The warning signs have been there but were ignored because who wants to rain on a parade? The AW may have been the only blog writing about the possibility of a crash. A bubble can only expand until it bursts. The Royal Game has been undergoing the most massive expansion since the so-called Fischer boom. The popularity of the Queen’s Gambit
film coming as it did during the pandemic, when so many were staying inside with their laptops wired to one of the websites where one can play Chess, caused an explosion of new players. For many in the Chess world it has been Golden Goose time. Unfortunately, there has been an undercurrent that has finally surfaced. Cheating.
This writer has received communications from multiple players concerning online cheating, especially at Chess.com. For example one online player wrote, “Hardly a week goes by that I do not receive a notice informing me my rating has gone up because one of my opponents cheated.” Another wrote, “Everybody cheats.” I replied, “If everybody cheats, then that means you cheat.” This salvo was fired in reply, “Everybody but ME, dammit!”
What was that Doctor House said?
Chess.com uses some kind of algorithm to weed out “everybody but me.” I know too little about how it ascertains which one of everybody but me is cheating, but it is not perfect, because nothing is perfect. That means innocent players have been accused of cheating, one of whom I met. He was a nice, well-mannered young gentleman, who comes from an upper-middle class family that is very religious. He had no reason to cheat and I believe he never cheated. I do not want to go into much detail other than to say he was far stronger than his rating because he had been taking lessons and working on his game diligently. That ended after being falsely accused because he stopped playing Chess.
“Back in the day’, circa middle 1970s, a young unrated player burst onto the Atlanta Chess scene in a big way by winning a tournament with a large prize fund in his very first event. I believe it was a cool one thousand dollars for first place, and it was for players rated below 2000, or maybe below 2200. Where is the best editor and historian of the GCA, Mark Taylor, when you need him?
In addition, the same player backed it up with another first place finish in the next big event. His name was Charles Daniel, and he had been playing many games with a friend, while both of them passionately studied the game.
A rhetorical question: What do you think would happen to a player like Charles Daniel today?
Alan Trefler was a master-level chess player who had been playing chess since his childhood. Trefler competed in the 1975 World Open Chess Championship in New York City. Still a college student at Dartmouth, he entered the tournament with a 2075 Elo rating, 125 points below the lowest master-rated player, ranking him 115th overall in the tournament. He went on to be crowned co-champion along with International Grandmaster Pal Benko, who was rated at 2504. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Trefler#Chess_career
What became of Alan N. Trefler? “He was born March 10, 1956, and is an American billionaire businessman and chess master best known as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Pegasystems, a multinational software company he founded in 1983. Prior to Pegasystems, in 1975 Trefler tied for first place in the World Open Chess Championship with grandmaster Pal Benko.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Trefler
A rhetorical question: What do you think would happen to a player like Alan N. Trefler under todaze prevailing conditions?
(Levon) Aronian:
“It quite often happens when young players play very well there are accusations towards them… all of my colleagues are pretty much paranoid, and quite often I was the one telling them, come on, guys… I always think that young players can play very well!” (https://twitter.com/chess24com/status/1566897690138578944)
Levon said it best, all the top players are SPOOKED! Maybe that is the reason for some of the weak play seen recently. Magnus Carlsen
is a perfect example because he did not play particularly well against Hans Moke Niemann. The moves could have been difficult to find if Magnus was wondering if he were being cheated. Then again, it could have been difficult because Magnus was over confident and took his young opponent too lightly. It could also have been because the young man has devoted himself to Caissa while trotting the globe the past few years in an attempt to learn how good he can become.
Much has been written concerning Hans Moke Niemann looking at the g3 line prior to the game, but young seventeen year old GRANDMASTER Andrew Hong left the commentators incredulous at the lines he had examined prior to a couple of games early in the recent 2022 US Junior Championship. There was no suggestion of GM Hong cheating, and why should there be? I’ve written on this blog about how the youngsters are picking apart the “tried and true” openings played by the oldsters. The young players are being rewarded for there diligence, while older players spend most of their lives streaming online. The youngsters are doing this because they have the tools with which to work. That is why they examine possible lines going into the middle game, and are letting the programs show them the way to the bank.
This writer has been a fan of HMN for some time now, following him on his journey, hoping he has found time to write about his exploits, or at least kept notes, while ‘pullin’ for him in each game. I knew none of the rumor and innuendo and was only following a young American on whatever trip he is on. All I know of him is what I have seen and heard and his honesty has been refreshing, to say the least. I am a HansFan!
In closing I will quote the author of Gone With The Wind, Margaret Mitchell:
vintagenewsdaily.com
“Until you’ve lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was.”
“The Rumor”
Now when the rumor comes to your town
It grows, it grows, where it started no one knows
Some of your neighbors will invite it right in
Maybe it’s a lie, even if it’s a sin, they’ll repeat the rumor again
Close your eyes, hang down your head
Until a fog blows away, let it blow away
Open up your arms and feel the good
It’s a’comin’, a brand new day
Big men little men turn into dust
Maybe it was all in fun, didn’t mean to ruin no one
Could there be someone among this crowd
Who’s been accused had his name so misused and his privacy refused
Close your eyes, hang your head
Until a fog blows away, let it blow away
Open up your arms and feel the good
It’s a’comin’, a brand new day
Now all you vigilantes want to make a move
Maybe they won’t, you know I sure hope they don’t
For whether this rumor proves true or false
You can forgive, a’you can regret, but you can never ever forget
Close your eyes, hang down your head
Until a fog blows away
Open up your arms and feel the good
It’s a’comin’, a brand new day
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/band/therumor.html
Armchair Warrior 