Carlsen’s public statement: “I believe that Niemann has cheated more”

by ChessBase
9/26/2022 – A day after getting a convincing victory at the Generation Cup, as he anticipated, Magnus Carlsen has shared a public statement regarding the polemic surrounding his withdrawal from the Sinquefield Cup and his quick resignation against Hans Niemann. The world champion wrote: “I believe that Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted”. | Photo: Amruta Mokal
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“He wasn’t even fully concentrating”

Magnus Carlsen has finally explicitly stated why he took two dramatic decisions in the last few weeks: to withdraw from the Sinquefield Cup after three rounds and to resign a game on move 2 against Hans Niemann at the Generation Cup.

It had to do, as we all suspected, with Hans Niemann’s alleged cheating. 

The statement appeared on the same day that the US Chess Federation announced the field for the 2022 edition of the US Championships, with Hans Niemann in the lineup.

Useful links

Carlsen’s statement

Originally posted on Twitter

Dear Chess World,

At the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I made the unprecedented professional decision to withdraw from the tournament after my round three game against Hans Niemann. A week later during the Champions Chess Tour, I resigned against Hans Niemann after playing only one move.

I know that my actions have frustrated many in the chess community. I’m frustrated. I want to play chess. I want to continue to play chess at the highest level in the best events.

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. When Niemann was invited last minute to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I strongly considered withdrawing prior to the event. I ultimately chose to play.

I believe that Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted. His over the board progress has been unusual, and throughout our game in the Sinquefield Cup I had the impression that he wasn’t tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions, while outplaying me as black in a way I think only a handful of players can do. This game contributed to changing my perspective.

We must do something about cheating, and for my part going forward, I don’t want to play against people that have cheated repeatedly in the past, because I don’t know what they are capable of doing in the future.

There is more that I would like to say. Unfortunately, at this time I am limited in what I can say without explicit permission from Niemann to speak openly. So far I have only been able to speak with my actions, and those actions have stated clearly that I am not willing to play chess with Niemann. I hope that the truth on this matter comes out, whatever it may be.

Sincerely,
Magnus Carlsen – World Chess Champion

Topics: Hans Niemann, Magnus Carlsen
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MauvaisFou MauvaisFou 9/28/2022 12:57
a WC's very explicit accusations of cheating against a top-rated player : it is high time that FIDE strongly reacts, not with a tap of tepid water like they did earlier.
arzi arzi 9/28/2022 12:26
Admitting fallibility can be difficult, even for a world champion ... or should I say, especially for a world champion?
tauno tauno 9/28/2022 12:19
Karen_Chess: “What I see is an emotional reaction to getting beat by a former cheater and someone you view as beneath you, in part because of that moral lapse. He beat you! So you overreact, and there's no path back for you that saves your pride. Double down, etc.”
https://twitter.com/karen_chess1/status/1574501576932311061?s=21&t=Lh36WT-aJBP9jpg4etCkBA

Bill: “I overreacted.”
https://youtu.be/jKXg2eMaNXU

- What would you do if you see that you have done something morally wrong?
arzi arzi 9/28/2022 11:36
A lot of people don't seem to understand this simple thing. If Niemann cheated before the Sinquefield Cup and Carlsen knew about it, why did Carlsen start the game anyway and only start complaining about cheating after he lost to Niemann? He could have refused before the game, citing Niemann's cheatings before. However, it is certain that Carlsen lost his game because of his own bad game play, and not because of cheating of Niemann. Giving up the second game was just more bullshit.
arzi arzi 9/28/2022 11:04
Malcolm Pein editorial:

"At some point this must end: either Magnus declares what evidence he has, or he puts up. If Niemann has cheated in online competitive games at a high level and this can be proved then he must be sanctioned for it, but the principle of innocent until proven guilty must be sacrosanct or else we have madness. This cannot be good for the game; short-term notoriety will be outweighed by long-term damage, particularly to Magnus’s brand."

Wise words.
MauvaisFou MauvaisFou 9/28/2022 09:59
Zagliveri : I would add that HN lives in the US and earns a good deal of money. He certainly has received many offers by lawyers.
Zagliveri_chess Zagliveri_chess 9/28/2022 07:27
In a civilized society you shall not defame or slander anybody without evidence. Otherwise anyone who rises to power using such tactics will eventually rule by fear. That is why in democratic countries we have separation of powers. Unproven accusations against individuals or groups have led to world wars with millions dead and hundreds of millions ruined for life.

