WEBVTT

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There are as many possible chess games

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as atoms in the visible universe.

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31-year-old Norwegian Magnus Carlsen

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is the current World Chess Champion.

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…reigns supreme in a sport played
by 500 million people.

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Magnus must remember
the position of 320 pieces

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while calculating ten moves
and countermoves on each board.

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Magnus wins on all boards.

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I can see these things
immediately, where other people see chaos.

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That is that, ladies
and gentlemen. Carlsen has won…

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Magnus Carlsen…

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Magnus Carlsen has this edge mentally
that nobody else possesses.

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I've been the definite best player
in the world now for 12 to 13 years.

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Magnus Carlsen is doing things
no human being I've met before can do.

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Do you consider yourself a genius?

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Do I ever wonder
why he was given this gift?

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Are we living in a simulation?

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I'm Magnus Carlsen.

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Magnus Carlsen.

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The Mozart of Chess!
One of the great geniuses of our time…

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-Please welcome Magnus Carlsen!
-The reigning five-time world champion.

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Magnus Carlsen was defeated
in a major upset at the Sinquefield Cup.

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Magnus Carlsen just resigned.

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Carlsen lost to this younger player.

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Sending the chess world into chaos.

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Does chess make you insane?

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Or does chesskeepyou sane?

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One of the greatest
chess champions of all time

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is accusing a fellow player of cheating.

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He explicitly accused
19-year-old American Hans Niemann.

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All I did was play a chess game,
and I beat him.

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He's entered a level of paranoia
that is not, like, sane.

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He's created a monster.

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And while he's old,

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I'm gonna be young, improving.

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And the best player,
he's gonna have to watch.

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And every fucking day of his life,
he's gonna have to realize that

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he did this to me.

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The community
doesn't like people who cheat.

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Of course it's fucking coordinated.
It's a genuine conspiracy against me.

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Just, people think he's cheating.
It's as simple as that.

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They think I'm cheating. Are they crazy?

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-Is Hans cheating over the board?
-This is war, isn't it?

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They did this all
because of a personal vendetta.

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Have you ever used anal beads
while playing chess?

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Sometimes I wonder
how my life would be without chess.

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And I think it's a blessing and a curse.

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I've thought about this a lot.
Like, what price do you pay for genius?

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Because of course, my mind, you know,

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is capable of things that, you know,
make me a pretty good chess player

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and good at other things,
but that comes with an emotional price,

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and that's probably
why I was never normal.

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When I told my parents at 16,
"I'm gonna move to New York,

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I'm gonna live alone, pay for rent,"
they… everyone called me crazy.

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But I knew
that I needed to prove to myself

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I could be the best chess player
in the world.

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And that took precedent
over living with my family

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and having security.

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There was periods where I didn't speak
to a single person for two months.

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But… I used to go on
these 30-hour benders. I wouldn't sleep.

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And I would literally just stay up,
solving chess puzzles nonstop.

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I just consumed
everything I could about chess.

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I liked to watch interviews
with past players.

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I'd analyze their games.

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I'd be working on the openings,
absorbing everything I could.

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Bobby saw six moves ahead here.
He just didn't seesevenmoves ahead.

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I'd sit at my computer
for 12 to 16 hours a day,

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just playing thousands of games a month.

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And I understood
that the only way for me to improve

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was to play against people
much better than me.

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Every opportunity for me to play
against the best players in the world

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was a chance to just absorb that strength.

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And every single top player
is playing on Chess.com.

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It's the entire fucking chess ecosystem.

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There's no alternative.

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They have a monopoly over online chess.

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It would be correct to say we don't look
like the average chess player.

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When I say "chess player," people
think of an old white guy from Russia.

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"Chess is not cool. It's super hard."

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"It's only for nerds.
It's not something that's for me."

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And that's really a big reason
why Chess.com has the "pawn" as the logo.

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Because chess is for the pawns.

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The pawn potential to move up the board
and be whatever you want to be.

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Chess is for everybody.

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Welcome to
anotherUnder the Green Pawn.

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Chess.com started as an idea in 2005

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that I wanted to build
the MySpace of chess.

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We officially opened in May of 2007.

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Here's the hall. Wish me luck.
See you on the other side.

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But it was really small potatoes.

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I was turning down jobs
at Facebook and Palantir and YouTube,

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and everybody in Silicon Valley
was telling us

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chess would never be big enough
to be investable

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and just kind of like
laughing us out of the office a bit.

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We were always the underdog.

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Till COVID.

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Today the World Health Organization

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officially announced
that this is a global pandemic.

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Imagine there's no heaven

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The murder hornet--

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-I think it's a filter.
-I don't know how to remove it.

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The pandemic was absolutely bonkers,

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but for chess, it was unreal.

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We could see it
in the server logs and registrations.

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Each country that got locked down,
registration spike.

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Italy was first to lock down.

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Registrations in Italy, boom.

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And next was India.
Registrations in India, boom.

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And every country, as it got locked down,

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registrations bumping up,
four or five x. Overnight.

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I thought we'd play some chess.

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I'd like to play chess.

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And thenThe Queen's Gambitshow
on Netflix came along.

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Those waves hit each other and spiked.

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At Chess.com this month,
more than two million new members.

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We literally did go
from a million daily active users

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to five, six million daily active people,
playing chess.

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It was crazy.

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What's the company currently worth?

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Probably… gettin' close
to a billion dollars in value.

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That's my guess.

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Do I care?
Not really, but that's my guess.

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Fuck!

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During the pandemic,
we were constantly thinking about,

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where is our next growth opportunity?

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What the fuck just happened here?

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And we saw influencers
playing chess en masse,

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like we'd never seen before.

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And it became my job
to choose the next stars

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and build the streaming program.

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-Send this to overtime!
-Change of queen!

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Danny became maybe
the most important person

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in the entire chess community.

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We changed chess yet again today.

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I love you andsalud.

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You're in this position
where you're the gatekeeper,

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the key master
to someone's hopes and dreams.

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And everybody wanted to be a star.

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Get out of here!

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You just got owned!

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Before the pandemic,
I didn't really know Hans Niemann.

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I knew--

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Hans!

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You just got owned!

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All of the biggest chess creators,

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people you see now
with millions of subscribers,

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they were nobodies.

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And then Chess.com artif…
created their careers.

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Okay, finish him.

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Chess became a fad. It became a trend.

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When there's a trend, everyone follows.

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Yo, 2,700 viewers. Damn.

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These guys are…
You guys are enjoying this.

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There's always opportunity
if you look for it.

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So, I just start streaming
on Twitch every single day.

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Dude, you watch Twitch?

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-Are you Hans Niemann?
-I'm Hans Niemann!

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Oh shit! Yo!

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Here was a young talented American…

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…with an insane amount of self-confidence.

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Let's be civil, let's be mature,
and let's continue with the show.

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He's got bravado.

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Yeah!

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And it made sense for us to work together
and help him become a streaming star.

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I became someone who was mentoring him.

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Speaking of our participants,
they're ready to roll.

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As we see Hans Niemann,

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he's got his Doritos,
which is hisfavoritossnack.

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Everything about our relationship
was met with a full partnership.

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And Hans was special to us.

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Rook e7.

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Suck my balls.

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I had quite a big fan base.

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The rage is not for the camera.

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Unfortunately, it's just how I am.

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Tick tock, tick, tick, tick!

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What set me apart from other streamers

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was everyone else was so boring
that I seemed interesting in contrast.

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How! How is he so smart?!

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All right, let's play something slow.

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Nothing fancy-schmancy.
Just keep it very slow and controlled.

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I am Hikaru Nakamura.

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I am a grandmaster.

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Currently ranked number three in the world
at the great game of chess.

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Computer will tell you guys if I'm wrong,
but I think king f6, is the only…

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Hans, he's someone
I would compete against,

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playing blitz games online.

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It was very clear he was a strong player.
No doubt about it.

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Whoa, what? No, this is insane.

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But I didn't really particularly care
for his brand of antics.

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The old-school chess establishment,
the view is you have to be very proper.

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You win, you say, "I won the game."
You lose, "Guy played better than me."

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My congratulations, sir.

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A brilliant coup.

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But Hans is very wild.

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When he lost games,
he would scream, he'd yell.

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When he'd win games, he'd be like,
"I'm the greatest in the world."

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I am a God.

