In 2010, one of the most unusual cheating scandals in elite chess unfolded at the Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
French grandmaster Sébastien Feller was only 19 and was considered one of France’s rising chess talents. At the Olympiad, he scored 6/9 and won the individual gold medal on Board 5.
But behind the scenes, investigators uncovered something very different.
📱 THE SECRET SYSTEM
According to the evidence examined by the French Chess Federation and later the FIDE Ethics Commission, Feller was receiving outside assistance during his games.
The alleged system involved three people:
Sébastien Feller — the player inside the tournament hall
Cyril Marzolo — watching the games remotely and using a chess engine
Arnaud Hauchard — French team captain, who was inside the playing hall
Marzolo would follow Feller's games from France and use computer analysis to determine suggested moves. Those moves were then sent by SMS to Hauchard.
Hauchard allegedly used pre-arranged positions and movements around the playing hall as signals to communicate the moves to Feller.
In other words, the computer was outside the playing hall — but its suggestions were allegedly being transmitted to the player during the game.
HOW WAS IT DISCOVERED?
The extraordinary consistency of Feller's moves raised suspicions. Reports from the investigation described a remarkably high frequency of computer-recommended moves in several of his games.
The case eventually became public, and all three men faced disciplinary proceedings.
Feller initially denied the cheating accusations, while the case developed through several rounds of appeals and legal proceedings.
FIDE'S DECISION
In 2012, the FIDE Ethics Commission ruled that Feller had violated the FIDE Code of Ethics and imposed a 2-year-and-9-month exclusion from FIDE-sanctioned tournaments.
Hauchard and Marzolo were also sanctioned.
FIDE later demanded that Feller return the Olympiad medal and prize money he had received.
THE STORY DIDN'T END THERE
Nearly a decade after the Olympiad, the case reached a French criminal court.
On May 28, 2019, the Thionville Criminal Court sentenced Feller, Hauchard and Marzolo to six months in prison, suspended, in connection with the cheating scheme. Each was also ordered to pay symbolic damages to the French Chess Federation.
What makes the case particularly remarkable is that this wasn't simply an accusation based on someone playing too accurately.
It involved an alleged organized communication system, computer assistance, disciplinary investigations, FIDE proceedings and eventually a criminal-court judgment.
The Feller case remains one of the most famous cheating scandals in modern chess history.
It also showed the chess world a problem that would become increasingly important in the years that followed:
How do you protect the game when technology can be hidden outside the playing hall?
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- Dark Chess Secret
