Chess.Com/WSJ: Niemann has cheated over 100 times in past 5 years

Wonder if the pun was intended, the subject matter literally being arse technica.

intense search of Hans before the US chess championship, where he is crushing it.

What kind of weak ass search was that? I've had more scrutiny from a convenience store clerk. That dinky little toy is not going to detect nothing. It wasn't even pointed at all the offices and pockets. No wonder the judges say they couldn't find any evidence.

yeah security is hella weak.
could they not just block all mobile and radio frequencies in the room?

All of the engine correlation stuff was bad statistical analysis that has been fully debunked. The published report from chess dot com highlighted a few performances as suspicious, but nothing remotely akin to what you're claiming here. What's suspicious about Hans's OTB progression is the speed at which he went from 2500 --> 2700 after seemingly plateauing in his early teens, not that he played games exactly mirroring engines.

Yep. It looks like he blatantly lied.

Common misconception here; I think most of the chess community is in agreement that nothing about Hans's play at Sinquefield (in any of his games) was suspicious. Magnus played probably his worst classical game in four years against Hans there, and after the increased security measures were put into place, Hans still picked up draws against MVL, Nepo, and Dominguez Perez (all 2740+ rated players).

Been following this saga from the start, and I still don't really know what to think. Yes, Hans is a serial cheater online. I think it's totally valid if players don't want to compete against him OTB, and if I had to bet, I'd probably bet that he cheated OTB. But the report on Hans's cheating also noted that dozens of titled players (including four in the top 100) have been caught cheating online, and their names have not been released.

What's the difference between all of these anonymous cheating grandmasters and Hans? Only the latter beat Magnus Carlsen in an OTB classical game. If Hans loses or draws that game against Magnus, I don't think any of this happens -- I don't think chess dot com bans Hans, I don't think Magnus withdraws from SInquefield, and I think this whole situation stays hidden from public eye. Something about that just gives me icky vibes.

That would take lining the walls and ceilings with sheets of metal, doubt they have the budget for that if the chess security is grandpa with a metal detector from the hardware store that didn't even scan the bottom of his shoes. And besides, even without mobile and radio waves, there are other ways to signal like knocking on walls and using a hearing aid to amplify that sounds or even better, use ultrasonic sound waves that no one can hear and have a hearing aid tuned to those higher frequencies.

You guys are just making yourselves look like ignoring cuckoo fools!

Here is Hans destroying another GM in blitz bullet chess!

It would be physically impossible to get help or consolt the computer when you're playing this fast!

He's beating another strong GM with a 2620 rating!

He admitted he cheated a couple times online but guess what many that plays chess has cheated online!

It's kind of like did Mo Farah get some help to become an all-time great!

I personally don't think he's ever cheated in an over the board game but I can guarantee you he's not doing the stuff you guys are saying and most of that stuff doesn't make any sense to context of the security they have

Kasparov saying no evidence of cheating! And that they use a delay and detection devices which make cheating OTB impossible!

What weirds me out the most about this scandal is the creepy army of pro-Niemann apologists who may or may not be trolling. I guess that a lot of people are angry at Magnus for choosing not to defend his title, so supporting Niemann makes a good outlet for their nerd rage.

Dumb bro! Hans is by far the best young American player!

He's the best chance America has for a top chess player in the near future!

And chess.com said four other GMS had been found to have cheated!

What are the names of those other GMS?

Why didn't they release their names as well?

You don't realize this guy is getting railroaded?

You don't understand online cheating doesn't mean you actually necessarily cheat it just means that you flip away from the screen to another screen!

Here is another top GM saying that hansnis a really strong GM

Here's Gary Kasparov saying that Magnus carlsen was wrong in the situation!

You're the one who's brainwashed and is selling out a great young American talent!

You should ask yourself why are you so eager to side with Magnus Carlson who is clearly taking advantage of his status

Seriously man I mean being some guy on the Internet who is just shooting his mouth off... you think you might want to pull for the underdog a little... especially when it's a young American who has some potential!!!

