In his crusade against cheating, former world champion Vladimir Kramnik seems to have hit a nerve. The Russian faced the young Peruvian Grandmaster José Martínez on two occasions and after losing, he accused him of cheating and refused to play against him again online on Titled Tuesday. In fact, in the second game between the two, Kramnik quit on the second move in protest.
After persistent accusations from Kramnik about the integrity of José’s performance in online chess competitions, according to which José’s achievements would not have been achieved legitimately, suggesting some type of outside help, Kramnik and Martínez have decided to agree to face each other. in Madrid in a match in the month of June.
The organizers of this confrontation have publicly proposed holding a live duel between the two, with all security measures, to determine the outcome. The reception by the chess world has been unanimous and the expectation is maximum. It will be held at the Gran Vía casino in Madrid from June 7 to 9.
The issue of cheating in chess, especially online, has raised ethical and even legal dilemmas. What is considered evidence? Are the statistics enough? How to address accusations without strong evidence?
In this confrontation, the cleanliness of the games will be guaranteed thanks to the control of a main referee and two cheat detection experts. 36 exciting games will be played with a 3 2 pace of play, half of them on the board and the other half on the chess.com platform.
Commentaries will be provided by the popular Pepe Cuenca and Divis in Spanish, along with the world-renowned chess content creator, Gotham Chess, who will provide them in English. The three will be at the game site commentating for the attendees and for the hundreds of thousands of users who are expected to follow the event live.
