Chess.com ramps up security to prevent cheating accusations as Carlsen and Niemann face off

Chess victor Magnus Carlsen, ranked the world’s best player, competes against rival Hans Niemann at the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship semi-finals in Paris that begin on Friday. 

It is their first game since the Norweigan hinted that the American Niemann, then a teenager, had cheated in an over-the-board game two years ago.

All cheating allegations were cleared, including the bizarre allegation that vibrating anal beads were used at the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis.

But their face-off in Paris will this time be played on computers instead of over the board, meaning on a physical board.

The games are organised by Chess.com, the biggest online chess community. On its best days, the site can accumulate more than 10 million active players in a single day.

Online chess gives any person with an Internet connection the opportunity to play against anyone in the world. But cheating in online chess is much easier than over the board. 

“I think there are different ways of cheating in chess, specifically computer cheating, which I feel is an existential threat to the game,” said Carlsen at a media roundtable that Euronews Next attended.  

“That kind of cheating at any level should not be taken lightly”.

Carlsen, 33, and Niemann, 21, will be in the same room with noise-cancelling headphones and a live audience of 150 people with many more tuning in online for the game. 

“I think events like this need to happen a lot more, events that are in a hybrid format where you're playing on a computer, in an arena, sort of an e-sports thing where there's practically no opportunity to cheat, where the security is really good,” Carlsen said. 

“When it comes to online chess, you can never be completely sure. So still, a lot is based on trust and that