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I don't believe Hans cheated in the Sinquefield Cup, and I do believe he has had a genuine jump in strength. Mostly because he's been able to keep up with world

I don't believe Hans cheated in the Sinquefield Cup, and I do believe he has had a genuine jump in strength. Mostly because he's been able to keep up with world champion MVL in blitz. Cheating in OTB blitz chess is not really feasible at all. Also there's no evidence he cheated and no reason to believe he cheated based on his games. The only "evidence" is that he beat Carlsen with black. Questions have been raised about his 3rd GM norm, but the jury's still out on that. It wouldn't surprise me if he has cheated in OTB as well in the past, given his shady history and behaviour. But Carlsen really needs to grow the fuck up. As GM Ben Finegold pointed out, withdrawing from a round robin is a dick move, and it kind of ruins the tournament because players can be forced into a draw in a critical round where they need a win. In addition to that, passive-aggressively withdrawing with a cryptic tweet is not even close to the proper etiquette in response to suspected cheating. And it doesn't even make sense from a chess standpoint. He wasn't going to play Hans again. Withdrawing doesn't give him back any rating points. He obviously had no concrete evidence or Hans would be disqualified, so it's not like he's saving the tournament for the other players. He's just being a self-important jerk. I'm glad he's declined to defend his title because he's no longer capable of being an ambassador for the sport. He only cares about himself(which was basically his explanation for declining) He's also gotten in bed with illegal gambling sites, trying to turn the Norwegian Chess Federation into a lobby organisation for the gambling industry(luckily he failed). I say this as someone who grew up idolising Magnus Carlsen. I did 2 years ago, even 18 months ago. Not anymore.

genghisjahn 4y ago
This was not a OTB blitz game. OTB cheating in classical games is very possible. As discussed by two GMs in this video. https://youtu.be/mHZy9TNOGCk https://youtu.be/mHZy9TNOGCk
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
  I understand that. My point was that if he can keep up with the literal WC in blitz, it's extremely likely that the strength displayed by him in the Sinquefield cup was in fact genuine. People aren't usually hundreds of ELO points stronger in blitz than in classical. At least not at the GM level. Again, actually looking at his games from this tournament leaves no reason to suspect cheating.
- jagrsw 4y ago
  Are you saying that it's possible that Carlsen cheated?
  - genghisjahn 4y ago
    The whole thing just sucks. I think Hans probably didn’t cheat in St Louis. I think his past online cheating has cast a cloud over what would otherwise be an amazing win over Magnus.
faeriechangling 4y ago
It should also be stressed that Hans isn’t somebody who came in off the street and started beating MVL and Magnus out of the blue. He has been known in chess circles for the better part of a decade as a promising junior. It’s not as if people think he lacks the basic capacity to go toe to toe with the champ and stand a chance. It’s hardly like he pulled the wool over peoples eyes for this long. Like you said, cheating in OTB blitz isn’t viable. He’s a high level grandmaster who happens to have a history of cheating.

genghisjahn 4y ago

This was not a OTB blitz game. OTB cheating in classical games is very possible. As discussed by two GMs in this video. https://youtu.be/mHZy9TNOGCk https://youtu.be/mHZy9TNOGCk

mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
I understand that. My point was that if he can keep up with the literal WC in blitz, it's extremely likely that the strength displayed by him in the Sinquefield cup was in fact genuine. People aren't usually hundreds of ELO points stronger in blitz than in classical. At least not at the GM level. Again, actually looking at his games from this tournament leaves no reason to suspect cheating.
jagrsw 4y ago
Are you saying that it's possible that Carlsen cheated?
- genghisjahn 4y ago
  The whole thing just sucks. I think Hans probably didn’t cheat in St Louis. I think his past online cheating has cast a cloud over what would otherwise be an amazing win over Magnus.

faeriechangling 4y ago

It should also be stressed that Hans isn’t somebody who came in off the street and started beating MVL and Magnus out of the blue. He has been known in chess circles for the better part of a decade as a promising junior. It’s not as if people think he lacks the basic capacity to go toe to toe with the champ and stand a chance. It’s hardly like he pulled the wool over peoples eyes for this long. Like you said, cheating in OTB blitz isn’t viable. He’s a high level grandmaster who happens to have a history of cheating.