Mamedyarov still fighting it

If there is really one thing that chess fans and media reacted against Mamedyarov was the simple fact that Shak has no direct proof at all with his earlier claim that Kursunov was getting some help from Rybka or any chess computer program when he was defeated by Kurnosov. Now Mamedyarov's team saw this and intelligently (intelligence is not always synonymous with truth) show to the public some of his gathered "evidence" to back his claim that indeed, Kurnosov cheated during their game. So Kursonov is still in deep water just when we thought he has already gotten out of it. Below is excerpts from GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov open letter first brought to our attention by Chessdom.com

"After the end, I once again carefully reviewed the games with GM Kurnosov played up to round 6 and afterwards as well. As a result there are facts. In the second round in the game Onischuk - Kurnosov, Onischuk applied a novelty on move 13 and after this move until the end of the game (27 moves total), Kurnosov makes moves strictly from hte first line of Rybka and wins in a beautiful style.

Two rounds after he again has black and again it is a Gruenfeld in the Moiseenko - Kurnosov game. Moiseenko makes a novelty on move 12 and again until move 25 Kurnosov plays the first line of Rybka. But in this game he could not win as Moiseenko had a very simple position without risks. But I also think that the latest position of the black could play to win...

In the 6 th round, against me Kurnosov plays again and wins playing on the first line of Rybka. In all the three games, very few moves were made on the second line of Rybka. In my game and Onischuk's game we sacrificed pawns, and in such positions the computer needs several moves to build good defence and wins thanks to counterattack."

It was indeed a very strong claim. All these were somewhat "convincing" evidence that Kurnosov was getting help from Rybka during their game. Notice that the presented evidence were gathered days after that tragic day which is kind of clumsy on Mamedyarov's part. But then, Mamedyarov might have been carried by his emotions and diverted a bit from the facts we are really after...

"Thus, in the 8th round after Kurnosov was under close scrutiny of judges and chess fans, he played at a very low level and suffered a defeat. And it seems to me that this is clear indication that Kurnosov used a computer program, leaving the tournament hall practically after every move and having such confidence in himself declining a draw offer at move 14 against me in a practically equal position."

Again this is a very reasonable claim but I do not think many chess fans will actually bite it for obvious reason that fans are simply not interested about Kurnosov's actions and attitude to support his claims. I don't have the cunning of lawyers to perceived details in every angle but it is clear to see that Mamedyarov is in defensive. A very unusual situation for an accuser. However, Kurnosov should start drafting now his one final letter to clear his name because I do not think that this problem will be ever resolved.

That said good luck to both Grandmasters.