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Now, sit the fuck down
and get with the flow.

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You know, why not? Why not speak my mind?

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Some people like that. Some people don't.

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So while the fans enjoyed it,
there are people in the chess world

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who were not fans of that
and thought it was disrespectful,

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and it wasn't fitting
for someone who was a serious player.

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Players would talk about it.

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"Why does he do this, do that?"

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And they think it's so crazy,

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but in the world of sports,
it's not that crazy. It's normal.

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First of all, people are absolute idiots

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because the explanation
I'm gonna give is gonna make

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all the top GMs look like idiots.

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Why doIhave to be held to the standard
of being so polite and nice?

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Nice guys, you know,
they finish last, as they say.

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And I'm not a nice guy.

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You can't be a nice guy
and be a champion, unfortunately.

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I've sometimes
just found it very surprising

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that I'm the best
in the world at something.

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'Cause I don't
consider myself particularly remarkable.

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I know that I'm relatively bright,
but I'm not a genius.

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Like, I'm not something amazing.

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I only know that
when I sit down at the board,

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I am better than the other guy.

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I sometimes feel
as though I don't deserve it.

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I feel like, at times,
it's come kind of easy to me.

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There are probably people
who have worked a lot harder

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who haven't reached as far.

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What do you know about Hans?

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I had played him a couple of times online.

00:13:37.566 --> 00:13:41.028 align:center
And it was, at times, quite entertaining

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'cause his mood swings
would be pretty wild.

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Chat, we're playing fucking Magnus!

00:13:46.951 --> 00:13:48.911 align:center
We're playing Magnus Carlsen!

00:13:48.994 --> 00:13:51.288 align:center
I was just this kid
who didn't view himself

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as this potential champion.

00:13:53.082 --> 00:13:55.251 align:center
And suddenly, here I am, playing Magnus.

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Playing the world champion,
a player I've looked up to for so long.

00:13:59.797 --> 00:14:01.173 align:center
So of course I'm excited.

00:14:01.257 --> 00:14:02.466 align:center
Holy shit!

00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:08.597 align:center
He was pretty decent,
but I still won the game quite easily.

00:14:09.390 --> 00:14:11.976 align:center
Mate. Very pleasing.

00:14:14.061 --> 00:14:20.234 align:center
He's a good player
who happens to be American and talk a lot.

00:14:22.027 --> 00:14:24.196 align:center
There's a clip that I watch back.

00:14:24.280 --> 00:14:28.158 align:center
And in this clip, I say like,
"You might not believe in me."

00:14:28.242 --> 00:14:30.035 align:center
"You might all think I'm crazy, but…"

00:14:30.119 --> 00:14:32.830 align:center
There will be a day
where I take down Magnus

00:14:32.913 --> 00:14:36.917 align:center
and where I rise to the best in the world!

00:14:37.793 --> 00:14:41.589 align:center
And you guys will be there
every single step of the way.

00:14:41.672 --> 00:14:44.800 align:center
There was a journey behind it.
People wanted to see the underdog kid

00:14:44.884 --> 00:14:47.553 align:center
overcome the top players in the world.

00:14:47.636 --> 00:14:49.597 align:center
We've got fucking so many GMs,

00:14:49.680 --> 00:14:52.850 align:center
and the little IM,
who no one thought could do it,

00:14:52.933 --> 00:14:54.310 align:center
fucking qualified!

00:14:54.894 --> 00:14:57.563 align:center
I won like 30 grand a month on Chess.com.

00:14:57.646 --> 00:14:59.565 align:center
I was one of
the best players on the website.

00:15:02.192 --> 00:15:05.237 align:center
And I was beating all these,
you know, grandmasters.

00:15:05.321 --> 00:15:07.531 align:center
The top players in the world.

00:15:07.615 --> 00:15:11.327 align:center
I thought if I could beat them online,
why can't I beat them face to face?

00:15:12.036 --> 00:15:15.998 align:center
And I knew that I had to prove myself
to the chess world over the board.

00:15:19.126 --> 00:15:22.546 align:center
Over-the-board chess is
where two players sit down at a table.

00:15:24.006 --> 00:15:25.466 align:center
You play with a timer or clock.

00:15:28.010 --> 00:15:29.803 align:center
And you're playing face to face.

00:15:32.348 --> 00:15:36.060 align:center
Queen… to king 4.

00:15:38.020 --> 00:15:39.521 align:center
Over the board is intimate.

00:15:39.605 --> 00:15:42.399 align:center
You hear the breathing
of the person across from you.

00:15:43.400 --> 00:15:46.070 align:center
You can see their reaction
to the move that you make.

00:15:48.113 --> 00:15:52.368 align:center
And when you win, you can see the pain
in another person's eyes. Literally!

00:15:57.456 --> 00:15:59.291 align:center
I think we can make a clear distinction

00:15:59.375 --> 00:16:02.211 align:center
between online being this,
like, pick-up game,

00:16:02.294 --> 00:16:04.713 align:center
and over the board being the real deal.

00:16:04.797 --> 00:16:07.257 align:center
For the top players,
the over-the-board rankings,

00:16:07.341 --> 00:16:10.511 align:center
it is basically the current gold standard.

00:16:11.512 --> 00:16:13.931 align:center
The rating system
in chess is quite straightforward.

00:16:14.014 --> 00:16:15.641 align:center
You start from a rating of zero,

00:16:15.724 --> 00:16:17.935 align:center
and it goes
up to World Championship level,

00:16:18.018 --> 00:16:21.605 align:center
which is around 2,800
or a little bit above that.

00:16:22.189 --> 00:16:25.401 align:center
At that point, my rating was 2,466.

00:16:26.026 --> 00:16:29.071 align:center
Nothing special.
Plenty of people at my age had a rating.

00:16:29.780 --> 00:16:33.325 align:center
But my life's mission was
to become the best player in the world,

00:16:33.409 --> 00:16:34.952 align:center
and nothing was gonna stop me.

00:16:38.872 --> 00:16:41.208 align:center
So I decided to go
to the over-the-board circuit

00:16:41.291 --> 00:16:42.793 align:center
while being a senior in high school.

00:16:43.961 --> 00:16:46.463 align:center
I gotta go all in,
play the best tournaments.

00:16:46.547 --> 00:16:47.548 align:center
I gotta go to Europe.

00:16:50.801 --> 00:16:55.097 align:center
I started in Spain.
I had three amazing tournaments.

00:16:55.180 --> 00:16:59.685 align:center
Gained a lot of rating.
I actually went from 2,488 to 2,525.

00:17:01.353 --> 00:17:03.605 align:center
And then, I went off to Italy.

00:17:04.773 --> 00:17:05.941 align:center
Increasing my rating.

00:17:08.193 --> 00:17:11.113 align:center
And then after that,
nonstop tournament schedule,

00:17:11.196 --> 00:17:13.866 align:center
one month in Serbia,
back-to-back tournaments.

00:17:16.034 --> 00:17:19.747 align:center
Then for the month of March,
I played all these tournaments in Italy.

00:17:19.830 --> 00:17:23.250 align:center
I actually did really badly there.

00:17:23.333 --> 00:17:26.044 align:center
I was stuck. I was plateauing.
The money was running out.

00:17:27.046 --> 00:17:29.089 align:center
But thankfully, I then went to Montenegro…

00:17:30.424 --> 00:17:34.511 align:center
…playing two tournaments there.
I absolutely dominated.

00:17:34.595 --> 00:17:37.473 align:center
Catapulting my rating up,
and with that confidence going forward,

00:17:38.682 --> 00:17:39.850 align:center
crushed every tournament.

00:17:42.811 --> 00:17:46.648 align:center
I guess I knew
that he was ambitious in general.

00:17:46.732 --> 00:17:48.108 align:center
He was stationed in Europe.

00:17:48.192 --> 00:17:51.278 align:center
He was playing tournaments
more or less every single day.

00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:55.073 align:center
Generally doing quite well,
gaining rating.

00:17:56.158 --> 00:17:59.036 align:center
I was an absolute maniac
and played every tournament I could.

00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:00.996 align:center
I won the Philadelphia International.

00:18:03.165 --> 00:18:04.333 align:center
Won the World Open.

00:18:05.876 --> 00:18:07.544 align:center
The US Junior Championship.

00:18:08.128 --> 00:18:10.589 align:center
I won the Capablanca Award in Cuba.

