Ivanov in Navalmoral – the real deal

12/12/2013 – On Monday we published a report on the forfeit and disqualification of Borislav Ivanov at this year's Navalmoral de la Mata Open, after the Bulgarian FM had started with a 4.5/5, beating two GMs in the process. An examination was requested by his round six opponent, and a suspicious device was detected. But Ivanov refused to allow the search to proceed and left the event voluntarily.

 

CLUB MORALO DE AJEDREZ C/ Calvo Sotelo, 53 10300 Navalmoral de la Mata (Cáceres) E-mail torneo: naint@hotmail.com E-mail club: clubmoralodeajedrez@gmail.com

A statement issued by the organizers provides more specific information surrounding the forfeit and disqualification of FM Borislav Ivanov from this year's Navalmoral de la Mata Open tournament. Some of the details that appeared previously on the Internet and our report were, it appears, not fully accurate. We bring you a summary of the press release – the full report, in Spanish, can be retrieved in a PDF file here.
The original list of participants, published before the start of the tournament, included Borislav Ivanov. No protest was received by the organisers until the first day of the event, when some of the grandmasters expressed displeasure at the fact that Ivanov was playing, but did not file a written protest.
Due to the suspicion that was expressed during the first three rounds the organisers decided to examine Ivanov's shoes at the end of round four. Ivanov agreed, and the organisers found nothing unusual in the shoes, even when they were examined with a metal detector. When the examination of the shoes was concluded Ivanov started to take off his pants, asking the organisers whether he should continue stripping. Since the complaints had focussed on the shoes the organisers decided not to go any further.
During the fifth round one of the participants, Andrés Holgado Maestre noticed that Ivanov, who was playing with a coat and scarf (although the heating was working perfectly) has a suspicious lump on his back. Other participants noticed this as well and reported it to the chief arbiter, who did not want to interrupt the game to investigate. After it was over Holgado grabbed the lump through the clothes and asked Ivanov what he was hiding. He asked other participants to help him get to the bottom of it, but nobody did. When he let go Ivanov immediately exited the playing hall. Holgado said he had felt an elongated device, much like an MP3 player.
In the next round GM Namig Guliyev filed a verbal request with the arbiter and tournament director to conduct a new examination. Ivanov agreed to the search but was visibly agitated and said that he would not strip. Guliyev emptied his own pockets and took off his pullover, while Ivanov only agreed to take off his coat and scarf. He was then frisked by Juan Antonio Sánchez Bermejo, a retired policemen with experience in such matters. He started with the head, neck and shoulders, when he got to his chest area but Ivanov pulled back. Before he could do so Bermejo felt something suspicious near his left armpit, but couldn't say what it was. One of Ivanov's shirt buttons had become unfastened when he drew back and Bermejo could see a tape across his chest. When asked what was under his shirt Ivanov said it was nothing and refused to allow the search to continue. He was warned that he would be disqualified from the tournament. As it turned out that was not necessary as Ivanov said that he would voluntarily leave the event, requesting that his entry fee be returned as he did not have enough money to return home. Bermejo gave Ivanov €50 out of his own pocket, as an act of kindness and explicitly not as compensation of any kind.
The tournament organisers stress that they had at all times stayed within Spanish law as all searches were conducted after receiving the expressed permission of Ivanov.