15 players could, in theory, be raked over the coals.
An analysis of Sandu's games, including her wins suggests very strongly that she was not getting any help. There were errors and outright blunders on her part in all the games. Players with computer assistance don't blunder, even if they're smart enough to avoid top engine choices to avert suspicion. Also, Sandu was utilising her time unevenly, sometimes thinking for long periods, and sometimes playing instantly, as is normal. Players using engines tend to take a minimum time on every move to allow for transmission reception and analysis.
The DIAGRAM, WHITE TO PLAY (White: Hikaru Nakamura Vs Black: Maxime Vachier Lagrave, Khanty-Mansiysk GP 2015) illustrates Nakamura's inventiveness. White is better and he played 19.Nc5! bxc5 20.dxc5 Nd5 21.cxd6 Qxd6 22.Ne4 Qe5 23.Rc1 Nb6 24.Qb4 Rad8 25.Nc5 White's much better now with a good pawn structure and more active pieces. Black could defend with Ba8 but he blundered 25.-- Rd4 ?? 26.Qc3 Bc8 The alternative 26...Rb8 27.Rhe1 Qf6 28.Ne4 is slaughter 27.Rce1 (1-0). Minimally 27.-Rc4 28. Qxe5+ wins a rook.
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player
