The 22-year-old grandmaster Kirill Shevchenko has been expelled from the 2024 Spanish Team Championship after he was caught with a phone in the toilet. (More Sports News)
After the incident, his draw against GM Bassem Amin in round one and a victory over GM Francisco Vallejo in the second, have now been turned into losses.
“I firmly believe and in light of the evidence gathered throughout the investigation that this player has made use of the mobile phone during the game,” the arbiter of the event Oscar Bruno de Prado Rodriguez was quoted as saying by Chessdom.com
The ongoing Spanish Team Championship Honor Division will run from October 12-18, and is being held in Melilla.
The Ukraine-born Shevchenko became a grandmaster at just the age of 14 and nine months, had switched to represent Romania, and is the current World No.69.
He won the 2021 European Team Chess Championship with Ukraine, and also went onto win the individual Lindores Abbey Blitz in Riga, the same year, where he also topped the table ahead of grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Arjun Erigaisi.
The decision to investigate was triggered by Vallejo after he complained to the arbiter that his second round opponent, Shevchenko, was spending too much time away from the board.
However, when the question was raised, the 22-year-old said that he had a problem and had to visit the toilet.
