"A little over three years ago, the greatest chess player of all-time lost to a swaggering young American grandmaster, self-ejected from an important tournament, and kicked off the biggest and strangest cheating scandal chess has ever seen. The story of Magnus Carlsen's quixotic war against Hans Niemann gripped the chess world for years. Back in 2022, Carlsen was on top of the world, lording over every format of chess and winning most major tournaments even after announcing his plans to abdicate his world championship."
"Their divergent personalities animated the story, but so did the unsolvable mystery at its heart. We now know so much about Niemann's destructive personality and alienation from the very chess world he sought to ascend within, as we do about his history of cheating online and the way Carlsen had slowly been annoyed by chess to the point that he finally snapped."
Three years ago Magnus Carlsen lost to Hans Niemann, withdrew from an important tournament, and triggered one of chess's largest cheating scandals. Carlsen dominated competitive chess in 2022, winning most major tournaments despite signaling plans to abdicate the world championship. Niemann emerged as a hungry, ambitious American grandmaster seeking recognition. Niemann's history includes admitted online cheating and reports of personal alienation within the chess community. Carlsen's growing frustration with chess culminated in a public rupture after the Sinquefield Cup game. The central unresolved question remains whether Niemann cheated over the board when he beat Carlsen with the black pieces. Sensationalized, misleading theories circulated widely.
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