Agristotle said:

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Chess.com dropped their Hans report. Pretty clear he is a habitual cheater but I wonder if we'll ever learn how he cheated OTB?

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I think the only way he will learn is if he comes clean on everything in an attempt to avoid a lengthy ban.

Hans is now suing Magnus and others for $100MM

DubFalls said:

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Hans is now suing Magnus and others for $100MM

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Good luck with that.

I watched this video and don't see how it's damning...maybe I missed part of it? Seems like he has a case based on this. They say they don't have any evidence of him cheating at the Sinquefield Cup and he does not have more "perfect" games than other people either.

Hans has been damaged, but I think it is by his own actions.

I watch Nakamura a lot, never seen anything that I thought Hans could credibly sue him over. Having said that, he and Magnus seem awfully chummy these days, not hard to imagine he has a financial incentive to back Magnus.

I think Hans has a big hill to climb considering he admitted cheating already

Fairly long article that dives into the scandal.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/04/business/chess-cheating-scandal-magnus-carlsen-hans-niemann.html?searchResultPosition=1

Quote:

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. . .
The site has become the virtual hangout, spectator viewing stands and venue of choice for players at every level. So the scarlet "C" on Mr. Niemann burned even brighter after Chess.com released a 72-page report in early October concluding that he had cheated in more than 100 games on its platform. Then it went further. Mr. Niemann's rise in the ranks of over the board chess, as the in-person version of the game is known, was "uncharacteristic," the report stated, implying that he'd cheated at live tournaments.

In sum, the game's most gifted player, never known as a sore loser, had called out a confessed cheater. And the game's most powerful and popular platform then said, in effect, "We stand with Magnus."
An uproar ensued. Beneath it, facts that complicated the narrative were easy to miss. A week and a half before Mr. Carlsen lost in St. Louis, Chess.com made public an $82 million offer for his online chess training company, Play Magnus, a takeover that will essentially turn him into Chess.com's most valuable asset. And as more grandmasters studied the epochal game, a consensus formed. Mr. Niemann appeared to simply outplay Mr. Carlsen, with moves that appeared perfectly human.

Someone was wronged in St. Louis on Sept. 4. But who?
. . .

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The accusations won Hans some female fans.

I still don't understand Hans' accent.

Well, my last post was on 9/9/22 when I predicted, in a happy little poem, that the Aggies would motorboat poor Appalachian State.,,yeah, that sucked.
But I got my mojo back today when I beat a guy (on Dr Chess - play there a lot because I like their start with a 60seconds and get 20second increments) who was rated 2399.
Yup, he only needed to beat little ol' me to hit 2400, but it didn't happen.
I had lost a stupid blunder filled game just before and had gone to the restroom and brushed my teeth for few minutes...I've noticed this action, particularly if it includes gum massage, definitely improves my fast chess play.
Let me recommend brushing before games as an experiment to my Aggie friends - and post if you agree/or not that it is a worthwhile chess prep.

Well, the guy who was 2399 last time I upset him was 2411 this time.
He probably thinks I used a computer, but I just brushed my teeth.

Wildwilly71 (2087) - Habib Shoukry (2411)
1. e4 c5
2. c4 Nc6
3. Nc3 d6
4. g3 g6
5. Bg2 Bg7
6. KNe2 Bg4
7. f3 Bd7
8. d3 Nf6
9. O-O O-O
We've transposed to Botvinnick's Variation of the English
10. h3 Qc8
11. Kh2 a3
12. f4 Nh5
13. g4 Bxg4?
Same way he lost the last game, bad sacrifice...
but I've watched his play vs others and this is typical,
he is very good a surprising and beating the excitable,
14. hxB Qxg4
15. Rf3 Nd4
16. Nxd4 Bxd4
17. Be3 Bf6
18. Nd5 Rb8
19. Rh3 Qe6
20. Bf3 Ng7
21. Bg4 Nf5
22. e4xN Resigned

I should mention that my rating is usually around 2150 on Dr Chess, but had recently lost 30 games in a row in order to sandbag my rating to under 2000...not to win a class prize, just wanted some easy games.

We have a new classical chess champion.

