Who thinks Hans Niemann is cheating in the Sinquefield cup 2022?

@odoaker2015 said in #70:
> I do not engage in speculation. As I said, for me this is dishonest and dangerous. All of the speculation has had very unpleasant consequences for Niemann. This is a witch hunt that used to be common in times of Inquisition. And I find it reprehensible to participate in it.

I'm attempting to keep track of events & fallout so far:
* WC drops out of tournament but would like to maintain good relations with STLCC
* WC makes cryptic tweet, possibly in violation of FIDE rule against bringing the game into disrepute
* Chess.com privately bans Niemann, god knows why
* Niemann explains his facts and perspective
* STLCC shrewdly elects not to comment further before WC makes further comments
* Chess24 and ChessBase cover events
* Internet generally has zero interest in science (in verifiable hypotheses and experiments) but enjoys being the internet
youtu.be/rE3j_RHkqJc

We don't know. Carlsen probably didn't know categoricallly.. He should have quietly reported his suspicions to the tournament authorities. Then speculation would be reduced.

@odoaker2015 said in #70:
> That's another speculation on your part. You don't know why he dropped out. Can you prove it was because of cheating?
> I do not engage in speculation. As I said, for me this is dishonest and dangerous. All of the speculation has had very unpleasant consequences for Niemann. This is a witch hunt that used to be common in times of Inquisition. And I find it reprehensible to participate in it.

First, I do not condone the witch hunt, I completely agree that it is reprehensible.

Second, of course, I cannot _prove_ it was because of cheating that Magnus withdrew, but other reasons seem way less realistic. There's a possibility that Magnus is just silently watching the internet lynch Hans Niemann, knowing full well that Hans is innocent and not willing to do anything about it even though he can easily stop it... There's such a possibility, but highly unlikely. Call it speculation, but I just do not think Magnus is that kind of person (despite losing lots of respect for him recently). If the reason he withdrew had nothing to do with Hans, we would already have heard from Magnus. Any half decent person would set things straight in such situation.

The question is not to believe or not but to have proof or not?

@coledavis said in #73:
> We don't know. Carlsen probably didn't know categoricallly.. He should have quietly reported his suspicions to the tournament authorities. Then speculation would be reduced.

For all we know, Carlsen's cryptic tweet could have been about funeral planning for HRMS.

@ohcomeon_1 said in #74:
> First, I do not condone the witch hunt, I completely agree that it is reprehensible.
>
> Second, of course, I cannot _prove_ it was because of cheating that Magnus withdrew, but other reasons seem way less realistic. There's a possibility that Magnus is just silently watching the internet lynch Hans Niemann, knowing full well that Hans is innocent and not willing to do anything about it even though he can easily stop it... There's such a possibility, but highly unlikely. Call it speculation, but I just do not think Magnus is that kind of person (despite losing lots of respect for him recently). If the reason he withdrew had nothing to do with Hans, we would already have heard from Magnus. Any half decent person would set things straight in such situation.

It doesn't matter what you believe. The only thing that matters are facts. But you're giving fodder to the people who are exploiting the speculations for their own purposes.You can believe whatever you want, but it doesn't necessarily have to be true.

@Toadofsky said in #72:
> I'm attempting to keep track of events & fallout so far:
> * WC drops out of tournament but would like to maintain good relations with STLCC
> * WC makes cryptic tweet, possibly in violation of FIDE rule against bringing the game into disrepute
> * Chess.com privately bans Niemann, god knows why
> * Niemann explains his facts and perspective
> * STLCC shrewdly elects not to comment further before WC makes further comments
> * Chess24 and ChessBase cover events
> * Internet generally has zero interest in science (in verifiable hypotheses and experiments) but enjoys being the internet

What are you trying to tell me?

@odoaker2015 said in #78:
> What are you trying to tell me?

I'm just trying to keep track of names involved in the witch hunt (I don't think Carlsen, Chess24, ChessBase, or St. Louis Chess Club are trying to be hunters, whereas some Chess.com employees might be).

they just mad cuz bad

My opinion is it makes Carlsen's decision to forego defense of his crown as forward-seeing, insomuch as he is very aware of his declining skills at chess. I hope he is as good at poker. At poker, you can always blame the cards.

The hand is over and nobody wants to play with Carlsen. If he decides after the current WC cycle is completed that he wants to try and take it back, that will be far harder than simply defending his crown this cycle.

This will be a bad scar on his reputation for a long time if he does not clarify what he means.

As for Hikaru, well, nobody cares.