Carlsen resigns on move 2

[Paolo Casaschi]

I've gone back to Smerdon's tweet, a few days and many pages ago.

https://twitter.com/dsmerdon/status/1577491260461715458

He says that the outcome "Hans continues his OTB trajectory towards 2750+ in events with super-strict anti-cheating standards" is unlikely. It seems to me that, if he has not been cheating OTB, then it should be considered highly likely. Is David actually saying that he really thinks Niemann has been cheating?

I shall ask him when I have time to put together a proper list of questions.

Smerdon might be afraid that Niemann won't have many invitations for top level events. He qualified for the US Championship, not an option to arbitrarily exclude him from the event; however most privately managed events might be afraid of upsetting Carlsen & co.

[Paolo Casaschi]

What I find disappointing from chess.com is that they changed their assessment of Niemann’s history because of Carlsen claim about their OTB game. Chess.com claims they have the best cheat detection and prevention tools and yet they vetted Niemann for their upcoming event. Then Carlsen complains about their OTB game and only at that point chess.com looks back at games played in 2020 and disqualifies Niemann. Clearly they are fitting Carlsen opinion somehow in their cheating prevention tools and that seems wrong to me.

There's quite a lot of discussion of this in the report and I can understand their point of view more than I did before, but that's not to say I agree with it. Clearly they found themselves in a position where one of their stars wasn't going to play if another one did and they reacted as a football club might if there was a bust-up in the dressing-room: they got rid of the player they needed least. This is not a procedure I particularly admire and they are not quite candid enough to admit it.

Sorry for being pedantic, but by their own admission, chess.com banned Niemann after the win on Carlsen essentially in order to exclude him from their CGC event and ensure the integrity of that event; however Carlsen is not participating in the CGC event, so it's not an issue of "one of their stars wasn't going to play if another one did".

[JustinHorton]

No, not pedantic at all, obviously I got my wires crossed.

(The key thing anyway, I think, is that they wanted to be on board with Magnus.)

[Geoff Chandler]

On the 30th September Chess.com stated they close down 800 accounts
a day for cheating and 50,000 new players join everyday.

https://www.chess.com/article/view/onli ... s-cheating

For those advocating online bans should also stretch to an OTB ban,
good luck in tracking down that daily 800 and letting their federations
know they are now banned from OTB play.

If 49,200 join chess.com everyday (I've taken off the 800 who have been
banned on the same day) and let's say the population of Earth is 7 billion.
How many days will it take before the whole of planet Earth is signed up to chess.com

[Tim Spanton]

On the 30th September Chess.com stated they close down 800 accounts
a day for cheating and 50,000 new players join everyday.

https://www.chess.com/article/view/onli ... s-cheating

For those advocating online bans should also stretch to an OTB ban,
good luck in tracking down that daily 800 and letting their federations
know they are now banned from OTB play.

If 49,200 join chess.com everyday (I've taken off the 800 who have been
banned on the same day) and let's say the population of Earth is 7 billion.
How many days will it take before the whole of planet Earth is signed up to chess.com

Getting on for 400 years, but then 50,000 is a suspiciously round number

[Roger de Coverly]

On the 30th September Chess.com stated they close down 800 accounts
a day for cheating and 50,000 new players join everyday.

Compared to the 600 million who allegedly play chess, that's a drop in the oceon. To be fair to chess.com, if anyone has demonstrated a mass market who will follow chess, it's them and other popular sites, not Agon or "World Chess".

[Geoff Chandler]

Thanks Tim,

I worked out they were banning 292,000 cheats a year (800 more in a leap year)
They reckon they will have banned 1 million cheats by July 2023.
I wonder if they will have a party and who is going to be the millionth player banned.
Surely they should be honoured in some way. Picture on the front of Time magazine.

[Geoff Chandler]

Whilst here - here is how you cheat.
I've improvedmy method - now I can actually talk to the player
and give him the exact move at any time and for any reason.
(make him play a 3rd best though still winning move to throw off the hounds.)

Get one of these rigged up. That Tech is now years old so you can figure
by now it is highly advanced.


