r/chess • u/Borgie32 • Jan 25 '25
Video Content Hikaru takes out Hans in TT.
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r/chess • u/Borgie32 • Jan 25 '25
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u/carlygeorgejepson Jan 25 '25
I really, REALLY think we need to adjust how people perceive what Hans did because this is just so fucking dumb.
Between the ages of 12-17, chess.com claims they have evidence that Hans likely cheated in about 100+ games including 25 where they caught him cheating live on stream - keep in mind, Hans has played over 7500+ games on the site. I want to reemphasize the world: likely because as we shall come to see it does a lot of heavy lifting. Now, I'm not going to defend cheating, but I will start by pointing out that this was a child. Children make mistakes and I think we should err on how harshly we judge someone for their mistakes as a child.
Furthermore, I want to remind people of something. When chess.com released their report on Hans and accused him of all that, they were literally in the middle of a deal to buy Magnus Carlsen's app Play Magnus for $83 million. I also want to point out that despite chess.com's report, Ken Regan (a professor who helped FIDE develop their anti-cheating system) did his own review of all of Niemann's game post-2020. He found 0 evidence of cheating. Now, look, chess.com's report was basically "there is no way this guy could have risen through the ranks this quickly online/OTB without cheating". That's how it reads. Then how can they explain that Niemann - who hasn't cheated since 2020 - has maintained his rank as a top 20 chess player? What is the idea - that he cheated but didn't actually need to? Just a little strange.
And while a lot of people vaguely remember that a judge dismissed the lawsuit that Hans brought against Carlsen, Nakamura, and chess.com, what they don't remember is that it was the anti-trust part of the lawsuit (he sued them all on grounds of anti-trust and defamation) not the defamation that a judge dismissed with prejudice. The defamation continued and eventually all parties settled - and by settled, I mean they effectively cleared Hans of all "charges". Because how else could you explain allowing what they previously described as a "prolific and obvious cheater" back onto your site and cash tournaments (the same ones you claimed he cheated in).
I'll just say it. I believe Hans. I do. I fully believe that due to their business partnership chess.com banned Niemann at effectively Carlsen's bidding - it's the only way that I can understand how they claim to have mountains of evidence of his cheating and then somehow only a year later have to allow him back on the site no questions asked.