4 ms·

I think people decided he’s cheating because he admitted to cheating the two times he got caught cheating online, denied ever cheating besides those times, has

I think people decided he’s cheating because he admitted to cheating the two times he got caught cheating online, denied ever cheating besides those times, has had a meteoric rise in terms of moving from low GM to his current state, was unable to explain his play in a reasonable way, played almost perfectly, beat a substantially better player, and that player feels he cheated despite having never made accusations like that against people before. I’m not saying it’s a slam dunk because it’s not. I can respect people who come down in either side based on the current evidence. But it seems like willful ignorance to suggest that none of the above has any bearing at all.

mmmpop 4y ago
I think people are right to suspect him of cheating given everything you said. Reading through your list, I can't help but be fascinated by the amount of hubris it would take to actually cheat as such, and then proceed to live with yourself. Hell, given his comments, he seems pleased. We could be dealing with a real sicko.
dandanua 4y ago
1. Cheating in online chess as a teen is a factor, but not that strong. Also, the details of cheating are still private, so we can't rely on that. BTW, chess.com belongs to Magnus, partially. 2. It's normal for teens to have jumps in their development. 3. I watched his explanations, they are not that great, but not unreasonable either. 4. They played a couple of weeks before, with the result 3-1 for Magnus [1]. Magnus lost the first game and won other 3. Magnus losing to Niemann wasn't something extraordinary in general. Also, a player can have much better morale while playing with a King, it simply gives more motivation. 5. Magnus hinting cheating accusations is certainly a new thing. But refusing to defend his World Champion title this year is also a new thing. I guess he started to feel way too entitled in chess. Also, all this affects his position in chess business, since he owns a lot of it. He is not just a player anymore. It's a conflict of interests. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champions_Chess_Tour_2022#FTX_Crypto_Cup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champions_Chess_Tour_2022#FTX_...

mmmpop 4y ago

I think people are right to suspect him of cheating given everything you said. Reading through your list, I can't help but be fascinated by the amount of hubris it would take to actually cheat as such, and then proceed to live with yourself. Hell, given his comments, he seems pleased. We could be dealing with a real sicko.

dandanua 4y ago

1. Cheating in online chess as a teen is a factor, but not that strong. Also, the details of cheating are still private, so we can't rely on that. BTW, chess.com belongs to Magnus, partially. 2. It's normal for teens to have jumps in their development. 3. I watched his explanations, they are not that great, but not unreasonable either. 4. They played a couple of weeks before, with the result 3-1 for Magnus [1]. Magnus lost the first game and won other 3. Magnus losing to Niemann wasn't something extraordinary in general. Also, a player can have much better morale while playing with a King, it simply gives more motivation. 5. Magnus hinting cheating accusations is certainly a new thing. But refusing to defend his World Champion title this year is also a new thing. I guess he started to feel way too entitled in chess. Also, all this affects his position in chess business, since he owns a lot of it. He is not just a player anymore. It's a conflict of interests. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champions_Chess_Tour_2022#FTX_Crypto_Cup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champions_Chess_Tour_2022#FTX_...