Carlsen resigns on move 2

[JustinHorton]

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.

Well I'm not necessarily Roger, but the curiosity is that I have this problem only with Geoff's postings, and it crops up both on my laptop and on my mobile!





Are other people not getting this?

[Roger de Coverly]

Are other people not getting this?

That's what I see as well. If I'm quoting one of Geoff's posts I would remove the line breaks.
I change this

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.

to this

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.

[JustinHorton]

So can I! But it's a pain to do, it's a pain to read and I have no clear idea why it's necessary in the first place.

[Kevin Thurlow]

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

Well, I would certainly trust Leonard's opinion on such matters!

I have no idea if Niemann does/did cheat OTB, but I think a failure to explain the analysis coherently afterwards is not significant. Once the game is over, it is hardly surprising if his brain switches off. Also, I suspect public speaking is not his forte, (not that there is anything wrong with that).

[Geoff Chandler]

Carl,

I'm getting bullied not for what I post but how I post it.
I do not write straight to this page because it has a timer and sometimes after I compose a post, I re-read it, tidy it up, change my mind, add a bit, chop a bit, check a fact or get a link etc I do a post preview and if I've forgotten to copy it I find I've been logged out and and everything I've just typed has gone.
So I write my stuff on notepad first with line breaks as I find it easier to read and edit and then paste it here.
From now on I will take out the line breaks. Hopefully this reads better.
(Carl without giving away too many trade secrets, how long does the timer run before it logs you out, let us know so I can use an egg timer and race against the clock.)

I think a line break is order if I change subject. Then it is easier for someone to 'quote me' using the relevant bit rather that quote the whole piece I have written. Here is a picture of me and my yacht.

[Paul Cooksey]

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

Well, I would certainly trust Leonard's opinion on such matters!

I was going to say the same. I think I recall Leonard once saying Nigel Short had a surprisingly smooth progression in strength but this was not typical of the many juniors he had rated.

I just finished reading the chess.com report and will need some time to process it. Appendix x.2 interesting in this regard.

My knee jerk reaction to the report is it is unlikely Hans cheated OTB, significantly <50%, which given I was probably 75% at the start, is a change in my view. I'm a bit worried Smerdon - who is much better placed to judge than me - saw it differently, so maybe I am missing something important.

[Matthew Turner]

If you like a journalistic take on the whole saga

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/34 ... -soul-game

[Matt Mackenzie]

I have no idea if Niemann does/did cheat OTB, but I think a failure to explain the analysis coherently afterwards is not significant. Once the game is over, it is hardly surprising if his brain switches off. Also, I suspect public speaking is not his forte, (not that there is anything wrong with that).

There are certainly past instances of Carlsen himself being pretty incoherent after even "big" games. Even the best players don't always find it easy to explain why they played the moves they did, certainly in the short term before they have had the chance to "post-mortem" it properly.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi,
I had cause to visit here https://www.chess.com/article/view/onli ... s-cheating again. Chess.com saying they ban 800 a day but get 50,000 new members a day. They have edited it, it's now 70,000 new members a day. so all this publicity is not doing them any harm at all.

Edit: they have also changed the time when they expect to ban their millionth player, it is now early in 2024. https://www.chess.com/article/view/onli ... g#closures Keep on eye on them if you want to quote them.

[Roland Kensdale]

I expect someone has already suggested the following, but I don't remember reading it above:

Suppose Niemann is a very strong player, who had little compunction about cheating online. Maybe he thought many of his opponents were cheating and decided he wasn't going to be delayed in achieving the rating he 'deserved'.

Once he started playing OTB at some point he discovered that he couldn't hide his online cheating. Once the suspicions started on social media his opponents might become jumpy, if the suspicion or just doubt plays on their mind, it could be worth 50-200 rating points (pure guess). Carlsen has already self-destructed and damaged his reputation with some.

That is plausible. Suppose Niemann wants to keep the 'Niemann effect' going, so he says 'My chess speaks for itself' ('He must be avoiding commenting to hide how little he understood that game') or he comments and says 'What about Qh4' when everyone watching sees it drops a piece. If this was his thinking you might expect he would never give an intelligent commentary, but with all the hysteria people will confirm their opinions by thinking 'He must have been through the game with an engine before talking').

Odds are he isn't deliberately increasing the suspicion but it is possible, so long as the invitations keep coming he is actually gaining from the situation.

Smerdon said (I think) that unless Niemann confesses or his play alters with stricter anti-cheating, we may never know the truth. Over time if people get used to playing him, the 'Niemann effect' may disappear.

[Roger de Coverly]

Norwegian chess federation president resigns.

It was mentioned earlier that he admitted the presence of a third party whilst playing in the Pro Chess League, which is one of the chess.com competitions.
He's now resigned.
https://www.chess.com/news/view/norwegi ... n-cheating

Nilsen admitted to cheating after three different sources had told Norway's main public news and radio station NRK that he had cheated for the Norway Gnomes.

Also
https://teknomers.com/en/chess-presiden ... -schedule/

[Mike Gunn]

Carl,

I'm getting bullied not for what I post but how I post it.
I do not write straight to this page because it has a timer and sometimes after I compose a post, I re-read it, tidy it up, change my mind, add a bit, chop a bit, check a fact or get a link etc I do a post preview and if I've forgotten to copy it I find I've been logged out and and everything I've just typed has gone.
So I write my stuff on notepad first with line breaks as I find it easier to read and edit and then paste it here.
From now on I will take out the line breaks. Hopefully this reads better.
...

Car, compose your post using a word processor (Word if you have it or the free word processor in Libre Office). Just press <return> for a new paragraph and the forum software/ the reader's browser does the rest.

[Keith Arkell]

This discussion between Caruana and Ramirez (the GM who interviewed Hans a few times during Sinquefield) gets interesting from about 40 mins in:

https://youtu.be/NmHyqiKl7GM

[Kirk Gornall]

For the last two years or so, Niemann has played in numerous OTB tournaments, in several countries. He indicated he was living out of a suitcase during this time and was devoted to studying and playing chess. Presumably he was travelling to these tournaments on his own. If he was cheating in any of these OTB tournaments then how was he doing it? If he was on his own then how could he receive outside help?

Given the scrutiny he now faces for the allegations made against him, if he continues to perform well in future tournaments, will he still be under suspicion? What will it take to prove his innocence? It seems that people accusing him of being a serial cheat will not change their stance no matter what happens. He is perpetually guilty in their eyes.

[NickFaulks]

It seems that people accusing him of being a serial cheat will not change their stance no matter what happens. He is perpetually guilty in their eyes.

Correct. They need Niemann to be a cheater just as they need air to breathe.