William Brangham:
Judy, this is the biggest scandal the game has seen in decades.
Thirty-one-year-old Norwegian Magnus Carlsen is the current world chess champion. And, last night, he explicitly accused 19-year-old American Hans Niemann of cheating in past games and lying about it. In a recent match, Niemann beat Carlsen, and Carlsen then pulled out of the tournament, issuing some cryptic comments.
But he was much more explicit in his statement yesterday, saying — quote — "We must do something about cheating. And for my part, going forward, I don't want to play against people that have cheated repeatedly in the past."
He offered no further proof for his accusation. Niemann has admitted, though, to cheating when he was 12 and 16 in what he said were inconsequential games, but denies foul play when he played Carlsen or in any other major tournaments.
So, here to unpack it all for us is grandmaster Maurice Ashley. He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2016.
Maurice Ashley, it's an honor to have you on the "NewsHour." Thank you so much for being here.
Just to reiterate, there is no evidence that we have seen that Niemann actually cheated. But Carlsen in his statement that I read from said that, in the game where Carlsen lost to this younger player, that Niemann seemed to not be concentrating at key moments and seemed to be playing far beyond his abilities.
I wonder what you make of this whole accusation.
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