Cheating in Hamilton Rookies Shield Tournament

The two german players Michael Stock (Elo 2275) and WGM Lara Stock (Elo 2346) registered to a tournament at the Hamilton Chess Club in New Zealand using wrong names. The 19 year old WGM won the "Rookies Shield" pretending she had a rating under 1700 and that she is younger than 18. The prize money was $55. Some Australian players also reported that they have tried to register to a tournament in Melbourne by using wrong names as well. To german people both players are well known, because Lara had trouble with the German chess federation some years ago. Both players play exceptionally strong in foreign tournaments, for example in the early 90s Michael Stock went from Elo 2200 to 2400 after a tournament in Hungary. After that tournament he didn't play any rated tournaments for some years. Lara Stock made her final WGM Norm in a tournament in Croatia with a performance of 2550 in 2007.

That's what the organizers write: "At great expense to the Hamilton Chess Club management, two strong chess players were secretly imported from Europe to test the resolve and current skill level of the Waikato juniors and beginners on 20th Feb. Lara Stock (wgm) and her father Michael Stock (2200+) cleverly kept their relationship, ages – she was over 18 – and identities secret (by using false names) and both convincingly blitzed the field of up and coming but unsuspecting budding chess enthusiasts. We all enjoyed the lessons learned – both on and off the chess board, of honesty and integrity or what happens when there is a lack of it."