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After the game, Carlsen withdrew from the tournament, the first time he has ever withdrawn from a tournament in his entire career.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."
I’ll tell ya’ one thing... Chess Masters are frikkin’ weirdos.
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.
Was Dominion involved?
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?
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).
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.
This is getting weirder.
Chess has always been a leading application of artificial intelligence. I can analyze a position, looking at it on an on-screen chessboard, while the computer analyzes. After about 5 minutes, I can glance at the computer results. The computer may have considered and evaluated more than 20 million positions. That may be more positions than a person can consider in a lifetime. It’s a little like asking who runs faster, you or your car.
Yes, computers are, computationally speaking, very strong. However, if chess is anything to go by, there is no intelligence in artificial intelligence. There are a few tip-offs. Here are a two that I have encountered.
The computer may repeat a position (in all respects) and compute a better result the second time than the first time, when reason tells us there can be no change.
There are some positions that are described as a fortress position. These usually occur in the endgame. One side has a material advantage but can make no progress. The computer continues to claim a winning advantage, but in fact there is no advantage at all. Even an average human player, who applies himself, will admit “I just don’t see any way to make progress” and agree to a draw. The computer can not make any progress either but will continue to play for the win until the sun goes nova.
Did the cheater win by default?
That’ll show the quitter.
Magnus Carlsen has carefully thought over his abrupt withdrawal from the the Sinquefield Cup, and decided he is still determined to act like a spoiled brat. The FIDE ethics committee should take appropriate action against Magnus Carlsen.
I was once a serious chess player. Not grand master level, but I did win money once at a regional event (Kansas City Open).
This is a way of “making a statement” about the integrity of his opponent. Resigning after one move is simply a way to draw more attention to the fact that Magnus thinks he is a cheat.
Histrionics like this worked for Bobby Fisher, ... but then look how he ended up.