Non-Accusation Accusation Leads to Huge Chess Kerfuffle
September 7, 2022 10:48 AM Subscribe
The Sinquefield Cup is a marquee invitational chess tournament featuring the world's top players. The tournament is sponsored by the Saint Louis Chess Club and named after its patron Rex Sinquefield. It is part of a series of global events known as the Grand Chess Tour. The GCT is a circuit of invitational tournaments for the worlds top players that aspires to create a kind of PGA tour for chess.
Controversy erupted on Monday when retiring World Champion Magnus Carlsen announced via a somewhat cryptic tweet that he had withdrawn from the event. The tweet was interpreted by many to be an accusation that rising American junior player GM Hans Niemann had cheated in beating Magnus the previous day.
A post on reddit's r/chess has summarized all the drama that has followed. In summary popular chess streamer GM Hikaru Nakamura spent most of his stream suggesting that Hans was accused of cheating and raising doubts about his play, this was echoed by other players. Later in the day other top players came to Hans' defense. Yesterday after finishing his game Hans himself spoke on camera to deny the allegations. During this statement he did confess to previously cheating online on chess.com when he was younger, a claim that had been made by Hikaru the day before.
In an age where electronic devices are common, easy to conceal and have computing power to beat even the strongest chess players there is a fear for the future of the sport. At the same time the trial and judgement of a rising young player by an online mob based on no evidence other than speculation seems to be extremely bad for the sport.
A post on reddit's r/chess has summarized all the drama that has followed. In summary popular chess streamer GM Hikaru Nakamura spent most of his stream suggesting that Hans was accused of cheating and raising doubts about his play, this was echoed by other players. Later in the day other top players came to Hans' defense. Yesterday after finishing his game Hans himself spoke on camera to deny the allegations. During this statement he did confess to previously cheating online on chess.com when he was younger, a claim that had been made by Hikaru the day before.
In an age where electronic devices are common, easy to conceal and have computing power to beat even the strongest chess players there is a fear for the future of the sport. At the same time the trial and judgement of a rising young player by an online mob based on no evidence other than speculation seems to be extremely bad for the sport.
Rhetoric involving a metaphorical comparison to lynching doesn't help anything either.
posted by Earthtopus at 11:58 AM on September 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Earthtopus at 11:58 AM on September 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
It took me a second to think of the possibilities of a mobile electronic device feeding moves to the player. That strikes me as something that would create a wealth of real physical and digital evidence, without which this is just sound and fury with no evidence.
Sooo... perfect for the internet.
posted by shenkerism at 12:30 PM on September 7, 2022
Sooo... perfect for the internet.
posted by shenkerism at 12:30 PM on September 7, 2022
I think the setup of the tournament room in Saint Louis makes it impossible to get visibly or audibly signaled by a spectator who could analyze the position on a computer. The players are searched with metal detectors and spectrum analyzers designed to detect mobile electronics. They get checked before and after the game. They also have one bathroom for the players and it is regularly searched. A player who tried to sneak something past security would be taking a big risk because if caught their career is over.
The other theory is that somehow Hans got access to Magnus’s secret opening preparation. The opening — the initial moves for how you bring your peices into play from behind your pawns and how you setup your pawns is one of the areas elite players spend a lot of time planning before the game in hopes of getting an early edge in the game. This would imply some kind of hacking or a betrayal in Magnus’ camp. That also seems pretty unlikely.
I think Magnus was overconfident and lost, then he couldn’t believe he lost to such a lower rated player. So he decided there must have been cheating and when no one could find any evidence he quit the tournament.
posted by interogative mood at 12:56 PM on September 7, 2022
The other theory is that somehow Hans got access to Magnus’s secret opening preparation. The opening — the initial moves for how you bring your peices into play from behind your pawns and how you setup your pawns is one of the areas elite players spend a lot of time planning before the game in hopes of getting an early edge in the game. This would imply some kind of hacking or a betrayal in Magnus’ camp. That also seems pretty unlikely.