00:18:11.882 --> 00:18:14.718 align:center
I won another tournament
right after that in Sweden.

00:18:15.677 --> 00:18:18.764 align:center
I broke the record for the amount
of games played in one year.

00:18:19.431 --> 00:18:23.101 align:center
I played 261 games in one year.

00:18:23.185 --> 00:18:27.523 align:center
And his ranking just keeps going up,
straight up to about 2,700,

00:18:27.606 --> 00:18:30.776 align:center
which is, essentially,
I would say, top 30, top 40 in the world.

00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:33.779 align:center
He always had the talent,
and now he was turning it on.

00:18:33.862 --> 00:18:34.863 align:center
He flipped the switch.

00:18:35.739 --> 00:18:37.950 align:center
Hans Niemann must be someone
who's on trajectory

00:18:38.033 --> 00:18:41.120 align:center
to becoming one of the greatest players
of all time.

00:18:44.081 --> 00:18:47.668 align:center
My entire life,
I was conditioned and told and bullied.

00:18:47.751 --> 00:18:50.295 align:center
"You won't be a chess player.
You won't make money."

00:18:50.379 --> 00:18:51.922 align:center
"You have to go to college."

00:18:52.464 --> 00:18:55.759 align:center
So it's a very special moment
to sort of see your dreams materialize.

00:18:56.343 --> 00:18:58.846 align:center
So that was my entrance
into the elite of chess.

00:18:59.346 --> 00:19:02.516 align:center
And when you're in the club, life's good.

00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:11.692 align:center
I got an email saying,
"We'd like to invite you to Miami."

00:19:12.276 --> 00:19:16.029 align:center
We are so ready for the FTX Crypto Cup.

00:19:16.989 --> 00:19:21.785 align:center
The Miami FTX Crypto Cup was
an Esports chess event spectacular.

00:19:22.369 --> 00:19:24.663 align:center
They brought a bunch
of top players to Miami,

00:19:24.746 --> 00:19:26.331 align:center
put them up in a great hotel.

00:19:28.584 --> 00:19:30.502 align:center
We love chess. Yeah.

00:19:30.586 --> 00:19:34.506 align:center
We're talking about people
who have competed in the NBA or the NFL

00:19:34.590 --> 00:19:35.632 align:center
of the game.

00:19:35.716 --> 00:19:37.885 align:center
It was one of
the most popular events in chess.

00:19:39.178 --> 00:19:41.638 align:center
And having proven himself
as a rising star,

00:19:41.722 --> 00:19:43.390 align:center
Hans Niemann got the invite.

00:19:43.891 --> 00:19:46.018 align:center
No, it was big for me. It was big.

00:19:46.101 --> 00:19:48.145 align:center
So that was the first moment where I

00:19:49.271 --> 00:19:51.565 align:center
realized, okay, this is real.

00:19:52.524 --> 00:19:54.610 align:center
And I'm with all the best players
in the world.

00:19:55.194 --> 00:19:57.529 align:center
Just two years ago,
I idolized all of them.

00:19:58.572 --> 00:20:01.366 align:center
I didn't even think
I'd be having conversations with them.

00:20:03.285 --> 00:20:06.496 align:center
And then, I'm sitting with them
at dinner trash-talking.

00:20:06.580 --> 00:20:08.290 align:center
And that was a big moment to realize,

00:20:08.373 --> 00:20:10.834 align:center
"This is real. I'm gonna be
one of the best in the world."

00:20:11.668 --> 00:20:14.129 align:center
A lot of players
who eventually make it to the top,

00:20:14.213 --> 00:20:17.049 align:center
there's some defining game
or moment early in their careers.

00:20:17.132 --> 00:20:20.219 align:center
This great game, this masterpiece
they play that's talked about.

00:20:20.302 --> 00:20:23.931 align:center
You step back, like, "This is amazing.
They're destined for greatness."

00:20:24.556 --> 00:20:26.892 align:center
And Hans never had any of those moments.

00:20:27.809 --> 00:20:30.437 align:center
In order to be the best,
you have to beat the best.

00:20:30.520 --> 00:20:32.064 align:center
He needed legitimacy.

00:20:32.147 --> 00:20:33.523 align:center
Yeah.

00:20:33.607 --> 00:20:36.735 align:center
And Hans, if you want to step
a little closer, please.

00:20:37.277 --> 00:20:40.989 align:center
I consider you a man
of quite the confidence.

00:20:41.490 --> 00:20:44.701 align:center
Is this just the first step
to absolutely crushing these guys

00:20:44.785 --> 00:20:46.203 align:center
for years and years to come?

00:20:46.286 --> 00:20:49.998 align:center
Yeah, I'd like to establish
psychological dominance over all of them.

00:20:52.626 --> 00:20:54.461 align:center
What did he expect from this tournament?

00:20:54.544 --> 00:20:58.840 align:center
'Cause he's a significant underdog
in every… in every single match,

00:20:58.924 --> 00:21:01.301 align:center
and if he thinks
that he can just come here

00:21:01.385 --> 00:21:06.264 align:center
and beat everybody, that seems…
that seems completely delusional.

00:21:07.265 --> 00:21:09.518 align:center
Magnus has been good for a very long time.

00:21:09.601 --> 00:21:13.021 align:center
That's because he's crushed the soul
of all these guys in this room.

00:21:13.105 --> 00:21:15.482 align:center
I intend to replace him.

00:21:17.776 --> 00:21:19.861 align:center
Is he even at your level?

00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:22.239 align:center
Of course not.

00:21:22.322 --> 00:21:26.994 align:center
It felt like he was trying
to sort of cosplay as a top chess player,

00:21:27.077 --> 00:21:27.911 align:center
to be honest.

00:21:27.995 --> 00:21:30.622 align:center
That just really threw me off a bit.

00:21:30.706 --> 00:21:32.791 align:center
Thanks, guys.

00:21:32.874 --> 00:21:35.460 align:center
Hans starts off this tournament
very, very poorly.

00:21:35.544 --> 00:21:39.673 align:center
He's losing most of his matches,
and it's clearly not going his way.

00:21:39.756 --> 00:21:42.134 align:center
Yesterday Hans Niemann lost
all three games,

00:21:42.217 --> 00:21:45.595 align:center
and it's going to be
an uphill battle for him.

00:21:45.679 --> 00:21:47.889 align:center
-Looks hopeless, to be honest.
-It does.

00:21:47.973 --> 00:21:50.767 align:center
He could, like, barely last 15 moves.

00:21:50.851 --> 00:21:54.312 align:center
In certain areas, he was just
completely lacking understanding.

00:21:54.396 --> 00:21:58.317 align:center
So to say that anybody thought
Hans Niemann was capable

00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:01.653 align:center
of beating Magnus Carlsen
would be… would be laughable.

00:22:02.362 --> 00:22:04.072 align:center
Nobody was paying attention to this.

00:22:04.156 --> 00:22:05.991 align:center
You're playing the reigning champion.

00:22:06.074 --> 00:22:07.409 align:center
How do you prepare for that match?

00:22:07.492 --> 00:22:10.329 align:center
Rating champion? Oh, "reigning"?
Reigning champion.

00:22:11.330 --> 00:22:13.123 align:center
I had two nice smoothies.

00:22:13.206 --> 00:22:15.792 align:center
But there's nothing about Hans
that makes any sense.

00:22:15.876 --> 00:22:18.628 align:center
Honestly, there's nothing about this
that makes any sense.

00:22:22.174 --> 00:22:27.387 align:center
I've been the best player
in the world now for 12 to 13 years.

00:22:28.013 --> 00:22:31.141 align:center
I've won a lot of chess games
and a lot of tournaments.

00:22:31.224 --> 00:22:34.978 align:center
I'm not insecure
about my ability to play chess.

00:22:35.687 --> 00:22:37.689 align:center
His history is unparalleled.

00:22:37.773 --> 00:22:40.067 align:center
And I do get the sense
that he is very aware

00:22:40.150 --> 00:22:42.069 align:center
of sort of the aura he has.

00:22:42.152 --> 00:22:46.156 align:center
At some point, you think he's invincible
and he could never be beaten by anybody.

00:22:46.239 --> 00:22:48.825 align:center
It's a big psychological effect
that he has.