As I stated in a previous post in this discussion, in Niemann's shoes I would have sued Carlsen. Unless I had something to hide. Someone retorted that Niemann is only 19 to consider legal action. At 19 it is legal to vote in most countries. I do not see why you cannot as easily take someone to court for slander. Καθαρός ουρανός, αστραπές δε φοβάται, or 'clear skies are not afraid of thunder'
arzi arzi 9/28/2022 06:23
czechpirc:"I agree that the burden of proof is on the accuser but I also agree that the players are allowed to be skeptical of his play given his admitted history"

You are allowed to be skeptical, however, you must NOT make accusations without evidence in matters that affect, for example, another person's livelihood.

If a woman/man announces on a live broadcast that her/his life partner has raped or abused her/his, shouldn't the matter be verified first or should the accused be thrown directly into prison? What if the accusation was baseless and the accused was killed in prison? Would you say, oops, it was just a joke. Everything is fine again, except for the accused.
czechpirc czechpirc 9/28/2022 05:34
Anyone calling this a witch hunt is laughable, yes i think Magnus couldve handled this better but like alot of the top players have noted he has admitted to cheating twice and there is now indisputable evidence that he also cheated in a titled tourney online not long ago, I agree that the burden of proof is on the accuser but I also agree that the players are allowed to be skeptical of his play given his admitted history, 2 things in conflict can both be correct. As far as chess.com is concerned in the matter is well....its chess.com, a trash site that doesnt deserve the traffic it gets, antiquated at best
kenneth calitri kenneth calitri 9/28/2022 03:41
I trust the foremost cheating expert in the world - there is nothing suspicious in HN's OTB games from past 3 years. I trust GM Aggard's opinion based on his vast chess training knowledge and the fact he has no dog in the fight - HN is a very strong GM. If HN's recent rapid progression OTB is suspicious so is every young gun GM's progression OTB - just look at the recent Olympiad and tourneys. MC as others reported cheated in OL tourney. MC has also been unethical in OTB chess earlier in his career as reported in NIC where he has his sisters elicit intel from opponents. Unethical at best. MC when younger also as reported in NIC made racial jokes with friends during an interview. Is he beyond reproach for his youthful rransgressions? Is his house in Norway made of glass? I am a fan of MC. I am a fan of HN. This is sad and shameful what MC is doing. He is getting very bad advice.
tympsa tympsa 9/28/2022 03:28
It is like some heist movie
"I cheated in MGM Grand Casino. I was caught and banned there .
I cheated in Caesars Palace. I was banned there too .
Now I walked out of Bellagio with chunk of money. I was playing honest game and just got lucky. Prove me that I cheated ! "

Bellagio even would not let gambler like that over their door, they would throw him out instantly before he is hits the tables

BTW, delaying broadcast of chess events does not help much . Communication with outside world from playing room is not necessary to cheat in modern days. It is not so hard to build fully autonomous device and insert it players body, under the skin or in some other part of his body. Only thing player now needs is to to tell mini-computer opponents`s move in code and receive suggestion his next move in code . Code is much simpler then Morse code because there is only 6 kinds of pieces and 8 ranks and 8 files on chess board. I press the chip under skin of my little finger of right hand rhytmically few times and computer understands opponents move : Rxh6 . Then I get answer by vibrating other device under skin on my left hand which says : Nxh6 . This is engine`s best move .I think it is too risky to play the best moves all the time, so I press again to get slightly worse alternative move and get gxh6 which is an error, but it does not lose and all the self proclaimed analysts say : See, he played subobtimal move here, he is not cheating ! Then I play 3 best moves in a row and again some slight error in the mix. Until I get +5 advantage and can convert it without any help. With such an advantage I can even blunder and still win.

Building and inserting such cheating devices is not problem at all for modern technology . Only thing what stops top players to do that is : they dont want to cheat ! They want to win fair and square .
Most of customers in departement store do not steal because they dont want to

But there are always exceptions
Science22 Science22 9/28/2022 01:46
So who do you trust ?
A top class player like Hikaru Nakamura : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjtbXxA8Fcc
Or one of the agressive trolls here ?
Pick a choice.
Science22 Science22 9/28/2022 01:26
Anyone who knows Norway and the Norwegian nature will know that nothing is more remote from this people than to venture with half the wind. The world's best chess player Magnus Carlsen is sitting in front of a young player who barely bothers to focus on the board, and yet he outplay MC with the most amazingly precise variations.

