Magnus has withdrawn from Sinquefeld Cup

[Kerry Liles]

The penalty for making an unfounded accusation can be as severe as the penalty for cheating. The thing I don't like about the proposed new rules is that grandmaster opinion can be cited as evidence.

Opinion as evidence sounds Trumpian to me too... very Fox News like.

[Francis Rodriguez]

One thing is for sure, Hans Niemann is a very strong chess player with a bright future. If he is consistent and continues to play at this strength he will be deadly OTB. The next generation is here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxHIFVjm_8s

[David Ottosen]

Kasparov issued this on Twitter about half an hour ago:

"I will not delve into the ugly insinuations of the matter now, but must remark on what we do know:
World chess champion Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the world's premier tournament in St. Louis,
an act with no precedent in the past 50 years, and his explanation is required."

Kasparov speaking from a position of moral authority isn't exactly compelling.

[Sheldon Ab]

One thing is for sure, Hans Niemann is a very strong chess player with a bright future. If he is consistent and continues to play at this strength he will be deadly OTB. The next generation is here...

[Mario Moran-Venegas]

If Hans Niemann is exonerated by the investigation ,I will permanently close my chess.com account.
I did it when Eric Hansen was attacked by Nakamura. That affair involved some bad decisions by chess.com.

I have kept it because some of my students play there.

[Brad Thomson]

Kasparov... and his explanation is required."

Absolutely!

[Vlad Drkulec]

We're not sure why you are taking such a strong line over this?

Because Neimann is being tossed under the bus as an explanation for Magnus' conduct. This is not at all fair unless there IS something to the allegations that he cheated. If there IS then Neimann should be accused, if there is not then Neimann has a right to be exonerated. What ever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? The chess world, thanks to the suck who is a former world champion, having decided not to defend, is declaring Niemann "guilty until Magnus (the suck) declares him innocent." This is outrageous, but of course par for the course in the world of chess.

The penalty for making an unfounded accusation can be as severe as the penalty for cheating. The thing I don't like about the proposed new rules is that grandmaster opinion can be cited as evidence.

[Hans Jung]

https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-ca...niemann-affair A good summary of the incident.

[Kerry Liles]

Kasparov issued this on Twitter about half an hour ago:

"I will not delve into the ugly insinuations of the matter now, but must remark on what we do know:
World chess champion Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the world's premier tournament in St. Louis,
an act with no precedent in the past 50 years, and his explanation is required."

[Brad Thomson]

It all comes down to how much you believe Niemann.

Without any explanations we do not know what to believe, thus to toss someone under the bus is unjust and premature. Given the vast anti-cheating protocols that are in effect the most rational and logical explanation (though we cannot be certain either way) is that Magnus has totally sucked out after losing a game. The fact that he has already resigned his world championship title adds corroboration to this possibility. Magnus has always been a sore loser and he is getting worse. I do not understand why so many persons have wanted to crawl all over Niemann without any evidence at all to suggest guilt in circumstances that are so heavily policed that guilt is almost impossible.

[David Ottosen]

You may be right, if Magnus believes his opponent cheated but he cannot prove it then staying quiet would make sense. But withdrawing from the tournament is not keeping silent, he should simply have played on. If Niemann is innocent then this is profoundly unfair. Good riddance to Magnus, he is a bad personality.

You seem to be very objective about Carlsen.

I have no problems with what he did; if he in his heart of heart believes, but can't prove cheating, then he risks a lot legally/financially by making that accusation. It doesn't mean he has to be "fair" (whatever that means) if he truly believes the guy is cheating him, and I have little doubt that the instant withdrawal was in part to harm Niemann's chances of winning (by removing the full point he got against Carlsen). You can call it petty, some would call it just. It all comes down to how much you believe Niemann.

[Neil Frarey]

You may be right, if Magnus believes his opponent cheated but he cannot prove it then staying quiet would make sense. But withdrawing from the tournament is not keeping silent, he should simply have played on. If Niemann is innocent then this is profoundly unfair. Good riddance to Magnus, he is a bad personality.

He did! And then, he took it down, ha!

It was up just long enough for a couple of chess influencers to grab his statement ...

Martin B. Justesen ... https://twitter.com/saychess1/status...cbqPgjLseNJlHg

Susan Polar ... https://twitter.com/SusanPolgar/stat...cbqPgjLseNJlHg

[Brad Thomson]

Well...O.K. But consider what options Magnus has. To withdraw from a tournament suggests he has very strong opinions about something.....but possibly unprovable. So best to just walk away quietly, and stay out of the cheating fracas?

You may be right, if Magnus believes his opponent cheated but he cannot prove it then staying quiet would make sense. But withdrawing from the tournament is not keeping silent, he should simply have played on. If Niemann is innocent then this is profoundly unfair. Good riddance to Magnus, he is a bad personality.

[Mario Moran-Venegas]

If I was in Magnus' shoes I would act as he is doing.
If there was an accusation of cheating brought to the Arbiter personnel it must remain secret till more checking is done.
If I was Hans Niemann , my comments on the analysis would be exactly as inaccurate and vague as not to give out any of my preparation.
The statement should come from the organizers of the tournament with a date for a future statement on the matter.

A small sentence needs to be added : Magnus' behavior as far as a cheating complaint is correct.
What is not correct was the tweet that hinted at cheating..
I strongly disagree with chess.com's actions banning Mr. Niemann .
I strongly disagree with Nakamura statements regarding Mr. Niemann cheating online when he was 16 years old.

[Fred Harvey]

We're not sure why you are taking such a strong line over this?

Because Neimann is being tossed under the bus as an explanation for Magnus' conduct. This is not at all fair unless there IS something to the allegations that he cheated. If there IS then Neimann should be accused, if there is not then Neimann has a right to be exonerated. What ever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? The chess world, thanks to the suck who is a former world champion, having decided not to defend, is declaring Niemann "guilty until Magnus (the suck) declares him innocent." This is outrageous, but of course par for the course in the world of chess.

Well...O.K. But consider what options Magnus has. To withdraw from a tournament suggests he has very strong opinions about something.....but possibly unprovable. So best to just walk away quietly, and stay out of the cheating fracas?