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Comment by mongol | Hacker News Reader

About this cheating accusation... is there any substance behind it, and how credible is it?

Neimann has admitted to cheating in online chess matches and was banned from chess.com tournaments for some time. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/sep/07/top-chess-play...

The current tournament is an online tournament.

Besides that, chess.com made a statement that Hans was not divulging the full extent of the truth

I think at this point Magnus doesn't care whether Hans is cheating in any particular game. Magnus plays chess for fun, & he doesn't find it fun to play against someone who has previously cheated

If we want to go this far into euphemism and implication, remember that Magnus has something like a 20% stake in chess.com

I think it is worth pointing out that Chess.com did sign a contract to buy the Play Magnus Group last month. I dunno what to make of that, but this whole thing could have been handled a bit more professional...

Niemann was a minor, in the other cases. Youthful indiscretion deserves forgiveness.

He was a minor in the other cases he's admitted to. Chess.com has since asked him for comment on more recent accusations. There's no news on whether he's answered those accusations.

https://www.chessdom.com/chess-com-explains-its-decision-to-...

I have no strong opinion on either player for what it's worth. I just think the situation is bad for the game.

Yup and Magnus probably knows exactly how much Hans cheated on chess.com since Magnus is a large shareholder in chess.com.

So the way I interpret this situation is that Magnus and chess.com is pressuring Hans and waiting for Hans to make a statement either refuting or admitting to even more cheating.

> and Magnus probably knows exactly how much Hans cheated on chess.com since Magnus is a large shareholder in chess.com.

Alternatively, Chess.com is backing up Magnus' behavior because he is a large shareholder in Chess.com.

That's an accusation far more serious than accusing someone of cheating at online chess. But it's not impossible and I had considered the thought. Ultimately I have difficulty believing that the controlling powers of chess.com would go along with a scheme like that - they're not hard up for money.

Here's an article from earlier this year about General Atlantic buying into the company.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/chesscom-gets-major-investme...

He's only 19 though, right? It's not like time has healed his mentality, it was months ago...

Do you remember beeing 19? The stupid stuff I did at 16 seemed really far away. It was only a couple of months though.

I'm surprised he's allowed to compete at that level anymore, especially in online tournaments. I'd think that would disqualify you permanently.

I suppose there are examples of athletes in other sports who've been caught cheating and not kicked out of the sport. But one way in which those examples are different than this one is that in online chess, cheating could mean essentially letting a computer do everything for you. In other sports, for example baseball, a player who takes performance enhancers still has to play the game. Online chess allows for complete cheating, in other words.

While true in the extreme case, other comments have made the point that at this level, cheating can consist of very few bits of information: simply getting a “this particular move is very important” indication is enough to cause an upset; this is very much in line with your “still has to play the game” as you still have to be a strong enough player to figure out why this particular move is important.

He has been suspended from chess.com online tournaments due to cheating in the past.

Furthermore, when analyzing the game in the post-game interview he claimed he had happened to look at this exact line on his computer earlier the same day, a line that Magnus has never played in his career. And when analyzing he suggested alternative moves that lost on the spot.

> And when analyzing he suggested alternative moves that lost on the spot.

IIRC it was during a live interview. During a real game, he has like 5 or 10 minutes to think about the move. In a live interview, he has like ¿2 seconds?. The interview would be extremely boring if he keep taking 5 minutes to give a reply. (It's somehow like throwing a ball to a tenis player and expecting him to give a perfect devolution using the microphone.)

Still you'd presume he remembers his thought process from the game.

And being as shaky in analysis as he has been seen to be, does not go very well together with playing with absolutely extreme precision.

The issue is there isn't even a cheating accusation. Magnus conceded here and quit another tournament but hasn't actually said he thinks Hans is cheating.

Magnus kinda has, in a way. Chess.com published a statement refuting Hans' claim that Hans only cheated twice. Hans has yet to respond. Magnus is 20% shareholder of chess.com

Ball is in Hans' court.

The hell it is, Chess.com isn't FIDE

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