00:22:51.161 --> 00:22:56.416 align:center
I was the lowest-rated player there,
but I didn't have the fearful attitude.

00:22:56.917 --> 00:22:59.669 align:center
I thought, this is my chance,
let me take it.

00:23:01.630 --> 00:23:04.716 align:center
Psychologically, Niemann
definitely doesn't lack for self-belief.

00:23:04.800 --> 00:23:06.551 align:center
He just needs to back it up now.

00:23:06.635 --> 00:23:09.888 align:center
To start the game, Magnus Carlsen,
greatest chess player of all time,

00:23:09.971 --> 00:23:11.264 align:center
is in a great position.

00:23:11.348 --> 00:23:14.226 align:center
This just looks
visually terrible for Hans.

00:23:14.726 --> 00:23:19.272 align:center
Magnus's pieces are so well positioned.
The rook, the queen, the bishop.

00:23:19.356 --> 00:23:22.025 align:center
It'll be hard for Hans
to survive the next few moves.

00:23:22.109 --> 00:23:24.945 align:center
What's interesting then
is that Hans jumped in

00:23:25.028 --> 00:23:29.282 align:center
and turns what looks like
a dysfunctional king-side into an attack.

00:23:29.866 --> 00:23:31.201 align:center
I like what he's been doing, Hans.

00:23:31.284 --> 00:23:32.869 align:center
He's playing very well.

00:23:32.953 --> 00:23:36.498 align:center
If he keeps this up,
he's gonna really challenge Magnus.

00:23:36.581 --> 00:23:40.085 align:center
His rooks come to life, and
Magnus's position completely falls apart.

00:23:40.168 --> 00:23:42.838 align:center
Very impressive.
Everything connected for black now.

00:23:42.921 --> 00:23:46.800 align:center
And that's not Magnus,
is it, to play like this?

00:23:46.883 --> 00:23:53.432 align:center
I had no chance in that game whatsoever,
which was really weird.

00:23:54.349 --> 00:23:59.479 align:center
Like, we're not on the same level.
Like, I'm a lot better than you are.

00:23:59.563 --> 00:24:01.731 align:center
There are moments
I could've went for a draw

00:24:01.815 --> 00:24:03.817 align:center
and showed respect to the great champion,

00:24:03.900 --> 00:24:07.821 align:center
but, unfortunately,
I didn't have that in mind.

00:24:07.904 --> 00:24:09.990 align:center
It was just a complete beatdown.

00:24:10.073 --> 00:24:13.076 align:center
He's resigned. Wow. What can I say?

00:24:13.160 --> 00:24:14.411 align:center
What a result.

00:24:14.494 --> 00:24:18.748 align:center
Incredible start for Hans Niemann,
the lowest-rated player in the tournament.

00:24:18.832 --> 00:24:21.209 align:center
A win against world number one.

00:24:21.293 --> 00:24:23.420 align:center
The reaction from Hans in Miami.

00:24:23.503 --> 00:24:26.590 align:center
Hans, yesterday
was a terrible day for you.

00:24:26.673 --> 00:24:30.135 align:center
Today you start out with a masterpiece.
How would you summarize it?

00:24:30.218 --> 00:24:31.595 align:center
Chess speaks for itself.

00:24:32.179 --> 00:24:34.973 align:center
Is it something special,
doing this against Magnus, Hans?

00:24:42.147 --> 00:24:43.773 align:center
Chess speaks for itself.

00:24:43.857 --> 00:24:47.152 align:center
Is it something special,
doing this against Magnus, Hans?

00:24:47.819 --> 00:24:51.907 align:center
The interview after the game goes viral.

00:24:51.990 --> 00:24:54.576 align:center
It's all over Twitter and Reddit.

00:24:54.659 --> 00:24:57.495 align:center
Some people are like,
"You don't act that way."

00:24:57.579 --> 00:25:02.751 align:center
Other people are like, "Look at that!
Mic drop. Let's go, Hans Niemann!"

00:25:02.834 --> 00:25:04.586 align:center
Guess which side of the camp I sat on.

00:25:07.964 --> 00:25:10.133 align:center
There are a lot of people
who don't like seeing

00:25:10.217 --> 00:25:11.593 align:center
Magnus win every tournament,

00:25:11.676 --> 00:25:14.429 align:center
and so it's like this underdog kid
who beats Magnus,

00:25:14.513 --> 00:25:16.640 align:center
and he's sort of rubbing it in his face.

00:25:18.266 --> 00:25:22.354 align:center
I don't even get it. He wins a nice game,
and he's just, like, he's just angry.

00:25:22.437 --> 00:25:25.982 align:center
I don't know what's wrong with him.
It's funny, but it's also kinda weird.

00:25:26.066 --> 00:25:28.568 align:center
Like I said, when I saw the interview,
I literally was like,

00:25:28.652 --> 00:25:30.904 align:center
"This is what the chess world's
been waiting for,"

00:25:30.987 --> 00:25:33.657 align:center
and then everyone else is going like,

00:25:34.741 --> 00:25:38.036 align:center
maybe the chess speaks for itself because
Hans doesn't know what he was doing.

00:25:39.246 --> 00:25:41.164 align:center
He was getting help from somewhere else.

00:25:47.921 --> 00:25:50.215 align:center
I was not groomed
to be a top chess player.

00:25:51.550 --> 00:25:55.595 align:center
Going to eight different schools
and being bullied at every school

00:25:55.679 --> 00:25:57.681 align:center
for being this sort of chess outcast.

00:26:00.141 --> 00:26:03.937 align:center
So, when I was 13, I'd take the train
from Connecticut to New York,

00:26:05.522 --> 00:26:07.649 align:center
and I'd play
against the hustlers for money.

00:26:07.732 --> 00:26:09.985 align:center
What are you doing?
That's on the board, look!

00:26:10.068 --> 00:26:12.320 align:center
This is the famous Washington Square Park.

00:26:14.072 --> 00:26:16.283 align:center
This is where the chess tables are.

00:26:16.366 --> 00:26:19.160 align:center
A lot of top players in New York
come from this park.

00:26:19.828 --> 00:26:21.955 align:center
I have to beat this man like a dog.

00:26:22.038 --> 00:26:24.666 align:center
And they'll take your money
any which way they can.

00:26:24.749 --> 00:26:28.753 align:center
Don't you just love it? Rack 'em up!

00:26:29.588 --> 00:26:32.340 align:center
I didn't play
the sort of formal type of chess.

00:26:32.424 --> 00:26:33.425 align:center
Bye-bye.

00:26:34.592 --> 00:26:38.346 align:center
I had my own way of doing things
and have taken a very unique path.

00:26:38.430 --> 00:26:40.307 align:center
Chess player, let's go!

00:26:41.266 --> 00:26:46.062 align:center
I know who you are,
and I saw what you did last summer.

00:26:46.146 --> 00:26:48.607 align:center
Hans is the latest. He's the latest, man.

00:26:48.690 --> 00:26:50.859 align:center
He won the World Junior Championship,

00:26:50.942 --> 00:26:53.278 align:center
but that didn't teach him
until he came here.

00:26:53.778 --> 00:26:55.697 align:center
And then he learned to play.

00:26:57.449 --> 00:27:00.869 align:center
The first thing you learn
about chess in the parks,

00:27:00.952 --> 00:27:04.331 align:center
where you fight to the very end,
is that no one ever won by giving up.

00:27:05.373 --> 00:27:07.500 align:center
You can take control
even when you're losing.

00:27:07.584 --> 00:27:09.336 align:center
People don't realize that.

00:27:09.419 --> 00:27:13.006 align:center
But itisabout control.
Taking command of the game.

00:27:13.089 --> 00:27:13.923 align:center
Get him, Poe!

00:27:14.007 --> 00:27:17.052 align:center
I'm trying! This guy's like
one of the toughest on the planet.

00:27:17.135 --> 00:27:19.763 align:center
You have to be forged
through the fire, the suffering.

00:27:19.846 --> 00:27:22.682 align:center
Shit. This guy's
the Muhammad Ali of chess.

00:27:22.766 --> 00:27:24.351 align:center
You got more experience than me.

00:27:24.434 --> 00:27:25.602 align:center
Experience don't count!

00:27:25.685 --> 00:27:28.938 align:center
All along the line,
Hans was always the best for his age.

00:27:31.024 --> 00:27:36.321 align:center
And not only was he incredibly good,
but he was really fierce at the board.

