Ivan Cheparinov

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Ivan Cheparinov

Ivan Cheparinov, Heraklion 2007
Full name	Иван Чепаринов
Country	Bulgaria
Born	November 26, 1986 (1986-11-26) (age 21) Asenovgrad, Bulgaria

Title	Grandmaster


FIDE rating	2695 (No. 27 on the April 2008 FIDE ratings list)
Peak rating	2713 (January 2008)

Ivan Cheparinov (born November 26, 1986 in Asenovgrad, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian chess player, who won the Bulgarian Chess Championship in 2005.

1 Topalov's second
2 Tournament successes
3 Handshake controversy
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Topalov's second

Until 2007, he was best-known as the second of former FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov. According to Topalov's website, Cheparinov was responsible for many of the opening novelties Topalov played during his 2006 World Championship match against Vladimir Kramnik.^[1]

[edit] Tournament successes

In October 2006 Cheparinov won the Essent Open in Hoogeveen with 7/9^[2], and in April 2007 he won the Sigeman & Co tournament in Malmö with the same score.^[3] He also shared first place—with six others—at the 2007 European Individual Chess Championship in Dresden, but Vladislav Tkachiev won the tie-break.^[4] On the January 2008 FIDE rating list, Cheparinov was for the first time rated higher than 2700—often seen as the line that separates "elite" players from other grandmasters.

[edit] Handshake controversy

During the 2008 Corus chess tournament, Cheparinov's game in the eighth round of Group B against Nigel Short was declared a forfeit after the first move because he had twice refused to shake Short's hand at the start.^[5] FIDE's behavioural norms state that, "[a]ny player who does not shake hands with the opponent (...) before the game starts in a FIDE tournament or during a FIDE match (and does not do it after being asked to do so by the arbiter) (...) will immediately and finally lose the relevant game".^[6] The reason for Cheparinov's refusal was, according to the appeal made by him and his manager Silvio Danailov, that "some time ago in one of his interviews Mr. Short insulted him and our team gravely". They also claimed the arbiter had not given Cheparinov another opportunity to shake hands, but had immediately declared the game a loss.^[7] After their protest, the Appeals Committee of the tournament—consisting of Vladimir Kramnik, Michał Krasenkow and Judit Polgár—overturned the decision to forfeit the game. The Committee also decided that Cheparinov should apologize to Short, that the game was to be replayed the next day and that it should start with a handshake.^[8] Short won.