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Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann settle dispute over cheating claims that rocked chess – US player had filed lawsuit against former world champion
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- Authors
- Tom Lutz
- Published
- Aug 28 2023
- Word count
- 492 words
I am curious, I did not follow the story closely when the events were happening. Was there any evidence (whether based on heuristics or on a potential method) that Niemann actually cheated? Carlsen very loudly broadcast that he believed Niemann to be cheating, and I heard that many venues banned him because of this.
Curious about the history and what chess-inclined people here think this reveals or doesn't reveal.
There is ample evidence that Niemann cheated in multiple occasions. However, there is no evidence that he cheated against Magnus.
As I remember he was caught cheating several times before.
Which sets a precedent.
I don't really follow chess, but are tournament matches really done online as opposed to in person? If not, how would you cheat at chess in person?
One of the reasons why this story has become known outside of chess circles is actually the proposed method of cheating that folks online speculated about. The idea was that he was using a modified remotely controlled sex toy internally that someone could use to send moves to him through the vibrations.
The whole thing was crazy and is why niemann offered to play in the nude to prove he wasn't cheating.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia does a rather hilarious parody of this in their most recent season.
..."folks online" being /r/AnarchyChess.
Somehow the news media proper, and Twitter, picked this up.
Ah, I can't say I had thought of that possibility before. Thanks for the info!
Didn't that start with just a Reddit comment? I had always thought that there was some inkling of a legitimate suspicion, but then I saw the other day that it was just a literal shit post I guess?
I don't know where the rumor started but no one with knowledge ever took it seriously. It was a joke. It would be incredibly easy to hide such a device in more comfortable spots in the body. And there are other ways to cheat.
One method is having a phone with a chess program hidden in the bathroom. Another is having a wireless buzzer in one's shoe or attached to one's leg which has a signal relayed to it by an accomplice. iirc both of those were actually used irl.
There's lots of theorizing that has been done on the subject. At high level chess, a lot of the game is going to follow predictable patterns, and there are a few key decisions that can make or break a game, so if you can signal to a player what they need to do at those critical junctures, through some kind of secret signal or whatever, that could be enough to win.
You don't even need to signal what to do. I don't remember who it was, but there was a grandmaster who commented on this situation who said that if he could be told just once during each game that the current position was worth looking deep at, he'd never lose a game again.