00:27:36.404 --> 00:27:39.866 align:center
Legal move! Get out of here, kid!

00:27:39.949 --> 00:27:42.077 align:center
Get out of here.

00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:44.204 align:center
I wanted them to know
I wasn't afraid of them.

00:27:44.287 --> 00:27:47.082 align:center
When you're a kid
comfortable playing 56-year-olds,

00:27:47.832 --> 00:27:49.709 align:center
nothing intimidates you anymore.

00:27:49.793 --> 00:27:53.380 align:center
You know, when you see your opponent
clearly struggling,

00:27:53.463 --> 00:27:56.758 align:center
and you sort of know that you've got him,
it's just the best feeling.

00:27:57.258 --> 00:27:59.761 align:center
Because you know
that you're hot shit and they're not.

00:27:59.844 --> 00:28:02.430 align:center
He's tough, though.
He's tough. He's tough.

00:28:02.514 --> 00:28:05.016 align:center
Hans can manifest this energy.

00:28:05.100 --> 00:28:09.312 align:center
This intimidating force coming at you,
and that wears you down.

00:28:10.271 --> 00:28:11.606 align:center
He's a monster.

00:28:11.689 --> 00:28:15.193 align:center
And the beautiful thing
about Hans being a monster,

00:28:15.735 --> 00:28:19.239 align:center
we in New York, he'sourmonster.

00:28:24.035 --> 00:28:29.040 align:center
The thing is that, like, I've overcome
so many things to get to where I am today

00:28:29.541 --> 00:28:32.502 align:center
that the greater the challenge,
I honestly find it exhilarating

00:28:32.585 --> 00:28:34.796 align:center
knowing that everyone wants me to fail.

00:28:34.879 --> 00:28:36.172 align:center
And it makes me happy.

00:28:36.256 --> 00:28:39.175 align:center
It only motivates me more.
It's only fuel to the fire.

00:28:42.637 --> 00:28:44.806 align:center
This is it. The grandaddy of them all.

00:28:44.889 --> 00:28:47.976 align:center
Welcome, everybody,
to day one of the Sinquefield Cup.

00:28:52.355 --> 00:28:54.566 align:center
Sinquefield Cup is
a very prestigious tournament,

00:28:54.649 --> 00:28:57.318 align:center
which pits ten of the best players
in the world against each other.

00:29:01.156 --> 00:29:04.033 align:center
By far and away,
it is the most watched event

00:29:04.117 --> 00:29:05.577 align:center
in professional chess.

00:29:10.206 --> 00:29:12.625 align:center
When it was announced
Hans was in the Sinquefield Cup,

00:29:12.709 --> 00:29:13.877 align:center
there were a lot of rumblings.

00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:18.047 align:center
A very young player
from New York, Hans Niemann.

00:29:20.341 --> 00:29:22.844 align:center
People felt that it was implausible
for this player

00:29:22.927 --> 00:29:24.345 align:center
to have suddenly gone up so fast.

00:29:24.429 --> 00:29:27.098 align:center
I had gone, in a short period,

00:29:27.182 --> 00:29:30.185 align:center
from this high school student

00:29:30.268 --> 00:29:32.479 align:center
to on equal terms with the best players.

00:29:32.562 --> 00:29:36.149 align:center
Suddenly it's like this
awakening of all of my dreams,

00:29:36.232 --> 00:29:38.693 align:center
my childhood dreams, coming to reality.

00:29:38.776 --> 00:29:42.864 align:center
The tournament that's going on inside,
we're especially here to support Hans.

00:29:42.947 --> 00:29:47.827 align:center
Got our fun little signs here, and, yeah,
just out here to show our support.

00:29:49.078 --> 00:29:52.123 align:center
There were a couple of girls
who showed up to the playing hall.

00:29:52.207 --> 00:29:54.209 align:center
They said they were
the Hans Niemann fan club.

00:29:54.292 --> 00:29:58.838 align:center
I don't think he knows that we're here,
so I really hope he comes out and sees us.

00:29:58.922 --> 00:30:00.089 align:center
We love him.

00:30:00.173 --> 00:30:05.386 align:center
I did not pay those girls to show up
as the Hans Niemann fan club. No.

00:30:05.970 --> 00:30:09.098 align:center
The tension that was building
was already palpable.

00:30:09.182 --> 00:30:12.393 align:center
None of the top players trusted
who Hans Niemann was.

00:30:14.062 --> 00:30:17.315 align:center
These guys have a group. It's a clique.

00:30:17.398 --> 00:30:19.234 align:center
And it's not just an elitism thing.

00:30:19.317 --> 00:30:22.654 align:center
It's that they've been there.
They've earned it. They've done it.

00:30:22.737 --> 00:30:24.822 align:center
And people are like,
"What are you doing here?"

00:30:24.906 --> 00:30:27.700 align:center
I was looking around, and I said,
"Okay, I think I can belong

00:30:27.784 --> 00:30:29.494 align:center
in this room of great chess players."

00:30:30.161 --> 00:30:33.456 align:center
People were nervous about Hans
Niemann competing in over-the-board chess.

00:30:33.540 --> 00:30:36.584 align:center
They didn't know what
he was capable of in over-the-board chess.

00:30:36.668 --> 00:30:39.170 align:center
They were afraid. They were paranoid.

00:30:39.754 --> 00:30:42.173 align:center
More and more players
are becoming suspicious.

00:30:42.257 --> 00:30:43.883 align:center
You're wondering, what is going on?

00:30:44.842 --> 00:30:47.887 align:center
More than one player
considered withdrawing from the event.

00:30:48.388 --> 00:30:51.015 align:center
And I can only surmise
as to the reason why.

00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:55.019 align:center
I do think on the question of whether

00:30:55.103 --> 00:30:57.981 align:center
this will be a dominating performance
by one player…

00:30:58.064 --> 00:31:01.150 align:center
-The man on screen?
-…perhaps running away with it.

00:31:01.234 --> 00:31:03.111 align:center
Heading into the Sinquefield Cup,

00:31:03.194 --> 00:31:07.073 align:center
there was still no real doubt
as to who the heavy favorite was.

00:31:08.408 --> 00:31:11.286 align:center
We had Magnus Carlsen,
the greatest of all time.

00:31:12.996 --> 00:31:15.164 align:center
But then something surprising happens.

00:31:15.248 --> 00:31:19.669 align:center
Exciting chess has brought us
a surprise in the leadership.

00:31:19.752 --> 00:31:22.463 align:center
From the beginning,
I was just outplaying all of them.

00:31:22.547 --> 00:31:25.091 align:center
Extremely solid performance by Hans.

00:31:25.174 --> 00:31:26.926 align:center
-How exciting, indeed.
-Absolutely.

00:31:27.010 --> 00:31:28.720 align:center
Hans got off to a very good start.

00:31:28.803 --> 00:31:31.973 align:center
He drew the first game
against Levon Aronian, an American player.

00:31:34.183 --> 00:31:35.393 align:center
Round two.

00:31:35.476 --> 00:31:36.978 align:center
He won a shocking game

00:31:37.061 --> 00:31:39.939 align:center
over the Azerbaijani player
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

00:31:41.024 --> 00:31:42.567 align:center
He blew him off the board.

00:31:43.151 --> 00:31:44.360 align:center
You can be arrogant,

00:31:44.444 --> 00:31:47.155 align:center
you can be confident,
but these guys aren't better than me.

00:31:48.156 --> 00:31:50.575 align:center
Magnus was looking at my game.

00:31:51.284 --> 00:31:53.828 align:center
I think he was impressed,
to say the least.

00:31:56.456 --> 00:32:02.837 align:center
We have headliners, and they're
going head-to-head right now, right here.

00:32:02.920 --> 00:32:05.924 align:center
It was probably the biggest
opportunity of my entire chess career.

00:32:06.007 --> 00:32:09.177 align:center
I remember being very nervous
about what opening he would play.

00:32:09.260 --> 00:32:11.346 align:center
The opening's really important.

00:32:11.429 --> 00:32:14.557 align:center
So I decided, you know,
let me just be in a good mental headspace,

00:32:14.641 --> 00:32:17.602 align:center
ready to fight
and to take every chance that I got.

