[imagesource:  Crystal Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club]

Magnus Carlsen is likely to go down in history as the greatest chess player who’s ever lived.

When he gets beaten, it’s always big news and even more so when he then withdraws from the tournament in the aftermath.

Carlsen (above left) lost to 19-year-old grandmaster Hans Niemann (above right) in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis last week.

The loss is Carlsen’s first for several years when playing with White and it’s the first withdrawal of the Norwegian’s entire career.

In the aftermath of defeat, he simply posted an often-used meme of football manager José Mourinho saying, “If I speak I am in big trouble.”

I’ve withdrawn from the tournament. I’ve always enjoyed playing in the @STLChessClub, and hope to be back in the future https://t.co/YFSpl8er3u

— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) September 5, 2022

In other words, he was implying something sinister occurred and now the chess world is absolutely losing it.

Let’s get the basics via VICE:

“It must be embarrassing for the world champion to lose to an idiot like me,” Niemann said in an interview shortly after the victory. “I feel bad for him.”

Carlsen’s implications rocked the chess community, which quickly began speculating online that Niemann must have cheated, despite no evidence of foul play being presented from Carlsen or event organizers…

American chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura soon implied that Nieman may have had a history of online cheating.

He was correct – Niemann was once temporarily banned by Chess.com, the sport’s biggest online platform, for computer use in an online tournament. He admitted that he had cheated, but added that he was just 12 and 16 when it happened and the online games were trivial matches.

Niemann cheated in those two matches as he was trying to rise rapidly through the Chess.com ranking system so he could play better opponents and added it “is the single biggest mistake of my life and I’m completely ashamed”.

Those who examined Niemann’s moves during his victory over Carlsen say he didn’t play the ‘perfect’ match, which would usually be the case if he was making use of computer technology to cheat. Carlsen also made three sub-optimal moves during the loss.

Carlsen could also be insinuating that his surprise opening sequence was leaked, possibly by someone inside his own camp or by a computer hack.

Niemann stressed at length in an interview with St Louis Chess Club that he’s never cheated in a live match.

Despite his protestations, Niemann has now been banned by Chess.com. A VICE follow-up article with more:

“We have shared detailed evidence with him concerning our decision, including information that contradicts his statements regarding the amount and seriousness of his cheating on Chess.com,” Chess.com said in a statement…

Niemann said, “The main thing that I want to say is that I’m not going to let Chess.com, I’m not going to let Magnus Carlsen, I’m not going to let Hikaru Nakamura, the three arguably biggest entities in chess, simply slander my reputation because the question is, why are they going to remove me from Chess.com right after I beat Magnus. What’s with the timing?”

Online cheating with the help of a computer is one thing, but how would you cheat in person during a live match that is being broadcast?

Here’s where things really take a strange turn:

Currently obsessed with the notion that Hans Niemann has been cheating at the Sinquefield Cup chess tournament using wireless anal beads that vibrate him the correct moves. pic.twitter.com/F48BXjtBlN

— Babble (@Babble____) September 7, 2022

The above tweet was shared by Elon Musk, who added a quote from German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer – “Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one can see (cause it’s in your butt).”

He added the bit in brackets but has since deleted the tweet.

The vibrations wouldn’t necessarily have to come via one’s posterior. Deadspin offers a different and perhaps less painful option:

…author James Stanley claimed that he’d figured out a way to communicate with a chess engine in real time through his socks…

Through a series of vibrations and buttons in his shoes, Stanley was able to tell the engine what move his opponent played. The engine would then relay a series of vibrations back to Stanley to let him know what move he should play next. Stanley explained that his feet were ideal for accomplishing this cheat, because they are the only part of the body that has dexterity while still being obscured from view.

Again, there is no evidence that Niemann was cheating in any way.

The Chess.com statement mentions evidence of his online cheating but does not go into detail.

I can’t help but feel sorry for the 19-year-old caught in the centre of it all:

Niemann expressed his disappointment over how one of the best moments in his career so quickly became one of the worst. “For me to see my hero, to see my absolute hero try to target, try to ruin my reputation, ruin my chess career, and to do it in such a frivolous way, is really disappointing, because you spend your entire life looking up to someone, and then you meet them,” he said. “My dream came true, I lived my dream for a day, beating Magnus, and then all of this happened.”

Carlsen wields extraordinary power in the chess world, which he has earned over close to a decade of being the world champion.

He’s shone a massive spotlight on a sport that mostly goes unheralded (along with The Queen’s Gambit) and continues to do so.

In this case, however, it’s turned into a massive scandal. Until clear evidence is presented, it’s unclear who the villain in this story is.

[sources:vice&vice&deadspin]