[kriro]

He basically accused many players of cheating without any real evidence. His proofs are notoriously bad. The most notable examples are Daniel Naroditsky who was under immense psychological stress due to the allegations and died due to an accidental kratom overdose (kratom is used to self-medicate anxiety). Another prominent example are his allegations against Jose Martinez (aka Jospem) which resulted in them playing a grudge match which Jospem won. Kramnik was struggling with the tech in the online portion of the game. Basically he cannot accept that younger players beat him in quick formats and flings around ridiculous stuff. He's also feuding with Hikaru who is obviously really good at blitz.

[Aurornis]

> (kratom is used to self-medicate anxiety)

As a side note because I don’t want anybody to get the wrong idea: Kratom is an opioid and it is not an anxiety treatment. Some people with anxiety try to self-medicate with opioids because they can provide a temporary feeling of well being and euphoria, but they leave the person in worse condition when the effects wear off. This is what leads to the addiction and following dose escalation.

So without passing any judgment on anyone in this story, I would warn anyone else reading this that Kratom is decidedly a very bad way to try to cope with an anxiety condition and the false and fleeting feelings of calm that come from opioids will only bring more problems on top of a difficult mental health situation.

[prmoustache]

How can one cheat in chess?

[Arainach]

By using computers.

[prmoustache]

Aren't tournaments either held in person or with at least some judge/referree witnessing both parties?

[Arainach]

Many games are held online. In person, computers get smaller all the time (and there are bathroom breaks etc.). The history of trying to cheat at chess, casino games, and more with concealed computers is far too large a topic for one reply.

[tetha]

That didn't prevent Anna Rudolf being accused that she hid a supercomputer in her lip balm box made of tin sheet metal in 2007 and cheated with it in the bathroom.

Some parts of the chess community are very ridiculous.

[pdpi]

We had that story[0] a couple of years back, about the guy who supposedly cheated by using vibrating anal beads.

0. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37657925

[codechicago277]

This was unsubstantiated and took a similar toll on Niemann. The recent Netflix documentary interviews the key players, and it’s pretty that he didn’t cheat in that situation. Magnus’s cozy relationship with chess.com made Danny Rench jump to conclusions, giving the Magnus team the impression that cheating had happened, but a later chess.com analysis showed that was unlikely. It made for a good viral story, but wasn’t fair to Hans, no matter how unpleasant his personality is.

[BetterThanSober]

> accidental kratom overdose

You cannot overdose on plain leaf kratom

[picofarad]

7-OH, then? Its much stronger, and doses aren't standardized. If I take a half tablet as suggested I'll just evacuate it within an hour. Quarter tablet is hard to cut, so doses are inconsistent. Its an awful product, the way it is sold.

[TurdF3rguson]

Oh, I didn't hear that he died from kratom, maybe chess should be sanctioning Joe Rogan instead.