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Hans Niemann was accused of cheating after he beat Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen last September.

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[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 100 points 2 years ago

This was a joke invented by r/anarchychess. I'd be amazed if it were real.

[-] megane_kun@lemm.ee 81 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I remember when I first heard the rumours and I immediately thought of how sensitive one's anal linings would be to perceive Morse code via a butt plug. Then pondered upon the max possible bandwidth of buttplug-mediated information transfer. Finally, I thought about how to send back information via rythmic anal clenching.

Only then did I conclude that it's probably easier to get better at chess.

[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 29 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

A YouTuber tested it and confirmed it's not that difficult to detect messages. They didn't use Morse code but rather a simplified set of signals for move notation

[-] megane_kun@lemm.ee 7 points 2 years ago

It's in the ankles, right? I guess even if it's a different part of the body than the inside of one's butt (a sensitive part of the body), makes it plausible that it's also possible for communication (perhaps one-way—towards the plug wearer).

I'm assuming the accomplice would then be watching through some camera feed, right? That makes it at least plausible since there's no need for kegels (to send information the other way).

[-] LordPassionFruit@lemm.ee 19 points 2 years ago

If it's the same video I saw, it was the ankle guy. And yeah, when it comes to historical cases of chess cheating (almost always at a lower skill level) they'll either use some form of chess computer that they sneak away to use, or have an accomplice and a one way method of communication.

Another thing to keep in mind is that often times players at this level don't need to cheat every move, they just need to be given the correct move at an important moment and they'll be good enough to understand why they are being told to do that.

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[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 years ago

Yeah, in terms of the other direction, the game would theoretically have an audience and livestream.

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[-] jalda@sopuli.xyz 20 points 2 years ago

The thing is that the game was broadcast live. One-way communication was enough

[-] QuinceDaPence@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago

We need an expert on this. You gotta go find the guy that designed that butt plug revolver with the clench activated trigger.

[-] megane_kun@lemm.ee 4 points 2 years ago

Wait, what?! That's actually a thing now?!

Not really up to speed with butt-tech. Hahaha! There goes my search history!

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[-] lobut@lemmy.ca 40 points 2 years ago

Best joke about that I saw was a video of Hans playing someone and looking confident up until a blunder or something. Then he realizes what happened and puts his face in his hands and closes his eyes.

The comment on the YouTube video was: "when the computer gives up and then switches to pleasure mode"

[-] bilboswaggings@sopuli.xyz 15 points 2 years ago

I play chess and I have a... a friend who uses a vibrator

So ofc it's real, just not Hans

[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 11 points 2 years ago

Yeah that's what I meant. It's not that it's not real, but the origin of the meme was Hans saying something to the effect of "I'll play Magnus naked to prove I'm not cheating" to which everyone responded that the anal beads technique would be how he did it. Of course the corollary of that is that there are numerous ways for him to cheat while fully clothed.

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[-] Gomez@lemmy.world 59 points 2 years ago

Wasn't there a documentary about this with Danny Devito?

[-] ftothe3@lemm.ee 11 points 2 years ago

Yes. It was very informative. Highly recommend!

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[-] curiousaur@reddthat.com 37 points 2 years ago

I read the title as "dies" instead of "denies".

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 7 points 2 years ago

Should have gone with the WifiVibe Bullet, rather than the Hitachi XXXL AssBlaster Deluxe (with memory foam balls).

[-] Kata1yst@kbin.social 31 points 2 years ago

For those who haven't seen it- even if you don't have a background in data science or chess, this report is extremely damning. He's an unapologetic, manipulative, pernicious cheater.

https://www.chess.com/blog/CHESScom/hans-niemann-report

[-] detalferous@lemm.ee 22 points 2 years ago

That's 72 pages. Are there any highlights for interested non chess fanatics?

[-] TQuid@beehaw.org 17 points 2 years ago

The basic measure is “accuracy”: the percentage of moves that are the best move for that position. Computers are, as you would expect, inhumanly good on this measure. Better than the best human players, who will have “inaccuracies” even in their best-played games. It makes spotting cheaters pretty reliable and easy. Niemann has been busted for cheating online repeatedly, and analysis of his in-person play bears the same hallmarks.

