Chess speaks for itself
Intrigue at the king’s game, and the pond
Despite its inherent challenges as major spectator sport, chess has a rich cinematic history. Movies about chess are more prevalent than one might think.
Those tight shots of virtual generals, wheels spinning just behind sweat-covered brows, were made for the big screen. At least three major box-office productions have been made about Bobby Fischer’s story, his name recognizable to most in the Western world, regardless of enthusiasm for the game.
Now, another American chess prodigy is making the news cycle. His name may never achieve the same level of notoriety as did Mr. Fischer’s, but we await the inevitable critically acclaimed film about him nonetheless.
Hans Niemann is a 19-year-old chess grandmaster from California who’s been ascending the game’s ranks. Last year, he won the World Open in Philadelphia. But two recent wins over reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway at high-profile tournaments have been followed by insinuations of cheating.
In early September, the Norwegian quit a prestigious tournament after losing to young Mr. Niemann, and in a rematch later that month, walked away from the table after one move. Afterwards, he didn’t speak publicly about his decision, but retweeted a clip of wellknown soccer manager protesting the results of a match by saying, “If I speak, I am in big trouble.”
Later that month, however, Mr. Carlsen did formally accuse Mr. Niemann of cheating. For his part, after his first win over the world champ, Mr. Niemann said, “Chess speaks for itself.”
When confronted about cheating allegations after his win in the rematch, Mr. Niemann admitted to cheating in online games when he was 12 and 16, but denied cheating in any over-the-board match.
Chess.com launched an investigation and found that the young grandmaster had probably cheated in online games more than 100 times, as recently as 2020, and that Niemann privately confessed to the allegations and was banned from the site for a period of time, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
But an analysis of Mr. Niemann’s matches since 2020 by chess anti-cheating expert Ken Regan found no evidence of foul play, according to The Guardian. (The investigation was initiated by the Sinquefield Cup, one of the tournaments at which Mr. Niemann defeated Mr. Carlsen.)
The “Carlsen-Niemann controversy” represents the game’s biggest intrigue since the infamous Toiletgate at the World Chess Championship of 2006. We’ll spare readers the details, but the controversy involved numerous trips to the restroom and allegations of cheating.
Any film adaption of Carlsen-Niemann surely will entail the logistics of cheating at in-person chess. As one expert told The Journal, “All you need is a sophisticated enough communication device to be able to pull off such a brazen act.”
And as The Journal points out, players at the highest levels might only need help with one or two moves in key moments—a cyber-nudge to employ the knight—after which they can take it from there.
In the meantime, for Mr. Niemann, the aftermath of the Chess. com report has yet to play out. Among other endeavors, he’s a competitor in the Professional Rapid Online Chess League, which fields teams from across the globe. Mr. Niemann has competed for the St. Louis Arch Bishops, the Las Vegas Desert Rats and the Norway Gnomes.
We’re not sure what to think of a professional online rapid-fire chess league in which the Desert Rats take on the Gnomes, but this much we know: The screenplay for this movie begs to be written.
BUT FOR all the high drama in the chess world, all the talk in the real world, or at least in these latitudes, was Walleyegate.
Yes, you know what that is. You probably saw the video of the official at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail fishing tournament, when he discovered weights inside fish two men were trying to sneak by for the weigh-in. And not just troutline fishing weights, but actual fish fillets stuffed inside other fish, to make them weigh more.
We think we know where this is going: During weigh-ins, fish are going to be gutted to make sure fishermen aren’t cheating. Which will probably end nokill fishing tournaments.
But that’s probably the only way to keep folks from stuffing fillets and weights (and sand and marbles next?) into the fish. As somebody once said on another subject, this is why we can’t have nice things . . . .