I think Magnus was overconfident and lost, then he couldn’t believe he lost to such a lower rated player. So he decided there must have been cheating and when no one could find any evidence he quit the tournament.
posted by interogative mood at 12:56 PM on September 7, 2022
My barely-there toehold in #ChessTwitter managed to show me only people saying "Don't gossip... No one knows the real facts... Don't spread rumors..." without anyone saying anything about what the gossip, facts, or rumors might be. Of course, I went investigating anyway after the first day or so, but I found it funny that the people I followed gave me just enough hints to know that something was happening.
posted by Etrigan at 2:31 PM on September 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 2:31 PM on September 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
It took me a second to think of the possibilities of a mobile electronic device feeding moves to the player. That strikes me as something that would create a wealth of real physical and digital evidence, without which this is just sound and fury with no evidence.--shenkerism
Speaking as an Electrical Engineer, I can easily think of many ways of doing this that are unlikely to be detected, and I'm just thinking off the top of my head. Sure, you can block radio waves. But how about light?
It reminds me of when the US let the Soviet Union build its consulate, thinking that they could find and figure out any bugging devices that the Russians tried to put in the building. After getting the building, they found devices just about everywhere they looked. They never figured out how quite a number of them worked.
I am in no way making any opinion about any cheating in this case--just that, in general, it can be done. And now that computers can easily beat even the best players, it makes this a potentially serious problem for the sport.
posted by eye of newt at 10:27 PM on September 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Speaking as an Electrical Engineer, I can easily think of many ways of doing this that are unlikely to be detected, and I'm just thinking off the top of my head. Sure, you can block radio waves. But how about light?
It reminds me of when the US let the Soviet Union build its consulate, thinking that they could find and figure out any bugging devices that the Russians tried to put in the building. After getting the building, they found devices just about everywhere they looked. They never figured out how quite a number of them worked.
I am in no way making any opinion about any cheating in this case--just that, in general, it can be done. And now that computers can easily beat even the best players, it makes this a potentially serious problem for the sport.
posted by eye of newt at 10:27 PM on September 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Only time will tell whether Hans is legit, but I lean towards believing that he is. However, with this topic brought to light, tournament security needs to be tightened up to detect the tiniest possible miniaturized device. The wand method they are using has loopholes and inconsistencies. A device could also run an engine locally and not require any wireless capability. I outlined an idea for a Morse-based device on r/chess here. If nothing changes with the security methods, there will always be a question in the future about whether someone could smuggle in a device. This can really affect the future credibility of the sport.
posted by TreeHugger at 12:14 AM on September 8, 2022
posted by TreeHugger at 12:14 AM on September 8, 2022
I would not put a lot of faith in being able to detect a miniature device. What are you going to do, MRI the players?
posted by ryanrs at 5:47 PM on September 8, 2022
posted by ryanrs at 5:47 PM on September 8, 2022
Are you confident enough in your design to bet your entire career and future earnings on being able to get it past their metal detector and spectrum analyzers/ device detectors. Keep in mind you will need a battery to power it for about 6 hours and you may not have access to the same equipment and the settings used in their scans.
posted by interogative mood at 7:26 PM on September 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by interogative mood at 7:26 PM on September 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
having seen mention of Niemann’s apparent recent accent change, is there a convenient example of a before, with respect to his latest post-game interview?
posted by progosk at 9:24 PM on September 8, 2022
posted by progosk at 9:24 PM on September 8, 2022
Are you confident enough in your design to bet your entire career and future earnings on being able to get it past their metal detector and spectrum analyzers/ device detectors.
Hey, if I was taking home the big prizes, I wouldn't have implanted this fake pacemaker in the first place!
posted by ryanrs at 9:50 PM on September 8, 2022
Hey, if I was taking home the big prizes, I wouldn't have implanted this fake pacemaker in the first place!
posted by ryanrs at 9:50 PM on September 8, 2022
Elon Musk has tweeted about the insane theory proposed by GM Eric Hansen that Hans was using Bluetooth enabled anal beads to get outside assistance.
posted by interogative mood at 2:44 PM on September 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by interogative mood at 2:44 PM on September 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Bluetooth enabled anal beads
So, that's why I play chess so poorly! I'm not using these!
posted by spinifex23 at 2:58 PM on September 9, 2022
So, that's why I play chess so poorly! I'm not using these!
posted by spinifex23 at 2:58 PM on September 9, 2022
If true, then Hans has beaten Musk in the race to develop a practical neural link, and in the process has solved the greatest problem with that technology (needs brain surgery).