00:32:17.685 --> 00:32:21.064 align:center
And there we have
our battle of our leaders, yeah,

00:32:21.147 --> 00:32:23.733 align:center
with Magnus starting
with one d4, no surprise there.

00:32:23.816 --> 00:32:27.111 align:center
I think if you're in a situation
where you don't trust your opponent,

00:32:27.195 --> 00:32:30.657 align:center
you have
a huge psychological disadvantage.

00:32:31.491 --> 00:32:35.870 align:center
So I'm in a mindset of
I'm gonna try and surprise him

00:32:35.954 --> 00:32:37.205 align:center
in the opening a bit.

00:32:37.288 --> 00:32:39.624 align:center
And I pick kind of a rare line.

00:32:39.707 --> 00:32:42.794 align:center
An unusual approach
by Magnus in the opening.

00:32:42.877 --> 00:32:46.464 align:center
These types of move orders
are chosen to trick your opponent.

00:32:46.547 --> 00:32:49.842 align:center
Frankly, this type of approach
is Magnus Carlsen's specialty.

00:32:49.926 --> 00:32:52.011 align:center
It's a bit of a risky line.

00:32:52.095 --> 00:32:55.306 align:center
And he plays the exact best move.

00:32:55.390 --> 00:32:59.769 align:center
And it looks like Hans
is reasonably well-prepared, even here.

00:32:59.852 --> 00:33:03.272 align:center
It's clear that Hans,
despite this being an obscure opening,

00:33:03.356 --> 00:33:04.649 align:center
knows what he's doing.

00:33:05.733 --> 00:33:10.029 align:center
From the player that I'd known before,
I thought he was not that good.

00:33:10.530 --> 00:33:13.908 align:center
And I did not like the situation
at all at that point.

00:33:16.577 --> 00:33:19.914 align:center
And I kept applying pressure,
slowly and slowly.

00:33:19.997 --> 00:33:21.332 align:center
Eventually he collapsed.

00:33:21.416 --> 00:33:27.630 align:center
That's probably as bad
a body posture I've seen on Magnus.

00:33:27.714 --> 00:33:30.049 align:center
He seems rattled
by how this game is going.

00:33:30.133 --> 00:33:33.928 align:center
It was very surprising, the way…
He seemed to have no chances, honestly.

00:33:34.762 --> 00:33:37.724 align:center
It definitely felt
that I was playing somebody

00:33:37.807 --> 00:33:41.853 align:center
who didn't appear to be putting
a lot of effort into this game.

00:33:41.936 --> 00:33:44.480 align:center
It just seemed that,
"Yeah, I'm better than you."

00:33:44.564 --> 00:33:47.400 align:center
"I'm outplaying you. This is normal."

00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:51.195 align:center
I'm thinking, like,
this is back to Miami again.

00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:53.906 align:center
Like, this guy is just fucking
with me at this point.

00:33:56.075 --> 00:33:59.746 align:center
Sometimes I'd wonder,
was sacrificing my childhood worth it?

00:34:00.538 --> 00:34:02.457 align:center
Was it worth it to be bullied?

00:34:02.540 --> 00:34:04.375 align:center
Was it worth it to live alone?

00:34:04.459 --> 00:34:05.752 align:center
You have these thoughts.

00:34:06.252 --> 00:34:08.379 align:center
Those thoughts sort of disappeared.

00:34:09.047 --> 00:34:11.174 align:center
And I was just enjoying my time.

00:34:11.257 --> 00:34:13.801 align:center
Thinking about my next first-class flight.

00:34:15.511 --> 00:34:18.014 align:center
At this point, I'm really upset.

00:34:18.514 --> 00:34:19.891 align:center
I'm fuming.

00:34:19.974 --> 00:34:22.143 align:center
This just did not feel right.

00:34:22.977 --> 00:34:24.145 align:center
At all.

00:34:24.645 --> 00:34:26.689 align:center
And there we have it. Handshake.

00:34:26.773 --> 00:34:28.691 align:center
Wow. What a result.

00:34:29.192 --> 00:34:31.694 align:center
I take pleasure in knowing

00:34:31.778 --> 00:34:36.532 align:center
that he was one of the best players
in the world for so long and I broke him.

00:34:39.660 --> 00:34:41.454 align:center
I think he was just so demoralized

00:34:41.537 --> 00:34:44.624 align:center
because he's losing
to such an idiot like me, you know.

00:34:44.707 --> 00:34:47.627 align:center
It must be embarrassing
for the world champion to lose to me.

00:34:47.710 --> 00:34:48.628 align:center
I feel bad for him.

00:34:49.587 --> 00:34:51.714 align:center
So the thing that's strange
about this interview

00:34:51.798 --> 00:34:54.008 align:center
is his explanations
of some moves he played

00:34:54.092 --> 00:34:55.510 align:center
really just don't make sense.

00:34:55.593 --> 00:34:58.763 align:center
I was actually very fortunate
that this opening came on the board.

00:34:58.846 --> 00:35:02.141 align:center
-I looked at this today, and…
-You guessed this opening?

00:35:02.225 --> 00:35:05.603 align:center
No, I didn't guess it, but some miracle,
I had checked this today.

00:35:05.686 --> 00:35:09.816 align:center
There's so many possible openings
in chess, we don't have time to name

00:35:09.899 --> 00:35:13.820 align:center
the, you know, thousands
of possible variations of chess.

00:35:13.903 --> 00:35:18.783 align:center
And so, to say that he had looked
at the one out of 10,000

00:35:18.866 --> 00:35:22.703 align:center
and been like, "Yeah, I'm gonna focus
on this for a minute before my match,"

00:35:22.787 --> 00:35:27.917 align:center
like, it just didn't make any sense
to anybody at all.

00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:31.671 align:center
-But is it possible? Yes. I mean…
-Sure. One in 10,000 chance!

00:35:31.754 --> 00:35:32.630 align:center
Anomalies happen.

00:35:32.713 --> 00:35:35.758 align:center
I have no idea why I would check
such a ridiculous thing.

00:35:35.842 --> 00:35:38.427 align:center
Such a ridiculous miracle.

00:35:38.511 --> 00:35:41.514 align:center
That's a good word
to describe what anomalies are.

00:35:41.597 --> 00:35:42.932 align:center
They are ridiculous miracles.

00:35:43.015 --> 00:35:47.311 align:center
-That answers my question.
-That's okay, but it's only the beginning.

00:35:47.395 --> 00:35:49.939 align:center
Hans, thank you
for joining us. Candid, as always.

00:35:50.022 --> 00:35:51.774 align:center
Congratulations on your performance.

00:35:51.858 --> 00:35:54.485 align:center
Definitely a big day for you,
beating the world champion.

00:35:54.569 --> 00:35:55.778 align:center
Thank you for joining us.

00:35:55.862 --> 00:35:59.907 align:center
Once I got back to my hotel room,
I had this almost euphoric moment.

00:35:59.991 --> 00:36:01.492 align:center
Like I had made it.

00:36:01.576 --> 00:36:05.204 align:center
And now, life's gonna be good.
I'm gonna be a great chess player.

00:36:05.288 --> 00:36:09.375 align:center
I'm gonna be one of the best in the world.
I went to bed feeling amazing.

00:36:12.253 --> 00:36:15.756 align:center
So, I watched the match
between Hans and Magnus

00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:18.134 align:center
in the hotel in St. Louis.

00:36:19.302 --> 00:36:21.429 align:center
I was just kind of a bit sorry for Magnus.

00:36:21.512 --> 00:36:25.808 align:center
I knew he would be annoyed.
He didn't seem to play his best game.

00:36:27.602 --> 00:36:32.148 align:center
I didn't have any suspicions
about what had happened

00:36:32.231 --> 00:36:35.610 align:center
until I met Magnus
coming back from the playing hall.

00:36:37.486 --> 00:36:43.117 align:center
Magnus was kind of doing like this,
"What is this?"

00:36:44.076 --> 00:36:46.537 align:center
And I thought, "What?"
Then he explained basically

00:36:46.621 --> 00:36:50.499 align:center
that he had been highly suspicious
from the start of the game.

00:36:50.583 --> 00:36:55.796 align:center
This was not Hans playing.
He was playing some, some computer.

00:36:55.880 --> 00:36:58.799 align:center
And I said, "What do you mean?"
"He was cheating."

00:37:01.469 --> 00:37:05.181 align:center
I felt that I was not playing a human.

