Cards Against Humanity and Exploding Kittens.But a bonkers conspiracy accusing a newly crowned chess champ of using vibrating anal beads to cheat has renewed public interest in the game.On September 4, 19-year-old low-ranked American player Hans Niemann defeated 31-year-old Norwegian five-time world chess champion Magnus Carlsen in the Sinquefield Cup, a chess tournament where some of the world’s best players compete for a nearly $100,000 prize.Carlsen made an early mistake in the match, according to Kotaku, and Niemann — who had studied Carlsen’s earlier matches to anticipate his gameplay style — capitalized on the error to defeat him.Niemann’s victory ended Carlsen’s 53-game winning streak and compelled Carlsen to drop out of the tournament entirely.“[Carlsen] was so demoralized because he was losing to such an idiot like me,” Niemann said in a post-match interview. “It must be embarrassing for the world champion to lose to me.
I feel bad for him.”In a tweet announcing his departure from the tournament, Carlsen included a video of Portuguese soccer manager José Mourinho saying, “I prefer really not to speak.
If I speak, I am in big trouble.”The cryptic tweet led online commenters, including a Japanese-American chess grandmaster, Hikaru Nakamura, to speculate that Carlsen may have suspected Niemann of cheating.I've withdrawn from the tournament.
I've always enjoyed playing in the @STLChessClub, and hope to be back in the future https://t.co/YFSpl8er3u— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) September 5, 2022The speculation was aided by Niemann’s admission that he had cheated during online matches on chess.com at the ages of 12 and 16.