Cheating at chess is a classic neural link use case. I'm sure there's some sci-fi novel with that exact premise.
posted by ryanrs at 9:25 PM on September 9, 2022
Cheating at chess is a classic neural link use case. I'm sure there's some sci-fi novel with that exact premise.
posted by ryanrs at 9:25 PM on September 9, 2022
Kasparov argued for human-computer augmented intelligence.
Perhaps in the future, there will be chess championships where the competitors are expected to be humans augmented with links to a computer.
posted by eye of newt at 9:50 PM on September 9, 2022
Perhaps in the future, there will be chess championships where the competitors are expected to be humans augmented with links to a computer.
posted by eye of newt at 9:50 PM on September 9, 2022
Perhaps in the future, there will be chess championships where the competitors are expected to be humans augmented with links to a computer.
They practically already are -- I'd bet that high-level chess competitors these days spend more of their time sparring with computers than with humans.
posted by Etrigan at 5:53 AM on September 10, 2022
They practically already are -- I'd bet that high-level chess competitors these days spend more of their time sparring with computers than with humans.
posted by Etrigan at 5:53 AM on September 10, 2022
They don’t spar with the computers. It is more like they are using computers to make model games and attempting to find moments in that game where it will be very difficult for their opponent to find the best move. Then they want to force the game they are playing to one of these difficult places. Lead your opponent into a dark forest and hope they get lost because you are the only one with a map.
posted by interogative mood at 11:12 AM on September 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by interogative mood at 11:12 AM on September 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
As a result of the social media torrent Hans Niemann suddenly has groupies showing up at the tournament.
posted by interogative mood at 6:35 PM on September 10, 2022
posted by interogative mood at 6:35 PM on September 10, 2022
So here’s an interesting new development, not sure what it means:
Magnus Carlsen resigns from rematch with Hans Niemann after opening move
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 10:28 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Magnus Carlsen resigns from rematch with Hans Niemann after opening move
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 10:28 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
This sort of accusation without actually saying anything, letting people assume everything and anything, is really a dick move.
posted by trig at 12:10 AM on September 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by trig at 12:10 AM on September 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Dr Ken Regan Associate Professor at the University of Buffalo is widely recognized as the leading authority on using statistical methods to identify cheating in chess.
Here he is on a recent podcast with James Altucher discussing the cheating allegations against Hans. He says he finds no evidence of cheating by Hans in "over the board" aka IRL chess or online events since 2020.
See also his 2019 interview on the Perpetual Chess podcast after a previous cheating controversy involving GM Igors Rausis who was caught in the bathroom cheating with a mobile phone.
posted by interogative mood at 7:49 AM on September 20, 2022
Here he is on a recent podcast with James Altucher discussing the cheating allegations against Hans. He says he finds no evidence of cheating by Hans in "over the board" aka IRL chess or online events since 2020.
See also his 2019 interview on the Perpetual Chess podcast after a previous cheating controversy involving GM Igors Rausis who was caught in the bathroom cheating with a mobile phone.
posted by interogative mood at 7:49 AM on September 20, 2022
The drama continues. Yesterday Magnus name dropped GM Maxime Dlugy when refusing to comment on the Hans story until after the current event is over. Dlugy is a prominent Chess coach based in Manhattan who is rumored to have been shadow banned from chess.com after allegedly cheating in one of their online events. Maxime also got one of his opponents banned for suspected cheating after accusing his opponent of having a device in his shoes. The player refused to let his shoes be searched blaming his bad smelling feet.
posted by interogative mood at 10:22 AM on September 22, 2022
posted by interogative mood at 10:22 AM on September 22, 2022
The drama escalates: Niemann Cheating Scandal Spirals Out Of Control As Magnus Carlsen’s Rook Found Dead
posted by chimpsonfilm at 8:23 PM on September 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by chimpsonfilm at 8:23 PM on September 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
Carlsen tweets:
Dear Chess World,
At the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I made the unprecedented professional decision to withdraw from the tournament after my round three game against Hans Niemann. A week later during the Champions Chess Tour, I resigned against Hans Niemann after playing only one move.
