User:MaxBrowne/Alexandru Crisan

Alexandru Crisan (born 31 July 1962) is a Romanian businessman and chess player who was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1993. In 2001 a FIDE commission of inquiry found that his tournament results had been falsified and announced that his title would be revoked, however this has not been implemented. In 2008 he was jailed on unrelated corruption charges.

Chess career
Crişan played for the Romanian team at the 13th Boys Chess Balkaniad in Athens in 1981, scoring 1/4 on board 3. After playing at lower master level for several years, he gained the FIDE master title in 1988.

In 1992, he gained 225 rating points from 56 games for a rating of 2480, and was awarded the International Master title. In 1993 he gained another 50 points from 24 games and was awarded the Grandmaster title. Such a large and sudden rating increase is highly unusual, and the games from these tournaments have never been published.

He played no FIDE rated games for the next three years, then in the second half of 1997 he gained over 100 rating points from 50 games, giving him a rating of 2635 in the January 1998 rating list. This was good enough for a world ranking of 34th at the time. At the request of the Romanian Chess Federation, FIDE annulled this result and restored his rating to 2530 in the next list.

Crişan, the son of a Communist Party official, used his political influence within the Ministry of Sport to gain control of the Romanian Chess Federation, threatening those who opposed him. He then applied to FIDE on behalf of the Romanian Chess Federation to have his rating restored, saying that they had no evidence that his rating was falsified and that there was no requirement to provide FIDE with game scores for a result to be accepted for rating purposes.

FIDE eventually agreed to suspend its decision and restore his 2635 rating, on condition that Crişan prove his playing strength by playing in at least three rated events against established Grandmaster opposition. He played in a round-robin tournament in Portoroz in 2001 he was seeded third, but finished with ½ out of 9 games. . Commentators were highly critical of his play, noting in particular a game against Georg Mohr in which he lost an endgame that most club players would be expected to draw without difficulty.

Po tym turnieju zagrał w dwóch kolejnych arcymistrzowskich turniejach (obu dwukołowych), osiągając całkowicie odmienne wyniki: w Tekiji zdecydowanie zwyciężył (w zaledwie trzyosobowym gronie, z wynikiem 3½ w 4 partiach), natomiast w Kładowie podzielił I miejsce, wspólnie z Robertem Ruckiem (turniej sześcioosobowy, z wynikiem 7 pkt w 10 partiach). Rezultaty z tych dwóch turniejów zorganizowanych na terenie Jugosławii oraz poziom rozegranych przez Rumuna partii ponownie wzbudziły kontrowersje w FIDE, co spowodowało podjęcie decyzji o ich nie zaliczeniu do obliczeń rankingowych. Co więcej, na Kongresie FIDE postanowiono odebrać mu tytuł arcymistrzowski, do czego jednak ostatecznie nie doszło. Od 2002 r. Alexandru Crişan nie uczestniczy w turniejach klasyfikowanych do rankingu międzynarodowego, przez pewien czas pełnił natomiast funkcję prezesa Rumuńskiej Federacji Szachowej.

A FIDE commission of inquiry announced that Crişan would be stripped of his titles and rating, but this has not been implemented.