If we’re lucky
Hans Niemann getting accused of cheating - really?
I'm just an expert level player but several GM's have said there was nothing suspicious about that game, would be interested to hear which moves are supposedly "inhuman". Carlsen played poorly in the endgame and losing to a 2700 player while playing like that is a completely normal result so where's the beef? Carlsen really needs to explain himself at some point to end this witch hunt one way or the other but until then, innocent until proven guilty seems like a reasonable stance and so far there is no evidence whatsoever.
You all have followed the recent storm in the chess world. After beating the World Champion with the black pieces, Hans Niemann, 19 years old, was indirectly accused of cheating by Magnus Carlsen, with no evidence given. The World Champion only shared a very evasive tweet about his withdrawal of the Sinquefield Cup.
Then followed a party of hate upon Hans, led by none other than the famous streamer Hikaru Nakamura. In his stream he accused Hans of cheating very directly based on no tangible fact except "weird behaviour" and the post-game analysis being "not 2700". Not taking into account the exhaustion of the GM after playing a long match against Alireza Firouzja. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN3zNrvO8b4
Yesterday, Hans Niemann got to defend himself in an interview with Saint Louis Chess Club, and explains he has never cheated over the board. He also declared Chess.com banned his account, only sending a private notification by email to Hans, with no reason given for this ban. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJZuT-_kij0
To me this feels like an extremely unprofessionnal behaviour, and very surprising coming from such a big company. Should Hans have cheated or not - and then again seems very unlikely looking at all the security checks at Sinquefield Cup - taking mesures against someone only based on rumours is insane.
We already saw the debate on whether closed tournament invites are preventing young talents from reaching the elite. We see now that even when one of these youngsters is invited, if he dares beat the World Champion in a game, he is instantly banned from the community. I am personally disappointed at big Chess influencers sharing careless opinion and masses following through blindly.
Isn't anyone innocent before being proven guilty?