Bangladesh chess received a shocking news as its coach Igor Rausis was accused by World Federation of cheating and upon hearing the news, Bangladesh Chess Federation has decided to cut ties with him.
Rausis, the 58-year Latvian Grandmaster, who has been involved with Bangladesh’s chess and also represented the country from 2003 to 2007, was caught red handed while using his smart phone illegally during an international event at Strasbourg, France Thursday.
Rausis is the oldest player among the top 100 players in Fide ranking but the meteoric rise of the player who has now 2,686 points raised eyebrows of many as he achieved a meteoric rise at the ripe age, gaining a few hundred points in the last couple of years.
Fide closely followed the suspicious player and the arbiter of Strasbourg Open caught him with a smart phone at the toilet.
Using of such device is not permitted during play as players may get some help while using apps and hence it is regarded as a major forgery in the game.
In 2015, Georgian GM Gaioz Nigalidze was caught doing the same at Dubai Open and after he had been proven guilty, Fide revoked his GM title and banned him for three years.
BCF general secretary Syed Shahabuddin Ahmed felt embarrassed with the news.
“I didn’t believe at first but it was the coach (Rausis) himself from whom we got to know about the shocking incident. It’s a very sad news for us, and also embarrassing. We, the federation, decided that we shouldn’t bring him back and informed him our decision,” Shahabuddin told the media on Saturday.
The federation did not extend Rausis’ contract after last September but they made a verbal agreement for him to train young chess player Mohammad Fahad Rahman in the forthcoming World Cup.
So, the preparation of the young chess player, who qualified as the youngest in the tournament, will face a serious jeopardy.
“Now we have to find a new coach as the time is very short. After the end of ongoing Asian Cities Chess Championship in Dhaka, we will start searching for a new coach from Thursday,” said Shahabuddin.