Look at his play in 2020 in Charlotte, which was his third GM norm tournament. Compare his play in those games with Stockfish 12 (the engine at that time) and you will see his play is nearly perfect (average centipawn loss of 4). Not saying that every tournament he plays in he has unheard of accuracy, but key tournaments in his development are suspicious in my opinion, but not conclusive.

Agree about the way that this played out doesn't seem right. Why was he allowed to play in the Chess.com tournament to begin with when they knew about his online cheating history and what changed because Magnus withdraws from the Sinquefield Cup without any proof of his opponent cheating or wrongdoing? As it stands right now to me his over the board play has been suspicious at times, but don't have proof of anything concrete enough to ban him. It seems psychologically like in running if you are competing against someone you are almost certain is doping; that alone is enough to given them a small edge and take away some of your confidence in your ability to win.

I think most people following this don't think that Magnus Carlsen has handled this well, but that is a separate point from whether Hans Niemann has found a way to cheat over the board in some tournaments. Hans is clearly good at chess, that isn't the question either, the question is whether/ to what extent he has been cheating.

He figured out a way to cheat and wasn't getting immediately caught and started getting greedy, a little too greedy.

He cleverly has figured out how to cheat OTB, it'd be nice to know how, but I also think that he should keep it a secret. Some novelties are worth discovering rather than being told, just like magic tricks.

Hans with another draw in us open, still tied for first! Playing solid chess!

Guys seriously your conspiracy theories are crazy, you might as well say we didn't land on the Moon

Guys not cheating and has never cheated in an over the board tournament

Even chess.com said he hasn't cheated for over 2 years!

You don't realize how easy it is to cheat online and how tempting it is when you literally train that way... with using a computer and when it's part of your normal routine... to check moves on a computer

Again why haven't they released the names of the other GMS they know who also cheated!

And for those of you that don't know Magnus Carlson's company combined with chess.com and that's why he had access to hans' history

Anyone cheating by using a computer who is clever enough to be a GM is not going to make the mistake of playing every move guided by computer. Therefore that kind of analysis is not going to work. Just like a doper though what they can't hide is the results of their deception in terms of performance. I thought the main suspicion in the first Carlsen defeat was that someone had leaked the opening (or defence, not sure of the exact details) Carlsen used. It could be that he has more than one method. One thing that is laughable though is the "he only cheated when he got caught therefore he is clean now" defence. Should Kip Litton, Mike Rossi, Rob Young, Dave Reading etc get the same full pardon?

Is it true they found the anal beads inside a fish after a fishing competition. Even the fish are making GM moves now.

I wouldn't say that it "weirds me out"; rather, it disgusts me. Of course, I've seen this kind of thing many times before; a vile or amoral individual who flouts established ethical norms becomes some sort of antihero to a collection of disaffected misfits.

I, by the way, am not among those who believe that Magnus acted poorly; I think that he acted in a very principled and rather courageous manner, effectively outing Niemann as a cheat, putting his own reputation on the line, not getting noticeably rattled by critics of his behavior, and calling attention to a problem that could eventually kill off top-level competition if not taken seriously. And, very importantly, doing it in a way that largely insulated him from devastating defamation actions. As it's turned out, Niemann's lies in response to Carlsen's actions provided a solid basis for a damning rebuttal report from chess.com, which had previously kept its findings private.

At this point, you have as much evidence that Niemann is the son of Hitler as you do of him cheating in person. Which is exactly zilch. Say, isn't "Hans Niemann" a German name? There, I actually have a lot more evidence that he is the son of Hitler than you do that he cheated in a real life tournament. Everyone cheats at online chess, including me. The only ones that don't cheat online are liars.

Are you also one of the ones that thought Camille and Derek Murphy were "courageous" for falsely accusing Ashley Paulson of "cheating" with their shoddy split statistics to back up their self-righteous harrassment?

Niemann showing off 5he skills. Best American chess prospect since fisher! Will be top 10 in the world in 3 to 5 years! Top bullet and blitz player! Cheating online is so tempting and impulsive it's like porn u know u shouldn't!