00:37:10.811 --> 00:37:14.440 align:center
Cheating has been happening
in chess for hundreds of years.

00:37:15.566 --> 00:37:17.485 align:center
It goes back to the Mechanical Turk.

00:37:19.862 --> 00:37:24.075 align:center
People were losing
to what seemed like an invisible force.

00:37:25.952 --> 00:37:30.414 align:center
But there was a human hidden
under the chess board, making the moves.

00:37:30.498 --> 00:37:32.291 align:center
This was a parlor trick.

00:37:36.587 --> 00:37:38.339 align:center
Cheating, as we think about it now,

00:37:38.422 --> 00:37:44.011 align:center
is the act of accessing a chess computer
to gain an edge on an opponent.

00:37:45.638 --> 00:37:47.723 align:center
Making a move, seeing opponent move,

00:37:47.807 --> 00:37:51.644 align:center
looking at a computer, saying,
"Okay, next best move." Making the move.

00:37:51.727 --> 00:37:55.815 align:center
It's the culmination of human
and AI knowledge, all put together.

00:37:56.315 --> 00:37:57.775 align:center
With a chess computer,

00:37:57.858 --> 00:38:01.487 align:center
you would beat Magnus Carlsen
1,000 out of 1,000 games.

00:38:02.363 --> 00:38:04.198 align:center
And it's available anywhere.

00:38:04.824 --> 00:38:06.784 align:center
It's very, very easy to gain access.

00:38:08.661 --> 00:38:12.623 align:center
So, as far as online cheating goes,
you could just reach for your phone

00:38:12.707 --> 00:38:15.084 align:center
and put in the moves and go from there.

00:38:16.669 --> 00:38:19.338 align:center
But cheating over the board
is quite difficult,

00:38:19.422 --> 00:38:23.175 align:center
and the main reason for that is
there's a much higher barrier to entry.

00:38:23.259 --> 00:38:26.095 align:center
In other sports,
you're cheatingbeforethe event.

00:38:27.013 --> 00:38:30.599 align:center
High fastball. See you later!

00:38:30.683 --> 00:38:33.519 align:center
9.79!

00:38:33.602 --> 00:38:37.982 align:center
But in chess, you have to be cheating
right then in the moment.

00:38:39.358 --> 00:38:44.238 align:center
If people could get help from
computers, they would just be unbeatable.

00:38:46.115 --> 00:38:49.035 align:center
I know that I was way in my own head,

00:38:49.618 --> 00:38:52.830 align:center
I recognized that then,
and I recognize that now,

00:38:52.913 --> 00:38:54.582 align:center
but that's the way it felt to me,

00:38:54.665 --> 00:38:57.710 align:center
both in Miami
and also in the Sinquefield Cup,

00:38:57.793 --> 00:39:02.423 align:center
that this was somebody
who had the ability to cheat.

00:39:03.382 --> 00:39:07.345 align:center
It was an unpleasant situation, but… yeah.

00:39:08.471 --> 00:39:12.475 align:center
The emotional toll
of seeing your child suffer

00:39:12.558 --> 00:39:15.144 align:center
at, for instance,
the chess board is significant.

00:39:16.604 --> 00:39:20.483 align:center
It was clear that Hans was a character
that you can't really trust.

00:39:20.983 --> 00:39:24.528 align:center
He's a potential threat
to the chess world.

00:39:25.279 --> 00:39:28.824 align:center
So, if we really suspect
that something is going on,

00:39:28.908 --> 00:39:30.451 align:center
I would like clarity.

00:39:30.534 --> 00:39:32.286 align:center
One way or the other.

00:39:34.747 --> 00:39:39.585 align:center
Magnus talked about going to Hans
and knocking on his door.

00:39:39.668 --> 00:39:41.212 align:center
"Tell me, what's going on?"

00:39:42.963 --> 00:39:47.218 align:center
Well, that probably won't work,
and it's a bit offensive also.

00:39:48.094 --> 00:39:51.889 align:center
So we need to talk to the people
that might have information about this.

00:39:52.390 --> 00:39:55.810 align:center
And I said, "I had a meeting
with Danny Rensch this morning."

00:39:56.936 --> 00:39:59.271 align:center
"And I know he was gonna fly home,

00:39:59.355 --> 00:40:03.692 align:center
but I can try to ask him
if he has any idea about this."

00:40:04.193 --> 00:40:05.778 align:center
It all happened very fast.

00:40:05.861 --> 00:40:09.615 align:center
When I landed, I landed
to text messages from Henrik Carlsen

00:40:09.698 --> 00:40:12.284 align:center
and a request to have a call
as soon as I could talk.

00:40:12.368 --> 00:40:16.080 align:center
And he said, "I know what you're gonna
ask me about."

00:40:16.163 --> 00:40:17.832 align:center
I thought, "Wow."

00:40:17.915 --> 00:40:21.502 align:center
He was asking whether
Hans Niemann had ever been caught

00:40:21.585 --> 00:40:23.671 align:center
cheating on Chess.com.

00:40:23.754 --> 00:40:26.799 align:center
And for most people,
we punt on the answer,

00:40:26.882 --> 00:40:29.927 align:center
it's not your business,
and for some people, we tell the truth.

00:40:30.553 --> 00:40:33.222 align:center
Because it's just not
in our interest to create a scandal

00:40:33.305 --> 00:40:35.349 align:center
and we're not looking to defame anyone.

00:40:35.433 --> 00:40:38.519 align:center
But the reality is,
when people know, they know.

00:40:44.316 --> 00:40:47.444 align:center
When we found
the first cheater on Chess.com,

00:40:47.528 --> 00:40:50.656 align:center
we had a pretty big existential crisis.

00:40:51.240 --> 00:40:55.494 align:center
If we don't have the trust
of the players playing on our platform,

00:40:55.578 --> 00:40:57.872 align:center
like, online chess would be dead.

00:40:59.081 --> 00:41:02.626 align:center
So, you start to look at the math,
and build cheat-detection algorithms

00:41:02.710 --> 00:41:08.841 align:center
to help us understand what was human play
and what was more-than-human play.

00:41:09.383 --> 00:41:10.968 align:center
Has there been an occasion

00:41:11.051 --> 00:41:13.137 align:center
where someone
is accused of cheating online,

00:41:13.220 --> 00:41:15.347 align:center
and just like…
you almost didn't believe it.

00:41:15.431 --> 00:41:17.850 align:center
You're like,
"I know this person. They're a friend."

00:41:17.933 --> 00:41:19.393 align:center
The Hans Niemann case.

00:41:19.477 --> 00:41:22.521 align:center
I was the top person pushing back.

00:41:24.899 --> 00:41:27.443 align:center
In the year 2020, during the pandemic,

00:41:27.526 --> 00:41:30.154 align:center
whispers started
amongst a couple of our staff members

00:41:30.237 --> 00:41:32.156 align:center
that they were convinced
Hans was cheating.

00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:33.449 align:center
I didn't want to believe it.

00:41:34.366 --> 00:41:35.951 align:center
I'm injured, though.

00:41:36.535 --> 00:41:39.580 align:center
We had been putting a lot
of effort and resources and energy

00:41:39.663 --> 00:41:42.750 align:center
and, frankly, love
into the potential of Hans's career.

00:41:44.293 --> 00:41:46.295 align:center
Unfortunately, when we peeled back
the onion,

00:41:46.378 --> 00:41:47.963 align:center
we saw that Hans had been cheating

00:41:48.047 --> 00:41:50.508 align:center
borderline since the first day
he joined Chess.com.

00:41:50.591 --> 00:41:52.051 align:center
Yes!

00:41:53.052 --> 00:41:55.930 align:center
Fuck yes! Yes!

00:41:56.013 --> 00:41:58.182 align:center
We had to do what we had to do.

00:41:58.265 --> 00:42:01.185 align:center
Talking to someone about the fact
we've caught them cheating

00:42:01.268 --> 00:42:03.687 align:center
is a little bit
of a well-rehearsed script for me,

00:42:03.771 --> 00:42:08.817 align:center
but… this call was unique
in that Hans immediately started denying.

00:42:10.152 --> 00:42:12.488 align:center
"No, what are you talking about?"
This and that.

00:42:14.240 --> 00:42:17.451 align:center
And the moment I told him
that this was no longer up for debate,

00:42:17.535 --> 00:42:18.577 align:center
he burst into tears.