I know that my actions have frustrated many in the chess community. I'm frustrated. I want to play chess. I want to continue to play chess at the highest level in the best events.
I believe that cheating in chess is a big deal and an existential threat to the game. I also believe that chess organizers and all those who care about the sanctity of the game we love should seriously consider increasing security measures and methods of cheat detection for over the board chess. When Niemann was invited last minute to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I strongly considered withdrawing prior to the event. I ultimately chose to play.
I believe that Niemann has cheated more - and more recently - than he has publicly admitted.
His over the board progress has been unusual, and throughout our game in the Sinquefield Cup I had the impression that he wasn't tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions, while outplaying me as black in a way I think only a handful of players can do. This game contributed to changing my perspective.
We must do something about cheating, and for my part going forward, I don't want to play against people that have cheated repeatedly in the past, because I don't know what they are capable of doing in the future.
There is more that I would like to say. Unfortunately, at this time I am limited in what I can say without explicit permission from Niemann to speak openly. So far I have only been able to speak with my actions, and those actions have stated clearly that I am not willing to play chess with Niemann. I hope that the truth on this matter comes out, whatever it may be.
Sincerely,
Magnus Carlsen - World Chess Champion
posted by Etrigan at 1:33 PM on September 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
Dear Chess World,
At the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I made the unprecedented professional decision to withdraw from the tournament after my round three game against Hans Niemann. A week later during the Champions Chess Tour, I resigned against Hans Niemann after playing only one move.
I know that my actions have frustrated many in the chess community. I'm frustrated. I want to play chess. I want to continue to play chess at the highest level in the best events.
I believe that cheating in chess is a big deal and an existential threat to the game. I also believe that chess organizers and all those who care about the sanctity of the game we love should seriously consider increasing security measures and methods of cheat detection for over the board chess. When Niemann was invited last minute to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I strongly considered withdrawing prior to the event. I ultimately chose to play.
I believe that Niemann has cheated more - and more recently - than he has publicly admitted.
His over the board progress has been unusual, and throughout our game in the Sinquefield Cup I had the impression that he wasn't tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions, while outplaying me as black in a way I think only a handful of players can do. This game contributed to changing my perspective.
We must do something about cheating, and for my part going forward, I don't want to play against people that have cheated repeatedly in the past, because I don't know what they are capable of doing in the future.
There is more that I would like to say. Unfortunately, at this time I am limited in what I can say without explicit permission from Niemann to speak openly. So far I have only been able to speak with my actions, and those actions have stated clearly that I am not willing to play chess with Niemann. I hope that the truth on this matter comes out, whatever it may be.
Sincerely,
Magnus Carlsen - World Chess Champion
posted by Etrigan at 1:33 PM on September 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
Unfortunately, at this time I am limited in what I can say without explicit permission from Niemann to speak openly.
The whole Psych! I Double Dare Ya! part is too New Dimensions in Passive-Aggressivity not to mention too performance art. But then again what do we know? what does he know that we don't? Such drama has been created.
I'm with interogative mood on this one. Entire career, future earnings and a name that would live in infamy -- it's an awful lot to risk. It could be an episode from the 2nd season of Van der Walk. But then again, complicated game, complicated people. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by y2karl at 10:21 AM on September 28, 2022
The whole Psych! I Double Dare Ya! part is too New Dimensions in Passive-Aggressivity not to mention too performance art. But then again what do we know? what does he know that we don't? Such drama has been created.
Available soon in Jurassic World Dominion Sensearound and drawn from extreme Hannes Bokian perspectives in the accompanying graphic novel.Are you confident enough in your design to bet your entire career and future earnings on being able to get it past their metal detector and spectrum analyzers/ device detectors.
