Zurab Azmaiparashvili - Controversies

Controversies

In winning the 2003 European Championship in Istanbul, Azmaiparashvili admitted cheating, retracting a move against Vladimir Malakhov (who subsequently finished second). By retracting his blunder and playing a sensible move, Azmaiparashvili won the game and the tournament. Malakhov could have enforced the rules but said that he was too shocked to react.

Azmaiparashvili made chess news in 2004 when, at the closing ceremony of the 36th Chess Olympiad in Calvià, he was arrested by local police and subsequently held in custody for several days. The attitude of the event's organizers towards Azmaiparashvili had apparently been soured when, upon his arrival in Spain, he had attempted to secure himself two hotel rooms, claiming he was entitled to one in his capacity as a FIDE vice-president, and another as a player at the event. This sour mood seems to have brought him extra attention at the closing ceremony when he approached the stage, apparently in an attempt to inform FIDE officials that the organizers had neglected to award a prize named in honour of Georgian former Women's World Champion Nona Gaprindashvili. He came into conflict with security officials, and a scuffle broke out resulting in injuries both to Azmaiparashvili and a security agent. There are conflicting claims about the exact nature of said scuffle: a press release from the Olympiad organizers placed the blame squarely on Azmaiparashvili's shoulders, saying that after he had tried to gain admittance to the stage on several occasions he "without any previous provocation, assaulted the agent with a head butt to his mouth". FIDE, on the other hand, blamed over-zealous policing, saying in their press release that "Despite his clear VIP identification, he was severely beaten up by several security guards". Azmaiparashvili was due to appear in court on 22 July 2005, but all charges were dropped shortly beforehand.

Azmaiparashvili had been criticized earlier in 2004 over arrangements for the 2004 Women's World Chess Championship when female Georgian players Lela Javakhishvili and Ana Matnadze accused him of behaving "in a hostile and intimidating manner, using inappropriate and vulgar language and bringing to tears our mothers".