Top class players lose to other top class players by mistakes they can immediately see afterwards. But they also lose to Niemann without either them or Niemann being able to explain the motive for a move.

The simple fact is that Hans Niemann plays mediocre chess if the tournement is not live. Because then his scam does not work. Colleagues in physics have explained to me a possible methode. Place a mini Farady cagee deep in the ear or hair. An electronic instrument inside the Farady cage cannot be detected. But still sends signals to the brain through vibrations after a simple change ( after the control).
Jack Nayer Jack Nayer 9/28/2022 01:17
Buford: If you are what you say - a scientist - you should understand that Regan's analysis is nonsense. A schoolchild can understand it after thinking about it for a couple of seconds.
shivasundar shivasundar 9/28/2022 01:01
Magnus' Let's check analysis:
https://twitter.com/ty_johannes/status/1574780445744668673

2 100%, 2 90%+ from Jan 2020.
shivasundar shivasundar 9/27/2022 11:34
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/27/magnus-carlsen-hans-niemann-chess-cheating-controversy/

Loved Sasha's quote at the very end, the classy: “Everything rests on decency.”
Also liked this: "At the 2018 Isle of Man International tournament, fitness metrics projected on a large screen revealed that grandmaster Mikhail Antipov torched 560 calories sitting stock still for two hours. By way of comparison, the average person will burn just 100 calories running a mile on a treadmill."
Jacob woge Jacob woge 9/27/2022 10:11
“2) GM Jacob Aaagard's highlight of his character. Possible objection: Niemann could be wearing electronic devises during his training sessions with Aaagard. That was why Niemann had near total recall of all the training games that Aaagard had shown him. Who has a better memory than a computer? ”

This amounts to having a device that can not only suggest moves or give an alert at an important turn, but also inform about which game a selected position stems from.

That device is called Magnus Carlsen. He will also give you the name of the book inwhich the game published, and the page number.
shivasundar shivasundar 9/27/2022 10:08
Also guys, noticed that Yosha works for chess24 - JUST saying, thats all...
shivasundar shivasundar 9/27/2022 09:56
So yeah... my only hope is CHESS survives this. FIDE overall is looking better (though coming across as inadequate, being a technical dinosaur, and generally as incompetent.) It is understandable, given their budget and finances, so yeah... all other actors right now: Magnus, Hans, chesscom - may be even St Louis organizers who have a lot to gain by saying "it's okay Magnus, just make sure you come back" are - like they say on twitter - REALLY SUS!!
shivasundar shivasundar 9/27/2022 09:52
Some weak replies by Erik (CEO of chesscom) on reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/xnyjoj/daniel_rensch_magnus_has_not_seen_chesscom_cheat/iq0u7u1/?context=8&depth=9

Here is a sample "Magnus is not *yet* a part owner." and "That is not the timeline of how we handled it internally" and the golden: "Chess.com has shared a lot of data [with FIDE] and our methodology. Things broke down previously around who was responsible, and who had control of what. We couldn't agree. I believe this time around we will, as we have all learned a lot more."

Emphasis and brackets mine.
shivasundar shivasundar 9/27/2022 09:49
I hope we all remember that "burning somebody at the stake" was done last at the (Salem?) Witch Trials! I hope we also calmly consider the following still outstanding questions (I have a Masters in Computer Engg. and have been an architect/Sr. Software Developer):
1. Yes, Let's Check is a valuable addition to the discourse. But is it statistically significant? Large data sets? Enough data comparisons with 2500+, 2600+ and 2750+ GMs to establish some baselines? Simulations/modeling?
2. Why should it be "Carlsen vs Hans" when *both* could be wrong? Carlsen: what happened between FTX Crypto, when he was seen playing with Hans on the beach, and St Louis? Also, many other things related to how he handled the whole deal.... like IF FIDE was indeed "tone deaf" to all written complaints like Nepo/Caruana have suggested, why not just withdraw beforehand? Why the mysterious silence and "passive-aggressive behavior". Hans: (Like Al Pacino in The Insider) "Cat's TOTALLY out of the bag" *why* the silence still?! I just don't buy "lawyered up"...
3. The "smart cheater/signal cheating" theory is very very worrying. Do we have cases (Frederic can help here) of people who only received help for, say ONE game in a tournament or TWO moves in a game?
4. The latest device to come out of the woodwork apparently can "get through metal detectors"! What are we going to do NOW as a community: https://web.archive.org/web/20220201155639/https://talismanzero.com/talisman.html? [Tweeted by Srinath Narayanan - it's called Talisman Zero]
5. Is it okay for corporations to "take decisions possibly damaging somebody's finances/career/reputation" while maintaining secrecy? Did chesscom act right when Rensch flew in around the time Magnus was in the 3rd round, and are we sure he did NOT ALSO tell Magnus the rationale for *the only perm ban* we have heard of so far?! If chesscom "never told anybody about the banned names" (Rensch) how did Nepo, Carlsen, Hikaru AND MAGNUS find out?! 1/2
Herrman Herrman 9/27/2022 09:41
Hi, two points seem to have been neglected so far:
Carlsen was well aware of Niemann's past before the tournament (he contemplated withdrawing)
so
1) Niemann got into his head before the game in Sr. Louis and this might well have resulted in Carlsen playing below par
2) Everything Niemann does will be seen by Carlsen in the light of his bias