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[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.one 6 points 2 years ago

BBC article summarizing some of the suspicions and evidence or lack thereof.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63140246

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[-] skybreaker@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

I'm not convinced by that report. Their cheating detection method is inconclusive and if Hans had the ability to perform the "best" move in every circumstance due to cheating but didn't, that to me points to it being less likely. There are a lot of statistics in that report that seem extremely circumstantial like the "plateaus" in strength rating. If he was really cheating in the tournaments, I think there would be a whole lot more evidence.

[-] Kata1yst@kbin.social 16 points 2 years ago

This is "a whole lot of evidence". If he had, for example, a 10% chance to show up suspicious in any one of those charts that's one thing. But to be highlighted as the most suspicious in each is extraordinary evidence. How do you explain a greater than 10% drop in skill when a 15 minute TV delay was put in place? Or his ability to make incredibly complex, perfect moves in seconds? Or his continual, nearly unstoppable strength rating growth, you know, except for the two natural plateaus in rating where most players never continue to grow firmly in the middle of his growth curve?

If that report doesn't convince you, I doubt anything will.

If he always did what the engine tells him to do then the evidence would be overwhelming, yes. Hans is surely aware of this and avoids doing so because he wants to get away with it.

[-] MyDogLovesMe@sh.itjust.works 20 points 2 years ago

Uhhhmmm, I don’t want to be intrusive, but how exactly does one use small beads to cheat at chess? I’m trying to figure this out, …but I keep losing anyway.

[-] HughJanus@lemmy.ml 19 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Mike Boyd did a video on this a while back and was able to successfully beat a pro chess player using a vibrator on his ankle:

https://piped.video/watch?v=5uDM3fPeNFM

[-] Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Imagine Nieman's surprise once he discovered you were only supposed to put it on your ankle

[-] Norgur@kbin.social 12 points 2 years ago

Yeah. The whole comment section seems like it's super obvious... but seriously... how does one cheat with anal vibrators?

[-] DakkaDok@lemmy.world 16 points 2 years ago

It's important to remember that he is certainly still very good at chess, even if he cheated in some games. He wouldn't need to have every move given to him, it might even be enough to give him a single signal that there is a non-obvious great move in a current position. Even just knowing that would probably be enough for him to find it by himself.

[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 years ago

That's a good point. You wouldn't need to send an entire move. If you simply sent a message indicating which piece is the best to move, the player probably can find the place to move that piece.

[-] collegefurtrader@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 2 years ago

Didn’t you see the always sunny episode?

[-] qaz@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago
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[-] Fisk400@feddit.nu 16 points 2 years ago

Morgan continued: "To be clear, on the specific allegation - have you ever used anal beads while playing chess?"

The 20-year-old replied: "Well, your curiosity is a bit concerning, you know - maybe you're personally interested, but I can tell you, no.

I don't know about you but when I appear in a very serious interview and talk about the multimillion dollar damage an unfounded allegations has done to my career, I really want to make sure that I include some weird kink shaming right there in my defense. That will surely make me seem like a serious person that sponsors can trust.

[-] seSvxR3ull7LHaEZFIjM@feddit.de 40 points 2 years ago

I think it was rather commenting on the interviewer's inappropriate intrusiveness into an intimate topic rather than kinkshaming. Understandable that Niemann got defensive there, IMO.

[-] detalferous@lemm.ee 17 points 2 years ago

It's literally the allegation.

How do you interview without asking about the allegation?

[-] seSvxR3ull7LHaEZFIjM@feddit.de 15 points 2 years ago

It's the meme allegation, the real allegation is just cheating without any butt stuff.

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[-] Luvs2Spuj@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

Still the greatest story I've ever read. I'll tell my grandchildren about this one day, and that's when they will put me in a home.

[-] zepheriths@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

Well seeing as chess.com has reinstated his account. We have no reason to not believe him

[-] Gabu@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

The fact that's a thing is hilarious.

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this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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