I won't spoil it if someone is behind.

AgLiving06 said:

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We have a new classical chess champion.

I won't spoil it if someone is behind.

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/chinas-ding-liren-wins-dramatic-world-chess-championship/ar-AA1axXkO

What an exciting match! Poor Nepo; is he now the best player ever not to be world champion?

great pic, cool that you still have it.

Tournaments back then felt so different. Nowadays the computer has gutted the post game analysis in the skittles room and of course, back then we didn't have a hundred kids and their parents.

I enjoyed the days when the Texas A&M Chess Committee met every Friday night in the MSC.
It got a small amount of funding to field an Aggie Chess team plus held two USCF rated tournaments per year.
The San Jacinto Open was every April and the Brazos Open was every October - the tourneys did not have big prizes, but the proximity meant there were often top players from Houston, Dallas, and Austin.

And, has already been said: chess is hard.

I was the weakest player on the four man Aggie Chess team one year, it was a lot of fun. The university gave us passes to get out of class to play in some tournaments and paid our hotel and gas.

We would play bughouse chess in the Krueger-Dunn common area on Saturday nights (we called it Mad Mate back then) and would have a crowd watching just because of the chaotic energy.

Chess is hard but keeping the opposition is easy and automatically wins many endgames if you understand it...here is a great explanation that even new players will understand.

I just won a game yesterday that was a dead draw but my opponent did not understand opposition.

Fast chess between the current and previous World Champs.

Magnus and Naka both comport themselves and play differently now that they both have millions in the bank. I actually enjoy their chess more now, they take more risks.

Bughouse chess is fast chess played with a partner.
Two boards are set by each other, and the partners play
opposite colors so that they have the option of helping
each other by dropping a taken piece onto the partner's board.
Texan Jeffrey Xiong and his partner Awonder Liang are favored
to win the Chess,Com Bughouse Championship that is now
down to eight teams with the finals starting tomorrow.

Edit to add that I'm almost back to my 2150 target.

watched Xiong beat Naka in Titled Tuesday this past week! I met Jeffrey at a tournament, nice kid. I think he is the best player EVER from Texas, right?

2150 is very impressive! I've read for years that you are not really a chess player until you hit 1800, and yet I've played thousands of games and watched countless hours while being well below that mark and enjoyed it all.
What a beautiful, challenging, cruel, fun game!

Xiong/Liang did win their third Chess,Com Bughouse Champ.
I tried to follow on the YouTube live broadcast but couldn't keep up.
I can see why top players enjoy this version of chess,
it gets "out of the book" and into raw competition fast.

Magnus finally plays Hans - speed chess from Paris.
Hans looked to have the better position but let his rook get trapped.

Magnus kind of gave up trying at the end, but there was really no doubt who was better in that match.

once Magnus got up 5 points he checked out, pretty boring match. Only God and Stockfish can spot Magnus 5 points, and I'm not sure about Stockfish...

Naka was beaten pretty soundly too. I'm a huge Naka fan, but he seems stale, not enjoying chess much anymore.

Today's' match between Naka and Hans could be weird because both of them were thrashed yesterday.

Does today dash the hopes of Han's being the first American Chess Champion? (sarcasm).

He's getting smoked by Naka today.

Magnus and Naka both treated him like he had sued them for $50 million.

Hilarious commentary ensues as Magnus the GOAT wins speed chess champ.

thanks for that, I watched a lot of the SCC finals, but had missed that. Magnus is great fun, both his chess and his attitude. He seems to be enjoying chess without classical, while Naka seems like he can see the end in sight. I think Naka is going to take one last swing at the Candidates and then leave classical, too.

Caruana just won his fourth US Championship.
His last game win is shown - and final standings at 16:30.
Note that Yoo got no points because he was expelled.
I'm not sure why Jeffrey Zhou didn't play in the US Champ
but he did win another Titled Tuesday this week.

so unfortunate for chess. Naka and Fabi were so close to winning the Candidates and all of US chess would be engaged. Instead we get this risk-free snore fest with Ding and Gukesh.

thank goodness the right of the boring Ding is over.

I'll bet Gukesh does NOT defend his title successfully.