World’s biggest chess scandal ends in a whimper –

Chess may seem like a very difficult game to cheat, but when world champion Magnus Carlsen met Hans Niemann, he believed his opponent was cheating. Carlsen refused to play against Niemann after one move and then released a statement saying he believed Niemann had cheated several times.

Chess.com then backed up this claim, stating that Niemann had cheated in more than 100 games. However, Niemann then fired back with a lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com and a handful of other entities. The lawsuit was for $100 million, and for a while it looked like it would go nuclear in the chess community.

Since then, the lawsuit has been withdrawn and Chess.com has released a new statement saying that it has clarified matters with Niemann. “Hans has been fully restored to Chess.com and we look forward to his participation in our events,” the statement reads. “We would also like to reaffirm that we stand by the findings in our October 2022 public report on Hans, including that we found no determining evidence that he cheated in personal games.”

Niemann also seems satisfied with the course of events, but grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura could blow this case wide open again. He claims that “many grandmasters” have thought about cheating and says he could name names in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuyaIUn5WMQ/

Will peace endure? Find out next week on the radio drama that has become the chess community.