A shamelessly electrified monster arises from the chessboard to stalk the earth..
With bead by bead commentary. Over 18? Ask about our Magic Wand.
I'm with interogative mood on this one. Entire career, future earnings and a name that would live in infamy -- it's an awful lot to risk. It could be an episode from the 2nd season of Van der Walk. But then again, complicated game, complicated people. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by y2karl at 10:21 AM on September 28, 2022
The paradox here is that Carlsen is the numero uno highest ranked player on Earth, so if this controversy involved Niemann and anyone else, naturally people would go to Carlsen for his opinion. But since he is the person involved, he's staking his reputation on the world believing him when he essentially says "I feel in my gut that this guy plays wrong".
Out of curiosity, if Niemann wanted to sue him for libel/defamation, in a "put up or shut up" kind of way, in what jurisdiction might he do that?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 11:46 AM on September 28, 2022
Out of curiosity, if Niemann wanted to sue him for libel/defamation, in a "put up or shut up" kind of way, in what jurisdiction might he do that?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 11:46 AM on September 28, 2022
“Chess Grandmaster Maxim Dlugy Admitted to Cheating on Chess.com, Emails Show,” Jason Koebler, Motherboard, 28 September 2022
posted by ob1quixote at 12:56 PM on September 28, 2022
posted by ob1quixote at 12:56 PM on September 28, 2022
According to chess analyst Yosha Iglesias, Niemann has played some machine-perfect games against opponents, and sometimes machine-perfect streaks inside otherwise non-anamalous matches.
I found the link through this Deadspin article, which is a summary of this YT video by Iglesias (~23 mins).
I found the link through this Deadspin article, which is a summary of this YT video by Iglesias (~23 mins).
For context, most world champions play at around a 70-75 percent engine score. According to Iglesias, at the pinnacle of Carlsen’s career, Carlsen was playing at around 70 percent. During Bobby Fischer’s famous 20-game winning streak, he was playing at 72 percent.posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:34 PM on September 28, 2022
And according to Iglesias’ research, Niemann did indeed play engine perfect in this much-talked about match with Carlsen.
It’s not super uncommon to play a single game at 100 percent, but on multiple occasions? Now, things are getting suspicious. [...]
Niemann, however, has more than a few such games, including one against Cristhian Camilo Rios in the second round of the Sharjah Masters on September 18, 2021 where Niemann played engine perfect for 45 consecutive moves.
Chess.com: Niemann Has Likely Cheated In More Than 100 Online Chess Games
posted by needled at 12:09 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by needled at 12:09 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
The report by Chess.com is an example of a company devoting its PR and legal teams to destroying a 19 year old kid. They bury the lede which is they caught Hans in 2020. He confessed on the phone to some of his offenses. At the time they assumed he actually cheated more than he said. Despite this they gave him a second chance account. They monitored him and found ZERO instances of cheating on their platform since then. They also state they found no evidence Hans cheated OTB. However they packaged this up to hide that in a way that is shameful and disgusting. Instead they spend pages and pages seeming to cast doubt on their own statement and filling the report with meaningless graphs.
The most outrageous part is that they released this right at the start of the US Chess Championship when Hans will be unable to defend himself for the next month.
Actual data scientists and academics in the chess community have called the work sloppy.
And by the way today it was revealed by Yosha Iglesias that they work for Chess24. Chess24 is a company that is part of PlayMagnus Group a company that is currently owned in part by Magnus Carlson and being sold to chess.com.
posted by interogative mood at 8:03 PM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
The most outrageous part is that they released this right at the start of the US Chess Championship when Hans will be unable to defend himself for the next month.
Actual data scientists and academics in the chess community have called the work sloppy.
And by the way today it was revealed by Yosha Iglesias that they work for Chess24. Chess24 is a company that is part of PlayMagnus Group a company that is currently owned in part by Magnus Carlson and being sold to chess.com.
posted by interogative mood at 8:03 PM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by Think_Long at 11:20 AM on September 7, 2022 [2 favorites]