| − | The '''chess cheating scandal''' of 2022 concerned a highly unlikely ostensible victory by a 19-year-old relatively low-ranked player named Hans Niemann, playing with the weaker black pieces, against the greatest player of our time, [[Magnus Carlsen]], while Carlsen was on an unbeaten streak. This was the second improbable defeat by Niemann with the black pieces against Carlsen in merely a few months, and the second consecutive unexpected win by Niemann in the tournament. Carslen then quit the [[chess]] tournament (the Sinquefield Cup 2022), which is nearly unprecedented, and some infer his comment afterwards to mean that he felt he had been cheated. Niemann denied that he cheated. | + | The '''chess cheating scandal''' of 2022 concerned a highly unlikely ostensible victory by a 19-year-old relatively low-ranked player named Hans Niemann, playing with the weaker black pieces, against the greatest player of our time, [[Magnus Carlsen]], while Carlsen was on an unbeaten streak. This was the second improbable defeat by Niemann with the black pieces against Carlsen in merely a few months, and the second consecutive improbable win by Niemann against a higher-ranked player in the tournament. Carslen then quit the [[chess]] tournament (the Sinquefield Cup 2022), which is nearly unprecedented, and some infer his comment afterwards to mean that he felt he had been cheated. Niemann denied that he cheated. |
| | The odds of a player of Niemann's lower rank defeating the high-ranking Carlsen twice with the black pieces is estimated to be only 1 in 2,500. | | The odds of a player of Niemann's lower rank defeating the high-ranking Carlsen twice with the black pieces is estimated to be only 1 in 2,500. |
| | After the [[Saint Louis Chess Club]] changed its rules in the middle of its tournament to require a 15-minute delay on its broadcasts, the level of play by Hans Niemann sharply declined. He won 2 of his first 3 games against very highly ranked opponents before the adoption of a safeguard against cheating, and then lost or tied all 6 of his remaining games after the safeguard was implemented.<ref>https://www.wsj.com/articles/chess-cheating-magnus-carlsen-hans-niemann-11663617396</ref> All the games in this tournament can be analyzed at chess.com,<ref>https://www.chess.com/events/2022-sinquefield-cup/02/Niemann_Hans_Moke-Mamedyarov_Shakhriyar</ref> which banned Hans Niemann from its platform in September 2022. | | After the [[Saint Louis Chess Club]] changed its rules in the middle of its tournament to require a 15-minute delay on its broadcasts, the level of play by Hans Niemann sharply declined. He won 2 of his first 3 games against very highly ranked opponents before the adoption of a safeguard against cheating, and then lost or tied all 6 of his remaining games after the safeguard was implemented.<ref>https://www.wsj.com/articles/chess-cheating-magnus-carlsen-hans-niemann-11663617396</ref> All the games in this tournament can be analyzed at chess.com,<ref>https://www.chess.com/events/2022-sinquefield-cup/02/Niemann_Hans_Moke-Mamedyarov_Shakhriyar</ref> which banned Hans Niemann from its platform in September 2022. |
| | + | About two weeks later, Carlsen was matched against Niemann in another tournament, and, in an apparent protest against Niemann, Carlsen resigned after making only one move. |