Carlsen vs Niemann: Cheating on chessboard

Ongoing scandal can dent the game's popularity

It is unusual for a chess grandmaster (GM) to be offered $1 million to play in the nude. But this is one of the more unusual outcomes of an ongoing scandal roiling one of the world’s most popular indoor activities. A few days ago, Hans Moke Niemann, a teenaged American GM, beat reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen in a high-voltage encounter at the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis. Carlsen played an opening system he has adopted only once before in 2018. So it ought to have been a surprise. But Niemann (who is ranked 49th in the world) was well-prepared