The five-time world champion in chess, Magnus Carlsen, has publicly made serious allegations against 19-year-old Twitch streamer Hans Niemann: He accuses him of cheating. Carlsen suggests: He will no longer play against people like Niemann, who have a history of cheating. This could have devastating consequences for Niemann, experts believe.
This is the situation:
- Magnus Carlsen is considered the best chess player of all time.
- Therefore, it was surprising that Carlsen lost a game with White against 19-year-old Hans Niemann at the beginning of September 2022. Carlsen withdrew from the tournament after the loss and suggested that Niemann had cheated.
- Niemann confessed that he had cheated when he was 12 and 16 years old, but never at the board. However, Carlsen escalated the dispute further by tacitly resigning in a second match against Niemann and leaving the game.
Carlsen will no longer play against Niemann, accuses him of cheating
This is what Carlsen says now: In a statement that the chess world has long awaited, Carlsen explains his accusations against Niemann in more detail.
I believe that Niemann has cheated more and more recently than he admits publicly. His progress in over-the-board play is unusual, and during our game at the Sinquefield Cup, I had the impression that he was neither tense nor fully focused in critical moments, while he outplayed me on Black in a way that only a handful of players can.
Carlsen says: When Niemann was invited to the second tournament at short notice, he considered canceling but then decided to play.
But in general, Carlsen does not want to play against people who have repeatedly cheated in the past, because he is uncertain about what they might do in the future:
I believe that cheating is a big deal in chess and an existential threat to the game. I believe that the organizers of chess and all those who care about the integrity of the game we love should develop security measures and methods to detect cheats at the board.
However, Carlsen did not want to comment in more detail. He can only do that once Niemann grants him explicit permission to speak about it.
But Carlsen makes it clear: He will not play any more chess against Niemann.
The Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” brought chess into the mainstream and makes the game of kings appealing to the “Twitch” generation:
“It could be that Niemann has played his last invitation tournament”
What is this leading to? Ultimately, Carlsen is banishing 19-year-old Niemann from the world of chess. For he suggests: If Niemann is invited to a tournament, then he, the world champion, will not participate in that tournament.
One of the most important chess YouTubers, agadmator, says:
The organizers will now have to decide whether to invite Magnus or Hans to events. Hans may have played his last game in an invitation tournament.
agadmator
Twitch streamer xQc defends Niemann
Who defends Hans? None other than xQc, the biggest Twitch streamer in the world, stands up for Niemann. The streamer known as ‘the Juicer’, posts in his usual screaming “All Caps”:
“Hey, believe me. Let me cause irreparable damage because I want to.”
In addition, xQc posted a meme: “My evidence is that I just made it up.”
HE CHEATED! BELIEVE ME! LET ME CAUSE IRREPERABLE DAMAGE BECAUSE I WANT TO! pic.twitter.com/FI8NwucKjA
— xQc (@xQc) September 26, 2022
What is the crux of the matter? There has been much discussion about whether and how Niemann cheats: It was hoped that Carlsen would present some theories or evidence, but he only describes his impression that Niemann was unfocused and apparently did not think much about his moves.
Someone like xQc seems to assume that the “King of Chess” is abusing his power here because he can:
- Some accuse Carlsen of being just a “bad loser”
- Others, however, believe Carlsen and think that Niemann’s significant increase in playing strength can only be explained by something nefarious going on
The theories about how Niemann might have cheated are getting more and more absurd. While initially the theory circulated that Niemann might have received information through “anal beads” in his rear end via vibrations, other users on Twitter are now talking about a “neural implant”.
Since the success of “The Queen’s Gambit” on Netflix, chess has experienced a surge on Twitch. Individual chess players have become influencers and use the streaming platform Twitch to reach a new audience:
