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World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Resigns From Match After Just One Move Against Player At Center Of "Cheating" Scandal
Forbes (via MSN.com) ^ | 19 September 2022 | Carlie Porterfield

Posted on 09/20/2022 2:16:12 AM PDT by zeestephen

Reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen suddenly resigned after making just a single move Monday during his widely anticipated rematch against Hans Niemann, whom Carlsen hinted may have cheated in another game between the two grandmasters earlier this month...The resignation took announcers Peter Leko and Tania Sachdev by surprise, with Sachdev noting such a move was "unprecedented" and "making a very big statement."

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Computers/Internet; Conspiracy; Hobbies; Sports
KEYWORDS: chess; chessgeeks; hansniemann; magnuscarlsen
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A little background for those not familiar with this story...

About two weeks ago, Carlsen faced Niemann in a very prestigious tournament that matches ten of the top players in the world. Carlsen was the highest rated player and Niemann the lowest rated player in the tournament.

Carlsen was playing white, and he opened with an unusual variation of a common opening. Carlsen is indisputably the best Classical Chess player in modern times. He has not lost a Classical game in 53 straight games over two years.

Niemann beat Carlsen in this game. During the game, Niemann had a significant time advantage over Carlsen, even though this was a "new" game that no one had ever played before in a tournament. Niemann also made at least two deep moves - over the board - that were considered to be exceptional, so exceptional that several grandmasters at the tournament stated, off the record, that only a chess computer engine could have found those moves under time pressure in a "new" game.

After the match, Niemann claimed that by a "ridiculous miracle" he had prepared exactly for the unusual variation that Carlsen played.

There is zero evidence that Niemann cheated, but his speed and accuracy in this "new" game has raised eye brows everywhere in the world of chess.

After the game, Carlsen withdrew from the tournament, the first time he has ever withdrawn from a tournament in his entire career.

In regard to this new tournament, according to Forbes:

"During a preliminary match for the Julius Baer Generation Cup, which Carlsen and Niemann played online using the Chess24 platform and Microsoft Teams, Carlsen suddenly resigned [after one move] and turned his webcam off without saying a word."

1 posted on 09/20/2022 2:16:12 AM PDT by zeestephen
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To: zeestephen

I’ll tell ya’ one thing... Chess Masters are frikkin’ weirdos.


2 posted on 09/20/2022 2:19:07 AM PDT by Bullish (Rot'sa Ruck America. )
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To: zeestephen

Was the game two weeks ago also played online? If so I can see cheating using AI.

If it was live, I guess then it could be cheating if Niemann had hacked Carlsen’s emails or perhaps practice games on the computer.


3 posted on 09/20/2022 2:32:42 AM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful.)
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To: zeestephen

Was Dominion involved?


4 posted on 09/20/2022 2:40:19 AM PDT by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
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To: 21twelve

If the game was live and face to face, I don’t see how he could have cheated, I doubt he was wearing an earpiece or had someone signaling him the next move, I guess it’s possible but highly unlikely IMO.

What Niemann might have done is practice against a computer engine that could look at Carlsen’s moves over some number of games he’s played and offer counter moves that Niemann employed.

I’m just speculating.


5 posted on 09/20/2022 2:52:41 AM PDT by srmanuel (C)
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To: 21twelve
The game that Carlsen lost was live.

The Chess Federation has a very rigorous protocol to prevent electronic cheating or spectator-assisted cheating in live tournaments.

Almost everyone who thinks Niemann cheated in the first game believes that a computer hack or a betrayal by someone on Carlsen's prep team was involved.

I have wondered if there is Internet or Crypto betting on chess matches?

Carlsen playing white against the weakest player in the tournament would have a huge pay off if Carlsen lost.

6 posted on 09/20/2022 3:01:05 AM PDT by zeestephen
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To: srmanuel
I doubt he was wearing an earpiece or had someone signaling him the next move,

Vibrating anal beads.....

7 posted on 09/20/2022 3:19:12 AM PDT by Hot Tabasco (Don't walk thru the watermelon patch)
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To: Hot Tabasco

That’s actually the speculation, or so I’ve read.

Nieman has admitted to previously cheating in online games.

I have no idea what is actually going on, but Magnus has been around the block and knows his business. If he’s suspicious then so am I.


8 posted on 09/20/2022 3:28:35 AM PDT by Skooz (Gabba Gabba accept you we accept you one of us Gabba Gabba we accept you we accept you one of us )
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To: zeestephen

I have a Chess app on my tablet that can be adjusted from a skill level of 1 - 25. How would a skill level of 25 rank among the world’s Chess players?


9 posted on 09/20/2022 3:29:38 AM PDT by Ken H (Trump /DeSantis)
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To: Ken H

Poorly, for a tablet.

These are top players.


10 posted on 09/20/2022 3:33:55 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: Ken H

Wow! I stand corrected.

https://www.chess.com/terms/chess-engine

They are far better than I remember and they don’t require outside access to computing resources.


11 posted on 09/20/2022 3:38:39 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: ConservativeMind

human chess players stand no chance against modern computers

even 1970s computers could only be beaten back then by the best of the best

today you can put that amount of computing power in a cheap plastic toy for pennies


12 posted on 09/20/2022 3:58:44 AM PDT by thoughtomator
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To: thoughtomator

In the 1980s I read an article in Chess Life magazine that predicted the day when every possible move and countermove will be worked out by computers and there would be nothing left to discover in chess.

The article lamented that when that happens we will lose a very good friend (chess).

I suppose if we’re not there yet, we’re approaching that time.


13 posted on 09/20/2022 4:08:44 AM PDT by Skooz (Gabba Gabba accept you we accept you one of us Gabba Gabba we accept you we accept you one of us )
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To: Skooz

we’re at least two decades past that point

humans can no longer compete with computers in anything that can be reduced to pure computation

if you want to defeat a computer at something, you need to introduce elements for which mere computation is insufficient to evaluate them


14 posted on 09/20/2022 4:22:24 AM PDT by thoughtomator
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To: zeestephen

Carlsen needs to watch “Eight Men Out” to see what happens when you intentionally throw a game. Like Carlsen, Shoeless Joe Jackson was one the best players in the game at that time and he never played again. Carlsen’s game dump was unfair to the other players in the tournament as it gave Niemann a free 3 points in a sport where wins can be hard to get (They are using the soccer scoring system (3-1-0).


15 posted on 09/20/2022 4:24:41 AM PDT by wrcase
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To: zeestephen

When a socialite is accepted into a country club, pays an uncomfortable amount for membership, meal tickets, green fees and tournament fees for in club events, and is outed for cheating while playing on a Saturday morning round for the smallest of bets... That socialite might have a rough time finding anyone to play golf with at that club again.


16 posted on 09/20/2022 4:45:55 AM PDT by Dixie Yooper (Ephesians 6:11)
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To: Ken H
Re: Skill level of 25

That is a good question. I do not know the answer.

The Stockfish chess engine is probably the most powerful in the world.

Stockfish finds moves that are so deep that skilled chess players know instantly that someone is using an engine.

Stockfish, in various forms, is bundled with some commercial brand name chess software. Also, several chess websites have Stockfish available.

Unfortunately, unless you know a lot about computers and software (I do not), you never really know how powerful any particular version of Stockfish is.

17 posted on 09/20/2022 4:55:50 AM PDT by zeestephen
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To: zeestephen

This is getting weirder.


18 posted on 09/20/2022 4:56:18 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: Skooz

Magnus has not said he’s suspicious,other people have. If anything Magnus behaves if he actually thinks he’s beating him fairly. If he thought he was cheating why would he pull out after one move.?


19 posted on 09/20/2022 4:59:27 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: Dixie Yooper; zeestephen

I don’t think someone winning a game they’re not supposed is adequate proof of cheating. It’s not like chess tournaments don’t take a lot of precautions against cheating either.


20 posted on 09/20/2022 5:03:31 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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