Chess World No 1 Magnus Carlsen accuses teen Hans Niemann of cheating, Internet says anal beads were involved
Chess might only be played on a board with two players but that doesn't mean that the game doesn't have its fair share of drama. Just look at how Magnus Carlsen broke his silence on cheating in the game.
“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.” The Norwegian Grandmaster and current World Chess Champion wrote in a detailed statement that he released today on Twitter, shedding light on his pubiclised rivalry with 19-year-old American Hans Niemann.
When did Carlsen vs Niemann start: The origins of the controversy can be traced back to a September 4 match when Carlsen dropped out of the Sinquefield Cup after losing to Niemann.
Niemann’s win in the initial rounds was definitely a shocker for chess fanatics given that this was Carlsen’s first loss after an unbeaten streak of 53 career victories. Another factor to consider was that Niemann’s world ranking is 49 while Carlsen has retained the No. 1 spot for five times.
Just a day after this monumental match, Carlsen resigned from the tournament refusing to play further matches. While Carlsen didn’t issue any explicit statements, the chess world was in chaos coming up with all sorts of theories.
Chess streamer Hikaru Nakamura was one of the first ones to suggest that Carlsen suspected Niemann of cheating, while Grandmaster Levon Aronian still wished to give the teenager the benefit of doubt as he told The New York Times that high-level chess players “can be pretty much paranoid”.
While Carlsen’s statement doesn’t reveal the exact nature of Niemnan’s alleged cheating methods, he seems to be relying on instinct and observation.
Going back to his Twitter statement,
The rivalry goes online: Two weeks later, Carlsen and Niemann faced off again in an online competitive match, on September 19. Chess fans were ready for things to heat up but Carlsen backed out of the game after just one move! The act of protest starts to make even more sense after today’s statement.
The match, held over Microsoft Teams, was a part of the Julius Baer Generation Cup which Carlsen eventually won on September 25.
Obviously, the victory is not what’s dominating popular conversation.
From chess forums breaking it down to Elon Musk giving one of his hot takes, the scandal has also led to the wild “anal beads” conspiracy theory!
Did Niemann cheat with anal beads?! While Carlsen has not offered any direct evidence to back his cheating claims, chess fans on Reddit joked that maybe Niemann got to know the best moves for his game through supercomputers embedded inside vibrating anal beads that were inserted you know where.
The beads would then vibrate through his body, transmitting messages to Niemann. One can wonder what Carlsen would feel about this!
But has Niemann ever cheated before? With all the unwanted media attention following his victory over Carlsen, Niemann made it a point to come clean with his previous cheating experiences. The American has admitted in press interviews that he has cheated online twice, when he was 12 and 16. But when it comes to the over the board match with Carlsen in September, he has denied the cheating allegations, adding that he can also play nude to prove his innocence!
Not the first chess cheating scandal: Carlsen's protests against Niemann and the statement were naturally unprecedented for the chess world. The last time a controversy like this happened in the game was the "Toiletgate" of World Chess Championship 2006 when Vladimir Kramnink was accused by his opponent Veselin Topalov for frequently taking bathroom breaks in between the game. Denying cheating claims, Kramnik eventually won the match following a tiebreak.
But in Niemann's case, Carlsen cannot even accuse him of taking suspicious bathroom breaks, especially in the case of online matches. As expected, Twitter continues to be divided with some observers believing in Carlsen's side of the story while others feel that if Carlsen's claims are unverified, they might just end up destroying a rising young man's career.