IM Miroslav Shvarts - Almost a Fake Grandmaster!

     As a result of his victory in the 2004 Kali Cup, a double round robin event that was held in Mindzentkalia, Hungary in 2004, German International Master Miroslav Shvarts notified the German chess federation that he was applying for the GM title because the win secured his third norm.
     Specific details about how this tournament was organized and exactly how the participants were involved are sketchy, but the ratings official of the German Federation, Christian Krause, became suspicious of the GM norm and notified the Hungarian Chess Federation which conducted an investigation. It turned out that the tournament was a complete fraud and no games were actually played. The FIDE Ethics Commission investigated and reached the same conclusion. 
     One year suspensions were handed out to: IM Vadim Eschenko, IM Timofey Galinsky, GM Mato Damjanovic and GM Attila Czebe.  An exception was made for one "competitor", GM Predrag Nikolac, who maintained that he never participated in the tournament and was seen in Germany during the time tournament was supposed to have been played. 
     Shvarts was hit with the hardest sanction, a two and a half year suspension, because he was the primary beneficiary, receiving his third and final GM norm and because his statements about his involvement in this tournament were misleading. For instance in a letter to FIDE he stated he had received his final norm at the tournament and had a certificate signed by the arbiter, Gyorgy Fazekas, and by Zoltan Ambrus of the Hungarian Chess Federation. According to the FIDE site Shvarts' current rating is 2344.
     Then, at a special hearing by the Ethics Commission, Shvarts stated that he had come to realize the Kali tournament was fraudulent, but did not realize it at the time of the event.  The Commission found his testimony unconvincing. At the time he was serving as president of the Saxon Association. 
     IM Lajos Istvandi, organizer of the event was also forbidden to organize, arbitrate or to participate in all chess events for two years. In addition, Interntioal Arbiter Fazekas, who contributed to creating the report at the request of Istvandi was forbidden to arbitrate any chess event for one and a half years. 
     The following game by Shvarts, like the game in the previous post, shows there's a vast difference even between an IM and an ordinary master. Shvarts outplays his master opponent because the master made just one small error when he played 17...b5.