Cell phone implant
https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/c ... mplant.htm

The time delay I overcome by having a device in the hidden the computer that
stores the games which transmit the moves to an assistant who is running Fritz.
(break into house/car, fit the gadget and out.)

Or I hire a hacker who can remotely screen grab.
The net is full of ways to show how this can done.
All you need is the know how. Him I give 20% of the winnings.

Or I bribe the chap to fit a widget to his computer. £50,000 should do it if I
wanted to win a W.C. final. £50.000 from a guaranteed 1.2 million
is small change.

The scan.
I went to the high court today (carrying a yacht! it is near where I live and on
the way to boating pond) they have a top notch scanner and walk through thingy.
Right away the man knew what I was talking about and why I was asking
about it (he must be a Star reader!)
They cannot pick up a tooth filling unless they knew for certain one was there
and the setting (what ever that is) would have to bet set very high.

Also an edible plastic shield over the tooth will help cove it, the cover turns
into chewing gum. (I recently saw someone chewing gum being scanned.)

The down side is if someone is nattering in you ear whilst someone is talking to you
and asking you to explain the moves in a game you may look and sound confused.
Also you accent could change to that of the person on the other end.

[JustinHorton]

The net is full of ways to show how this can done.

Can you find anywhere that tells you how to remove line breaks

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Justin,

If I don't put them in reads like porridge all jumbled up.
(would it not be funny if my joke got back to America and they call in a dentist.)
I'm watching the Hans game, he seemed to be going well but he is now under
a bit of pressure - that have just made move 40.
He has a ready made very understandable excuse for the odd inexact move.

[Paul Cooksey]

I'm having a dental implant tomorrow. I'll talk with the dentist about the options.

[Chris Rice]

Susan Polgar's thoughts on FB after Niemann's first-round win where she was determined to clear up any misunderstandings:

"I have to say that sometimes I am embarrassed by the behaviour and conduct of some of the chess “so called” fans. It is more like “chess trolls” or “chess jerks”.

I may not be perfect. But I have always tried my best to be fair and objective, especially when dealing with extra sensitive situations. When something good happens, I point it out, and give praise. When something bad happens, I also do the same.

I detest cheating with a passion. I do not care if it is online or in person. Cheating is cheating. I was on the receiving end of chess cheating several times in the past, so I am extra sensitive about it. I cut my friendships with some fellow GMs, and lost all respect for them, because they were caught red handed cheating. I have never defended cheaters, ever.

Yesterday when I posted about GM Hans Niemann winning his first-round game at the 2022 US Championships, dozens insulted me, and used words that cannot be repeated. Some even accused me of defending an admitted cheater.

What I pointed out was 99% of the chess players out there would collapse mentally and emotionally under this kind of scrutiny and embarrassment, especially at 19. Some may even be hiding under a rock and not show up. But this kid, who cheated online, got caught, and was humiliated in front of millions of people, kept his cool, showed up, and won. That deserved praise. He may lose tomorrow or many more games. But this one game still deserved praise.

But just because I praised this accomplishment, it did not change any fact. What we all know so far is he admitted to cheating online. Cheating is bad, whether 1 time or 100+ times. We are still waiting for the FIDE investigation to find out if cheating did or did not occur OTB. So until when that comes out, I am not going to speculate.

Facts are facts, and I will only deal with facts, not rumours or theories, especially when there could be massive consequences for a human being. How would you like people to treat you if you are in the same situation? Fair and objective? So that is how we should all behave."

[JustinHorton]

If I don't put them in reads like porridge all jumbled up.

Does this mean "normal paragraphs"?

[Roger de Coverly]

Hi Justin,

If I don't put them in reads like porridge all jumbled up.

You should not assume that everyone works with the same screen width and font size as yourself, When it doesn't have line breaks, it will automatically wrap when the edge of the reader's screen is reached.

You can test it yourself by resizing the PC's viewing window.

Paragraph breaks on the other hand improve readability.

[Roger de Coverly]

Leonard Barden in today's Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/ ... -continues

He doesn't believe Neumann's improvement is that out of line with other young players, the number of games played being a credible explanation.