Daijiworld Media Network – Moscow
Moscow, Aug 31: In a dramatic ruling, FIDE has stripped Ukrainian-born chess player Kirill Shevchenko of his Grandmaster title and imposed a three-year ban from all FIDE-rated events after finding him guilty of cheating during the Spanish Team Championship in October 2024.
The ban, effective from 19 October 2024 to 18 October 2026, includes a one-year suspended portion, which will remain in effect until 18 October 2027, contingent on no further misconduct. With this, the 22-year-old becomes the strongest grandmaster yet to be banned for cheating.
The First Instance Chamber of FIDE’s Ethics and Disciplinary Commission (EDC), chaired by David Hater with Olga Baskakova and Alan Borda, had initially ruled a three-year ban on March 15, 2025, but without revoking the GM title. Following appeals and a cross-appeal by FIDE’s Fair Play Commission, the title has now been officially revoked.
The bathroom phone scandal
The cheating plot unraveled during the Spanish Team Championship (12–18 October 2024), when arbiters discovered a phone hidden inside a restroom near the general facilities. The device carried a handwritten note reading, “Do not touch! The phone is left for a guest to answer at night.”
A cleaning staff member later confirmed that a similar phone had been found a day earlier. Suspicion fell on Shevchenko after multiple opponents, including GMs Francisco Vallejo Pons and Bassem Amin, complained about his unusually long absences from the board.
Confronted, Shevchenko admitted to hiding a phone in the bathroom but denied using it for engine assistance. However, FIDE’s order noted that he confessed in communication to using the Lichess app on the device, sealing the case against him.
FIDE’s strong stand
“FIDE takes cheating cases among top players with the utmost seriousness. We are working hard on both prevention and swift, appropriate sanctions. Ensuring fair play is non-negotiable – it is essential to the credibility and future of our sport,” said Dana Reizniece, Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board.
The ruling has sent shockwaves across the chess world, underscoring FIDE’s zero-tolerance approach to safeguarding fair play.