If anyone will be in a position to play a match against Carlsen and wants to play it dirty they now know to get him of balance
enfant enfant 9/27/2022 09:05
Carlsen's gut instincts led him to his actions.
Now, chess.com probably is backing up his
accusations.

But for the suspect testimonials from U.S.
grandmasters of the anti-Carlsen brigade,
we wouldn't even be having this ridiculous
debate.

A cheater between the ages of 12 to 16 is now
only 3 years later, playing world class chess.
Which is more likely? That his chess improved
that much in so little time, or his method of
hiding the cheating.

Common sense tells me the answer to the
former is snowball's chance in hell, and
almost certainly to the latter.

Time for FIDE to awaken from their long slumber.

The USCF may yet be able to repair its reputation
for top pro events - though top amateur events,
like The World Open, are gutted now - but only if
they act impartially and swiftly.
tacticalmonster tacticalmonster 9/27/2022 08:40
saturn23 - Carlsen's accusation is like a witness's testimony in the court of law. Would you turn away any witness who comes forward simply because they don't have any direct evidence?

Carlsen's accusation should be taken seriously because 1) he is the proven leading expert in any OTB chess competition 2) he has unique insight about what it was like to play against Niemann in an OTB setting.
saturn23 saturn23 9/27/2022 07:32
tacticalmonster - I would not consider Carlsen's accusations as a factor in favor of Niemann's cheating. It's pretty clear that Carlsen doesn't have any kind of evidence besides claims like "he wasn’t tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions".
Bulkington Bulkington 9/27/2022 07:25
Has FM Yosha Iglesias presented the smoking gun ? Let’s check, Chessbase !
tacticalmonster tacticalmonster 9/27/2022 07:19
Factors against Niemann cheating:

1) Dr. Regan concluded that there is no reason whatsoever to suspect him of cheating. Possible objection: Niemann's real strength could be somewhere around 2450 Fide. If Niemann set the software to around 2650 Fide, it would be extremely difficult for Dr. Regan's cheating detection method to work

2) GM Jacob Aaagard's highlight of his character. Possible objection: Niemann could be wearing electronic devises during his training sessions with Aaagard. That was why Niemann had near total recall of all the training games that Aaagard had shown him. Who has a better memory than a computer?

Regardless of the results, the burden of proof still lies with the accuser (Carlsen in this case). I believe that this cheating scandal actually has a positive effect in the chess world. Not only does it bring publicity to the chess world, but it could also lead to more sophisticated cheating detection policy and system in place in the near future.
tacticalmonster tacticalmonster 9/27/2022 06:49
I am not outright accusing Niemann whether he actually cheated or not cheated. All I can do is consider the factors against or in favor of Niemann cheating.
Factors in favor of Niemann cheating:

1) Conditional probability - P(A|B) = P(B|A)P(A)/P(B). P(A|B) = probability that Niemann cheated over-the-board given that we already know that Niemann cheated repeatedly in online play. P(A|B) would be quite high in Niemann's case.

2) Niemann went from 2465 to 2688 from Oct 2020 to Sept 2022, a over 200 rating point gain in just two years! It's a very highly unusual progress, as Carlsen mentioned.

