[2] He learned to play chess at age five and progressed quickly, winning the junior championship of Bulgaria in 2000.

[7] At the traditional Sigeman & Co invitation tournament in Malmö, Ivan Cheparinov won outright in April 2007.

[12] In 2012, he tied for 1st–3rd with Ivan Sokolov and Jonny Hector in the Politiken Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark, winning the event on tie-break.

"[22][23] The reason for Cheparinov's refusal was, according to the appeal made by him and his manager Silvio Danailov, that "some time ago in one of his interviews Mr. Short insulted him and our team gravely".

[22] After their protest, the Appeals Committee of the tournament—consisting of Vladimir Kramnik, Michał Krasenkow and Judit Polgár—overturned the decision to forfeit the game.

[25] The handshake incident was recorded on video and posted by chess website Chessdom on YouTube, where it was viewed over 300,000 times.