Chess World's 'Anal Bead' Cheating Saga Quietly Comes To An End - eviltoast
  • Furbag@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This seems like a huge win for Niemann. I remember Legal Eagle’s video on it and he made it seem like Niemann didn’t have much of a case for defamation. Him getting a settlement of having his critics withdraw their accusations of cheating, getting his account reinstated on chess.com and being able to play in future over-the-board tournaments is just about the best settlement he could have hoped for.

    • GreenIcePear@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      He didnt have much for the case of defamation, which is why he lost that case against Magnus. It is however fair that Magnus has no proof for him cheating in OTB matches, and keeping that up without proper evidence could end up in a successfull defamation lawsuit.

      This doesnt necessarily change anything for OTB tournaments, which are regulated by FIDE, who had the report on their investigation postponed until October (I believe).

      I agree it is wild his chess.com account was reinstated after their report in which they claimed to have proof for iirc hundreds of times cheating in online matches!

      • bjorney@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        they claimed to have proof for iirc hundreds of times cheating in online matches!

        They merely stated his play was, across many games, indistinguishable from a cheater, they didn’t have actual hard proof that he was cheating.

        If they had actual proof they wouldn’t have needed to settle

          • Furbag@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            It’s a bit more nuanced than that. Chess engines exist, and computers have the ability to always make the most correct move given the current board state 100% of the time, even when viable alternatives exist. That’s how they tend to catch cheaters. If you’re out of book moves and making engine optimal moves every turn, there’s a strong suspicion that you are using a computer to cheat. Even Grandmasters play sub-optimal moves, so when novices come out swinging with near-100% accuracy on their scorecard, it raises a lot of alarm bells.

    • MataVatnik@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Legal Eagle videos are a rush job that he cranks out last minute to stay relevant to the news cycle and algorithm and doesn’t necessarily curate information carefully. Same exact problem as Linus.

        • MataVatnik@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          There are no articles or detractors that I can point to, it’s what I noticed. A specific example I remember was the GME thing, I was deep in the weeds at the time and when I watched Legal Eagle video on it I noticed there were a couple of inaccuracies in that video that essentially meant he missed the point of the entire problem with institutional traders and misrepresented what the GME movement was about. It was also painfully clear that he cranked out that video last minute to bandwagon on the topic to attract views and subscribers.

          You don’t need need to be an expert on anything to see this. Just pay attention to his channel, sensational topic comes out and in a matter of a day or two he will crank out a video on it and it will likely be on a legal topic that hes not an expert on. The problem is that most of us aren’t experts either so it’s hard to tell how accurate he is. But when you are producing at that rate, and you are desperate to play the algorithm, you’re going to get a lot of errors or misrepresentations. It’s a theme that’s common across youtubers who depend on current events to stay relevant.

          I followed legal eagle when he was a small channel and i dont remember him being that bad, once I noticed what he was doing I stopped paying attention to him. Like I said, you don’t need to be a genius to notice that he’s trying really hard to play the YouTube algorithm at the cost of his content a la Linus.

      • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        He’s a lawyer though, which gives him more credibility for legal things than not in my book. Do you know of other lawyers who covered the subject?

        • MataVatnik@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, he has more expertise than I do that’s for sure. I’m not trying to detract from his expertise, he’s clearly smart and knowledgeable and it’s hard to find alternatives for a niche like this. If it works for you then it works for you. I know that he’s not the only lawyer youtuber, there is a lawyer twitch streamer out there who does commentary on popular cases, I haven’t been in that corner of the internet in a while.

          I think sometimes I’m too critical of people like them when I should realize that it’s for popular consumption and its not an academic exercise. But I personally have an issue with someone who is clearly trying to play the algorithm in a way which directly conflicts with him trying to be an authority on these issues. You cannot be a pop culture commentator, and figure, while maintaining an academic level of integrity. I’ve seen this problem in some scientific channels, (where i actually know my stuff) and the more popular channels tend to dilute the content and sometimes just give a wrong impression of a scientific topic.

  • mycroft@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Kotaku failing at even being a sensationalist rag:

    Top Chess Competor’s Sex Toy ‘Anal Bead’ cheating buzz comes quietly in the end.

    • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Chess world approaches the tale end of “Anal Bead” cheating saga.

      Chess world gets to the bottom of “Anal Bead” cheating scandal

      That’s all I got.

  • Cruxifux@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    “Quietly”?! This is like the 18th time I’ve heard about this. They made an episode on Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia about it. This is like the only thing people know about the competitive chess world.

    • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      One way to cheat at Chess is to get information from the outside from computers. A particularly fool proof way of hiding something is in the good old prison pocket. When Hans Niemann was accused of cheating, a lot of people wondered if he had used this particular method. Several prototypes were then made and used to prove the concept.

      • figaro@lemdro.id
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        1 year ago

        Those confused, it would work with some kind of vibration code. It doesn’t need to be elaborate - just a code to look at a certain square. If he takes longer than 15 seconds or something, someone would be looking at a computer to calculate the best move, then vibrate the code of the square that it would move to. That’s all they would need to figure out what to do.

        For example: E6 - bzz bzz bzz bzz bzz - (Pause) - bzz bzz bzz bzz bzz bzz

        • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Or just buz if you should take, no buz if you shouldn’t take. There isn’t much input needed in top level play.

          • wwaxen@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Maybe not your source but I heard this from Hikaru Nakamura, in case anyone wants a source.