3) The current WC accused Niemann of cheating. This should be taken very seriously because it's the very first time that Carlsen openly accused anyone of cheating after losing a game. If we can't treat the judgement from the best player in the game, then who else should we treat?

4) Maxim Dlugy is a mentor of Niemann who had been caught cheating in the past. Bird of the same feather flock together?
saturn23 saturn23 9/27/2022 06:42
tandemm - It's Carlsen, not Carlson. No one believes that "the Theranos woman was legit" because there's plenty of evidence against this claim. Niemann using a fake Russian accent is not evidence that he cheated. Kasparov is arguably greater than Carlsen. People simply want to see the evidence based on which Carlsen believes that Niemann cheated. Saying that "he wasn’t tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions" is not evidence.
okanis8977 okanis8977 9/27/2022 06:25
are we now entering a new Fischer's era chess world? i don't understand. let the endgame speciliasists explain it.
lucienlatourtes lucienlatourtes 9/27/2022 06:24
Once a cheater always a cheater! Playing chess from Home and through the internet is bullshit. No witnesses. One can have more than one computer helping out and nobody will see or know.
physica physica 9/27/2022 06:15
I don't remember having a blast for a long time reading these comments. People ignore the content of this statement completely and rant who is right and wrong based on ambience and third party data analysis.

He is challenging H.N. to a showdown like in Texas hold 'em via this lawyer-approved and -styled message. He doesn't care of the outcome. If H.N. declines to cooperate, I'd say M.C. wins by forfeit. If H.N. cooperates and is judged clean, M.C. loses much less reputation than it is thought. In any case, it's Niemann's career that is being ruined. Who is more wanted player after this mess? The best player since 2010s or a bloke who admitted cheating in the past?
tandemm tandemm 9/27/2022 06:14
These trolls keep repeating the same stupid non-sequiturs and irrelevant shit like “he’s only 19!” So are you allowed to cheat in the olympics when you’re 19? Are you allowed to cheat in the olympics when you’re 16? No. For God’s sake this isn’t Twitter, chess enthusiasts aren’t these same mindless morons you can beat into submission through repeating the same stupid shit over and over again.
tauno tauno 9/27/2022 06:10
The famous Sinquefield game analyzed by GM Rafael Leitão
https://www.chess.com/news/view/2022-sinquefield-cup-round-3

Some key moves of the game [the text in brackets by tauno]:

- 16...xf6 "The opening phase is over, and the conclusion is clear: a sad outcome for Carlsen, who now must fight for a draw, after no more than 16 moves, without any winning chances whatsoever. This must have depressed him, as his play in this endgame is not up to his very high standards."
- 21.c4!? [Pawn offer by Carlsen, but it's still even.]
- 27.Re8 "Carlsen provokes the advance in order to break Black's pawn structure, but this is not a good strategy."
- 28.g4? "It's better to break the structure with 28.f3 or wait with 28.Rd8." [-/+ SF]
- 29.Ba2 [Suboptimal move by Carlsen. -+ SF]
- 29...Nc4?! [Blunder by Neumann. = SF]
- 30.a4? [Blunder by Carlsen. -+ SF (30.Bcx4! would have given a draw)]
- 30...Nd6! "Niemann now uses a nice tactical idea to achieve a winning position." [But does it need an engine to find this move?]
- 31...fxg4 "This doesn't spoil anything, but 31...Rc2 wins immediately."
- 32...e3! [Best, but not the only move to win. Practically speaking the game is now over. 1-0]
-----

Magnus Carlsen: "I had the impression that he was not tense or even fully concentrated on the game in critical positions, while playing me as black in a way that I think only a handful of players can do."

Well well, it seems that Magnus himself was not fully concentrated in critical positions. He tried to surprise his young, lower-ranked opponents with an unusual opening and probably became confused when he realized that he was prepared. Not particularly well-played game by either player, but then at move 30 Magnus made a fatal blunder and the rest is history.

