The Carlsen-Niemann plot has been dominating chess conversations throughout the month of September. The defeat of the world champion and number one in the ranking in the Sinquefield Cup against the young American (19 years old) is already a thriller with an unexpected ending… or maybe not so much. The Norwegian opened Pandora’s box with an enigmatic publication in which he retrieved an old video of Jose Mourinho in which the soccer coach said: “If I talk I get into big trouble.”
Rumors about possible cheating by Hans began to be replicated on social networks with multiple theories, each one more outlandish with cables, electronic transmission devices or the zenith of anal pearls that he could have used to receive orders through Morse code. Carlsen and those around him were silent although in the interval the Nordic GM retired in an internet game against Niemann before making the second move. This action provoked more opinions and analysis of the previous game by all kinds of players: grandmasters, analysts, fans… until Carlsen himself published a statement directly accusing Niemann of cheating and asking him for permission to tell the story. TRUE.
With chess on fire in the face of this situation, a YouTuber specialized in the world of boards has published a video that has once again revolutionized the networks and that it could give a key to show that Niemann did not win legally. Yosha Iglesias, that is his name, used a advanced software called ‘ChessBase’ to analyze the American’s moves that day and the result is surprising to say the least. The computer program determines, with a score from 0 to 100, each move based on how good it was based on how a chess engine designed to play perfectly and without the possibility of error would have decided to move. Y each Niemann decision was very close to 100. That is, he made a perfect game according to the maximum technology.
By context it should be noted that, according to the software itself, Magnus Carlsen usually has an average of 70 and 75; and Bobby Fischer in his famous streak of twenty consecutive victories played with an average of 72. Does this prove he cheated? No, but it opens up more doubts and almost suggests it since a chess player with that level should have a much higher ELO (he is 2,688 and 49th in the world compared to Carlsen’s 2,864). And more so because it is not the first time that Niemann nails the 100; he already did it for example against Cristhian Camilo Rios in the second round of the Sharjah Masters on September 18, 2021 playing perfectly for 45 consecutive moves. More data: since January 2020 Carlsen has made two games under 100 and two others over 90; in the same time Niemann has ten games and another 23 above 90.
As background, we must remember Sébastien Feller who in 2010 nailed a complete tournament, which he won, with moves of 98. The French Chess Federation determined that he cheated by communicating with two other players: international master Cyril Marzolo (who was at his home) and grandmaster Arnaud Hauchard (present in the room). How they did it? Hauchard moved between the chairs and tables changing their location in a line of sight that Feller interpreted through pre-agreed codes and thus was able to capture on the board the coded messages that Marzolo sent him after following the guidelines of a search engine. Chess. The ruse was slow to uncover and Feller was sentenced to two years.
Feller vehemently denied for a while that he was a cheat, something that Niemann also does, who at the age of 12 starred in an episode of fraud in an internet chess tournament. The American has come to justify his prowess with Black against the best in the world by coincidentally revising that opening against a rare variation of the Nimzo-Indian that Magnus had prepared expressly for that game. “By some kind of miracle, I checked that line today. I don’t know why, it may sound ridiculous but it was like that”, explained Hans. The story is not over yet…