        • AEsheron@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          It doesn’t even need to be that complex. Sure-fire confirmation that there is a pivotal move can help a top level player slow down, analyze, and make a better play than they would normally. All you really need is a single signal to tell them they have access to a brilliant move, and that alone can turn around a game.

      • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Don’t you watch chess matches? Meaning we would see someone pulling something out of his ass and then trying to make sense of what scribbles were still legible through all the shit smears

    • Dudewitbow@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Some time after the accusations, Myth went to Ludwigs Chess boxing tournament with intent to see if it can be done. He proved it can be done as no one suspected it, albeit Myth very early on just started to ignore the vibrator, as hes not really good in chess in the first place.

  • Tedesche@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Did Carlsen ever present any ideas as to how Niemann could have cheated at the tournament in question? Were these just baseless accusations? Seems like very bad form for Magnus. I realize being a prodigy and a champion in a field this competitive can go to your head, but damn.

    • dustyData@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      If you ever hung out on reddit’s anarchy chess sub, you’d quickly discover that most grand masters and chess players overall tend to be big cry babies who love drama and throwing fits and tantrums. These are grown men who have tied their personal worth to playing a board game competitively. It’s acutely obvious most of them don’t have a sense of what sportsmanship means.

      For an example google the meaning of the “peepee in your Pampers” meme.

    • severien@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Well, Niemann has a history of cheating in online games (some with prizes). He admitted cheating in some games, and according to statistics cheated in some additional ones.

      It’s possible that Carlsen had this in the head when playing and that, in conjunction with a “ridiculous miracle” caused his reaction:

      The report mentioned as peculiar but drew no conclusions from the statement made by Niemann in his post-game interview that it was inexplicable and a “ridiculous miracle” that he had the very day of the game, before the game, used a computer engine to analyze an unusual position that arose in his game against Carlsen.

      I realize being a prodigy and a champion in a field this competitive can go to your head, but damn.

      I think it would be fair to mention that Carlsen has never done anything like this before in his already long career.

      • Tedesche@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I understand all that. What I meant was that I think it’s bad form to accuse an opponent who beat you of cheating without evidence, and I would think that if you’re at the top of your game, it looks even worse, and thus Carlsen would have even more incentive to mind the optics of it. This is the first I’ve ever heard of him behaving like this as well, but it looks bad nonetheless. I would think a better way to have gone about it would be to investigate my suspicions outside of the public eye first and only go public if I came up with evidence to support the claim. Being wrong about an accusation of cheating almost looks worse than actually cheating. I’d want to avoid that at all costs, if I were him.

        • Dkarma@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The thing is I don’t think there’s any way Magnus would accuse him or forfeit the game unless he was sure.
          I’m pretty sure what happened here is Magnus opened an obscure opening and when the move set exactly copies the pattern a computer would play you just know.

          That’s the level Magnus is at. His memorization is insane and I can almost guarantee he was 100% sure this kid was cheating.
          Just because you don’t have proof or can’t see it doesn’t mean Magnus can’t.

          I get it from a casual observer point youre like no way he could know. Trust me his memorization is that good.

          • dustyData@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Except, we now know he wasn’t. Carlsen was salty because his ego was bruised by losing to someone he perceived as being beneath him. He wasn’t seeing any 4d chess BS romantic mental projection of the game. He was just mad that he lost. Be aware, it wasn’t that Niemann was unfairly landsliding Carlsen. Quite the opposite, Carlsen had already won two games against Niemann. When he lost the third game he got mad that someone else studied the same obscure opening as him and resigned on the fourth game after a single move. Just an adult tantrum. This is chess, everyone loses at some point or another, no matter how good you are or how large the skill gap with your opponent. Statistically in a large enough amount of games, you will lose some.

            • Dkarma@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              That would be plausible if Neimann knew the line but if u watch his post match interview it is obvious he’s struggling with the logic that line follows. So I’m expected to believe Neimann could play the line flawlessly enough to make Magnus quit in the moment but afterwards can’t justify his play and thought process?
              Obvious tell he was cheating.
              Yes Magnus knew right away.

              • dustyData@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                I will defer my opinion to that of someone who knows more about chess than me. According to Grand-master Anatoly Karpov’s analysis of the game:

                “Carlsen surprisingly played the opening so badly with white that he automatically got into a worse position. Then he showed a strange inability to cope with the difficult situation that arose on the board. Comments that White lost without chances are complete nonsense.

                Yes, he played badly, his position was worse, but he didn’t have to lose: if he hadn’t sacrificed a pawn there would have been nothing terrible for him in that position. With more careful play he could have made a draw.”

                Maybe Niemann cheated, maybe he didn’t. But the true is that the reason Carlsen quit was because he got flustered. He could’ve, and as a matter of fact had previously, kicked Niemann’s ass with skill. He could’ve made this a draw, keep playing the tournament and still dominate. But he played one bad game and had to throw a hissy fit of historical proportions.

                • Dkarma@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  You have no evidence and are obv biased against Carlson. Go watch the interview and then see if u still believe Hans. Carlson aside Hans does not have the skill to even remember his own thought process when working this obscure line? Proof right there.

        • severien@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I would think a better way to have gone about it would be to investigate my suspicions outside of the public eye first

          Which is far from easy in such cases.

          I wouldn’t be surprised if his reaction was made in the affect of the moment. We’re all humans.

  • Baahb@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The pun in the title makes this worth it and I don’t even care about chess

    Oooooh also, it seems like Magnus Carlson is butthurt