P.S. Please watch some old videos of Magnus at the age of around 19 to get an idea of what "tense" means. ;-)
tandemm tandemm 9/27/2022 06:05
A question for the masses of pro-Niemann trolls. Why would it be that 90% of people on the Internet apparently support this obnoxious sociopath that uses a fake Russian accent in interviews? Let me guess, do you all also believe that the Theranos woman was legit? does her deep voice compel you to defend her across the Internet and claim there’s no evidence of her wrongdoing? Why am I supposed to believe that the majority of the Internet supports this creepy sociopathic guy over the guy who is arguably the greatest chess player of all time? Why would he have even more fans than Carlson? You’re just kind of going a little too far and flooding the internet a little too much with this shit. Chess players aren’t this stupid.
Buford Buford 9/27/2022 05:54
I have to say I'm really disappointed in Carlsen. There likely is no concrete evidence of cheating. The analysis of the St. Louis game shows a really poor game by Carlsen. Regan's analysis suggests no inconsistencies in moves. The experiment here also is to run other players' games the same way. What kind of variation is seen there? Secondly, one must consider all of this statistical analysis suspect for several reasons. The first is that it is not clear that these algorithms have been independently evaluated and peer-reviewed. This is especially problematic with chess.com, where Rensch in a recent interview, explained he had more evidence against Niemann but couldn't discuss the algorithm. As a practicing scientist, this is a no-go. One does not get to conclude anything without supplying the data. Thirdly, all of this analysis is correlative only, based on some sort of statistical significance value. I've got news for you. In the biological sciences, we see papers published all the time that claim some sort of statistical significance from thousands of data bits, yet there is no evidence that these are biologically relevant differences. The point here is that this kind of analysis is never a smoking gun situation. I also refer you to Aagaard's comments for alternative interpretations. Finally, all of these comments from the GMs are ridiculous: he wasn't concentrating, his moves look strange, his rating increase is suspicious. All of this is irresponsible innuendo and all that is happening, without direct evidence, is the slandering of a 19 year old kid by the best players in the world.
fgkdjlkag fgkdjlkag 9/27/2022 05:14
Even if it has been established that Niemann plays better in broadcast events (but that has been called into question), there are possible explanations. He could be more comfortable at home and in venues like St. Louis where there are limited spectators/distractions, vs. the large opens. Also have any suspicions ever been raised in OTB events? Easy to look back and find something, with such a microscope placed on anyone else they would probably find "suspicious" things too. With Ivanov there were bulges on his clothing or reported noises, Rausis was found with a cell phone. How exactly would he be cheating?

Interestingly, when Fischer accused some Russians of cheating, and even wrote about it in an article I believe, he was widely ridiculed and treated badly in the press. It wasn't until after his death that I read one of the accused players admitted to it in an interview. So of course it's possible that Magnus is right. But statistical analysis of the Fischer and other games would have shown Fischer was right, whereas it hasn't shown anything now. And how much experience does Carlsen have in reading Niemann's body language OTB? What he found suspicious might not have been unusual for someone else who had played him more.
conillet conillet 9/27/2022 05:09
My hunch for the future:
Smart cheating at top level will (sadly) turn out to be impossible to prove in a scientific as well as legal sense.
However, that doesn't mean top players won't become suspicious when faced with a cheater, as we see now.
FIDE, even if they do their level best, won't be able to address the problem efficiently, because they have to adhere to the aforementioned scientific/legal standards.
Private organizers, be that of websites or tournaments, have more freedom to apply their own standards, which may include the criterion of "reasonable amount of suspicion".
It seems that chess.com is already doing this to a point, and invitational tournaments like the Sinquefield Cup are likely do so in the future, i.e. players with as much as a shadow of doubt hanging over them simply won't be invited.
eric b eric b 9/27/2022 05:02
@Flopmartin
"I've always been a fan of Magnus, always rooted for him, and never liked Hans' character".

I agree with you about Hans, but Carlsen has never had a very good personality either. Carlson is egotistical and immature for his age. He is also a poor communicator and has boorish social skills.
Daniel Miller Daniel Miller 9/27/2022 04:49
We don't need a burden of proof because we already have an admission of guilt. Once someone pleads guilty you don't have a trial. It does not matter that it was online, or 3 years ago. It is enough to ban him for life. Until we take a hard stand against cheaters, it will constantly be a problem. So, yes, all this " show me the proof" stuff is irrelevant. If someone cheats on Sundays, we don't need to also prove he cheats on Mondays. If someone cheats online, we don't need to also prove he cheats otb. His character his known. A cheater may go periods of time without cheating, but they will always be a risk. So many of these people attacking Carlsen but are missing the point. He cheated three years ago and chess.com and other GMs probably know of more. Fide and organizers need to send a message that we are cleaning up the game and getting rid of people we know have cheated. I applaud Magnus for recognizing the severity of the problem and taking a stance in support of clean chess by refusing to play known cheats.
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