Scandal rocks Bulgarian chess (again), president of a chess federation arrested

One would expect that ex World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova’s shared third at the Women Grand Swiss would be major news in Bulgaria. Or that the performance of her husband Ivan Cheparinov at the Grand Swiss and his return to top 100 would be a headline. Or that Nurgyul Salimova’s rating recovery could be a topic in national media. But alas, no. Major publications at Bulgarian media outlets focus on an internal scandal. Again.

Bulgaria continues to have multiple federations, like BCF 2022 (ministry-licensed, domestic) and BSCF (FIDE-recognized, international), which fail to unite effectively, and this creates multiple problems for local players and organizers. The latest problem that seems to be related to the conflict of the federations happened during a local tournament in Plovdiv, that was won by Kiril Georgiev and Iva Videnova-Kuljasevic. The event was supposed to be a celebration of a national holiday, but started with the arrest of the organizer and President of the Bulgarian Chess Federation (note: one of the old governing bodies of chess in the country) Atanas Kurtenkov in round 1. Atanas Kurtenkov was taken in handcuffs to the Second Regional Police Department, where he was, in his own words, strip searched and held against a wall before later being released. Scroll down for the full story by TrafficNews.

More scandals in Bulgaria: The best chess player in the world, Borislav Ivanov, arrested / Corruption scandal rocks the Bulgarian Chess Federation, enters mainstream news / Bulgaria with accommodation problems at the Chess Olympiad 2024, but that is their smallest problem / Bulgarian court rules in favor of Kiril Georgiev /

TrafficNews: The president of Bulgarian Chess was taken out in handcuffs from a tournament in Plovdiv.

The president of the Bulgarian Chess Federation, Atanas Kurtenkov, was arrested during a competition held in Plovdiv on Unification Day, he himself reported this to TrafficNews. Kurtenkov was taken out in handcuffs and transported to the Second District Police Department, where an inspection was carried out.

Kurtenkov said, “During the Federation-organized Festival of Intellectual Games on the occasion of the holiday, a surprise inspection took place. I learned from the order served to me that it was commissioned by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYS), which had dispatched two experts to Plovdiv for this purpose. The inspection was ordered by Deputy Minister Dimitar Georgiev, following a signal from the Plovdiv Regional Governor and the Association of the Bulgarian Chess Federation 2022, who reported an unauthorized chess competition,” said Kurtenkov, who described the experience as shocking. According to him, the event complied with the law and was held under the auspices of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The Festival of Intellectual Games was also supported by Georgi Stamenov, mayor of the Plovdiv Central district, and Nikolay Buhalov, Plovdiv’s deputy mayor for sports and youth activities.

During the event at the club where the games were being played, the MYS experts arrived, accompanied by police officers. In the course of the inspection, Kurtenkov said, the uniformed officers handcuffed him and took him to the police station. According to him, he had given no reason for such actions. At the police station, Kurtenkov claimed he was forced to undress. Meanwhile, the games were stopped, which led to several competitors leaving (ed. note: possibly players with zero score here).

“They took me to a small room, where there were also Ministry of Interior staff. I was forced to strip and squat so they could check if I had hidden objects. They cut the drawstrings of my shorts, arguing that I might injure myself with them in the cell, which ruined their appearance. Before that, I had to wait almost an hour without knowing what exactly was happening. I asked if I would be arrested, and they told me to wait – to see whether detention would be necessary. I was disturbed by what was happening,” Kurtenkov recounted.

He was later released but was served with two violation reports – one for failing to comply with a police order, and another for failing to establish his identity. Kurtenkov maintains that he had his ID card with him during the competition but, due to stress, did not think to show it.

Kurtenkov links the incident to the recent final decision of the Supreme Administrative Court, which declared the license of the Bulgarian Chess Federation 2022 – issued by the Ministry of Youth and Sports – unlawful. He had previously won a similar dispute against BCF 1928. The conflict between the different chess organizations – BCF 2022, licensed by the ministry, and the Bulgarian Sports Chess Federation, recognized by FIDE – remains unresolved.

In April, with the mediation of Sports Minister Ivan Peshev, the two leading federations signed a memorandum of cooperation in an attempt to unify, but this has not yet been realized.

In the meantime, Kurtenkov stated that he will seek answers from the Second District Police Department and the Ministry of Youth and Sports regarding the inspection and his detention.

TrafficNews, 09.09.2025

Alleged (low quality) photo by TrafficNews from the arrest of Kurtenkov