I don’t see how Magnus or Chess.com can credibly countersue with only passive, probability-based evidence of cheating, but they’ll probably try.
So I’m just thinking of who did what. Magnus seems in the clear to me.
- He implied Niemann cheated. Half the losing chess players out there think the other guy cheated, and often say so.
- He quit a game against Niemann after the first move. That’s his right as far as I’m concerned.
- He made a stupid opening and pissed of an Azerbaijani who quit in disgust. Rude but not actionable.
Chess.com is not in the clear to me.
- They banned Niemann based solely on passive evidence. They also barred him from their tournament based on the same evidence. This may be their right as a private business, but it’s unlikely that Niemann got the same treatment as others, and the evidence was not conclusive.
- They released their evidence claiming Niemann cheated which, if incorrect, could be defamation.
Niemann isn’t in the clear either.
- He probably cheated. If details come out as to how, he’s screwed.
- He admitted cheating in the past which doesn’t help his claim.
I think chess.com will be fine since he admitted to cheating.
They could play chess for $100,000,000.
I agree. Confessing his past only solidified their belief that he is a cheat. But, if he cheated against Carlsen, why would he sue? He knows he can’t win a lawsuit if chess.com has evidence.
Chess.com has banned a lot of cheats. I think he has zero chance.
You may be right. Whoever has the deepest pocket will probably win in court.
My club has filed for non profit status. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
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7-0 tonight. I think we have a new member that might be good. There were 2 8 year olds that were loud. I like to talk while playing until someone tells me to stop so I really enjoyed these 2 kids much louder than myself, annoying the uptight players. We had about 20 players tonight. The club now has over 100 players. It’s been great to see. That and yoga have been my greatest joys the last year.
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You should do ham radio! Or I should do yoga. One of those. I’m not going to do chess. lol.
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More tailspinning by Magnus. We could be witnessing the end of his domination.
They are playing fischer random. I’d give him a pass. Wesley So just forfeited because he castled and didn’t know he was in check.
Why no chess club Reg? Too many people there that play chess?
Honestly I’m just done with competitive anything. I ride my bicycle around not caring how fast I’m going. I just (literally 5 min ago) came back from riding the scooters with Isa around the seawall here in downtown Vancouver, watching the seaplanes land on the Pacific Ocean and admiring the fall colours. Everyone wins. Nobody loses. That’s my kind of competition these days.
I might be the least competitive chess player there. Although, I’m better than 80%. If I was better than 10% I wonder if it would be fun. I do sometimes get to play someone who is not fun to play against and that’s disappointing. Most times I’m glad I went. It is well behind yoga in the hobby category.
Yoga actually makes sense to me but for now I’m just really enjoying riding and scootering (word?) and I plan to get back into swimming this winter which I also love. I wasn’t sure about the scooters when we bought them but they’re great. The big challenge with those in winter will be the weather and only time will tell if they get use. So far, we’re bundling up and using them but I don’t know if that will last.
Another thing pops into my head: I don’t need mental stimulation. I have plenty of that with my work. I need physical stimulation. Chess doesn’t fill that need.
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That last part is why I need yoga more than chess.
Nakamura just won the Fischer Random Championship. I find him irritating but he’s brilliant.
I think I’d take black there.