This might need a bit of explanation!
Firstly, for the uninitiated, computer chess software is now so strong that the world's strongest chess program is expected by rating to beat the world human champion 99 games out of 100. So if you can get access to a computer during a game you're almost absolutely guaranteed to win.
Secondly, therefore, this is obviously not allowed in human tournaments.
Thirdly, people have been caught cheating in the past, even in the biggest chess tournaments there have been unproven allegations of cheating.
So there is a real incentive for a chess player to have access to a computer during a tournament, and to avoid detection. At major chess tournaments they now have metal detectors and all sorts at every entrance, so-called strip searches happen fairly regularly, and if a mobile phone goes off at any stage you're instantly disqualified.
Fourthly, the moves that this guy made have been checked against a computer program called Houdini, which is the world computer chess champion, and have been found to match them almost exactly. The odds of this happening by chance are astronomically low, if only because even the world's best player cannot imitate computer play.
I hope that's all clear!
chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8751
Cheating suspicion at the Zadar Open in Croatia
In this event, with 16 GMs and a host of other strong players, one participant stood out especially: the 25-year-old untitled Bulgarian Borislav Ivanov scored 6.0/9 points, with a rating performance of 2697. In the January FIDE list Ivanov has gained 115 points over his previous 2277 rating, gained in over 400 games over three years. A certain suspicion once again raises its ugly head.
As you can see the untitled Bulgarian player Borislav Ivanov, who is a computer programmer, produced a remarkable result, playing 470 points above his nominal (and highest ever) FIDE rating of 2227. Here for the record are his individual results in the Zadar Open, which include wins against grandmasters Bojan Kurajica, Robert Zelcic, Zdenko Kozul and Ivan Saric.
The meteoric progress in this event led a number of players to sound alarm signals, and the organisers conducted what has been called a "strip search" of the Bulgarian player – which naturally drew the attention of main stream media in Croatia. Jutarnji List described it less sensationally: Ivanov was asked to take off his shirt, empty his pockets and submit his pen for inspection. Nothing was found.
There were 36 competitors at the tournament, including 16 grandmasters, five International Masters, and ten FIDE masters. According to the rating, the Bulgarian without any chess ranking was supposed to be an easy rival, but surprisingly started winning game after a game. In the first round he managed to defeat Croatian masters Bojan Kurajica, Robert Zelcic and Zdenko Kozul. "After the eighth round there were suspicions that Ivanov has some electronic tools to help him, and in my capacity of a judge I decided to make a move in line with the FIDE rules," Stanislav Maroja, the chairperson of the chess union in Zadar District told daily newspaper Jutarnji List. But nothing was found on Ivanov, a 26-year-old computer programmer.
"Technologies are so developed now that theoretically, since the games were broadcast live, Ivanov’s friends in the neighbouring room, from Sofia, or even from the Antarctic, could have sent him hints for his moves through chips, which could have been placed under the skin, in the ear, or in the teeth," one of the tournament participants told Jutarnji List.
“Ivanov is chess programmer, who since mid-2011 until now had won only one rating point, while at the Zadar tournament he won 60. He made moves like a computer, which was obvious in the game vs Jovanovic,” Klaric remarked. “Technologies are so developed now that theoretically, since the games were aired live, Ivanov’s friends in the neighbouring room, from Sofia, or even from the Antarctic, could have sent him hints for his moves through chips, which could have been placed under the skin, in the ear, or in the teeth,” Klaric added.