00:42:19.828 --> 00:42:21.747 align:center
The thing he was most worried about was,

00:42:21.830 --> 00:42:25.751 align:center
"If you guys shut me down and I disappear,
everyone's gonna know I cheated."

00:42:26.669 --> 00:42:29.672 align:center
Lucky for Hans,
I'm gonna help this kid figure this out.

00:42:30.881 --> 00:42:32.758 align:center
He's gonna self-close his account.

00:42:32.841 --> 00:42:35.844 align:center
He'll tell his fans he's doing it
'cause he wants to start fresh

00:42:35.928 --> 00:42:38.055 align:center
with a new username
that's just for streaming.

00:42:38.556 --> 00:42:42.351 align:center
And in doing that, he's gonna have
controlled the narrative to the community

00:42:42.434 --> 00:42:44.311 align:center
that he wasn't closed for cheating.

00:42:46.230 --> 00:42:50.025 align:center
Honestly, I was surprised at the time
of how generous you were being.

00:42:50.109 --> 00:42:53.070 align:center
I wasn't looking for a scandal.
I wasn't looking for a scandal.

00:42:53.153 --> 00:42:58.492 align:center
I'm still in big-brother, mentor mode.
But that's when the call gets weird.

00:43:00.160 --> 00:43:02.121 align:center
He started asking me specifics.

00:43:02.204 --> 00:43:05.040 align:center
Like, "What games exactly did I cheat in?"

00:43:06.417 --> 00:43:08.252 align:center
"Howdoesthe algorithm work?"

00:43:09.545 --> 00:43:11.672 align:center
"Do you think I have ever cheated
over the board?"

00:43:11.755 --> 00:43:16.552 align:center
It felt like, to me, that he was trying
to pinpoint how we caught him.

00:43:16.635 --> 00:43:19.888 align:center
And that part of the phone call
never left me.

00:43:20.723 --> 00:43:23.434 align:center
"Shit, we can never trust this kid again."

00:43:26.061 --> 00:43:29.815 align:center
So in those conversations
with Magnus and Henrik,

00:43:29.898 --> 00:43:31.483 align:center
during the Sinquefield Cup,

00:43:31.567 --> 00:43:34.695 align:center
I also thought that Hans
might have cheated over the board.

00:43:37.531 --> 00:43:41.410 align:center
For me, that was just like…
that was the confirmation that I needed.

00:43:41.493 --> 00:43:43.829 align:center
This guy is cheating.

00:43:53.839 --> 00:43:54.840 align:center
Why?

00:43:56.467 --> 00:43:58.427 align:center
Why is he not showing up to the game?

00:43:59.803 --> 00:44:00.971 align:center
It's unprecedented.

00:44:01.472 --> 00:44:05.643 align:center
This is the Sinquefield Cup, this is not
some random tournament that you ditch.

00:44:05.726 --> 00:44:08.645 align:center
You don't just not show up to the game.

00:44:09.146 --> 00:44:10.856 align:center
So I presumed that…

00:44:11.357 --> 00:44:14.568 align:center
He must have some reason to not want
to play the tournament anymore.

00:44:15.235 --> 00:44:16.820 align:center
And there's his opponent saying,

00:44:16.904 --> 00:44:19.782 align:center
"My gosh, I came to play
the world chess champion,

00:44:19.865 --> 00:44:21.867 align:center
and he's not here."

00:44:21.950 --> 00:44:25.496 align:center
Um, I'm told we have breaking news.

00:44:26.288 --> 00:44:29.458 align:center
There's a tweet
from world chess champion Magnus Carlsen.

00:44:29.541 --> 00:44:32.711 align:center
Alejandro, what was the tweet,
exactly, if you please?

00:44:32.795 --> 00:44:34.296 align:center
"I've withdrawn."

00:44:34.380 --> 00:44:37.383 align:center
"I've always enjoyed playing
in the St Louis Chess club

00:44:37.466 --> 00:44:40.386 align:center
and hope to be back in the future."

00:44:40.469 --> 00:44:43.639 align:center
I prefer really not to speak.

00:44:43.722 --> 00:44:45.849 align:center
If I speak, I am in big trouble.

00:44:46.475 --> 00:44:49.144 align:center
In big trouble.
And I don't want to be in big trouble.

00:44:50.187 --> 00:44:52.022 align:center
Oh my gosh.

00:44:52.981 --> 00:44:56.944 align:center
It becomes very clear right away
what Magnus is saying with this tweet.

00:44:57.027 --> 00:44:59.196 align:center
There's really no doubt about it,

00:44:59.279 --> 00:45:02.032 align:center
in my mind, I would say
any top player's mind,

00:45:02.116 --> 00:45:05.869 align:center
especially in light of what we know
is being said behind the scenes.

00:45:05.953 --> 00:45:09.540 align:center
It's obvious what it is.
It's a cheating accusation.

00:45:11.375 --> 00:45:12.876 align:center
I was in disbelief.

00:45:13.460 --> 00:45:15.045 align:center
Don't understand how you could…

00:45:16.255 --> 00:45:18.173 align:center
How you could even think
that would be possible.

00:45:23.470 --> 00:45:26.723 align:center
It's just disappointing
because you work your entire life,

00:45:26.807 --> 00:45:28.517 align:center
you beat the world champion,

00:45:28.600 --> 00:45:31.311 align:center
and at the moment
you should be praised and celebrated,

00:45:31.395 --> 00:45:33.939 align:center
this person that you've looked up to
your whole life

00:45:35.149 --> 00:45:37.901 align:center
then accuses you of cheating.

00:45:37.985 --> 00:45:41.905 align:center
Sometimes I feel like Magnus
forgets how much power he has.

00:45:41.989 --> 00:45:44.867 align:center
And after this, all hell breaks loose.

00:45:45.659 --> 00:45:48.912 align:center
It's been absolute pandemonium
in the chess world.

00:45:48.996 --> 00:45:50.664 align:center
What's going on? Why did he withdraw?

00:45:50.748 --> 00:45:52.624 align:center
What am I even supposed to say?

00:45:52.708 --> 00:45:54.334 align:center
There's a lot of rumors already,

00:45:54.418 --> 00:45:59.131 align:center
but probably some people have
a decent idea of what he's alluding to.

00:46:00.090 --> 00:46:02.009 align:center
He had no reason to be trusted,

00:46:02.092 --> 00:46:05.262 align:center
regardless of Magnus Carlsen
lighting a fire.

00:46:05.763 --> 00:46:09.475 align:center
Everybody was coming to
the same conclusion that Hans had cheated.

00:46:10.142 --> 00:46:13.187 align:center
And he had somehow gotten a signal
from an earpiece

00:46:13.270 --> 00:46:16.148 align:center
or some other type
of communication device.

00:46:17.858 --> 00:46:21.570 align:center
Everybody was going back
and reviewing footage

00:46:21.653 --> 00:46:23.280 align:center
as to what could have happened.

00:46:23.781 --> 00:46:27.034 align:center
Did his jacket look
a little bulky in this area?

00:46:27.117 --> 00:46:29.953 align:center
How come he's…
his ankle is itchy all the time?

00:46:30.037 --> 00:46:34.124 align:center
Protective gestures covering his neck,
that is important to notice.

00:46:34.208 --> 00:46:38.420 align:center
Every single part of his mannerisms
got picked apart.

00:46:38.504 --> 00:46:40.672 align:center
If he has a cavity in his tooth,

00:46:40.756 --> 00:46:42.466 align:center
could he take out the filling

00:46:42.549 --> 00:46:47.429 align:center
and input a small device that sends
very small electroshocks or something?

00:46:47.930 --> 00:46:51.433 align:center
What level of grandiose cheating
am I doing?

00:46:51.517 --> 00:46:55.687 align:center
And in this discussion,
in one stream on Twitch,

00:46:56.313 --> 00:46:59.691 align:center
somebody in chat said…

00:47:01.318 --> 00:47:03.070 align:center
"Maybe it was anal beads."

00:47:04.238 --> 00:47:05.405 align:center
That's probably a good one.

00:47:05.489 --> 00:47:07.866 align:center
An anal bead
probably would beat the thing.

00:47:07.950 --> 00:47:12.454 align:center
I'm ser… the engine… I… It would probably…

00:47:13.997 --> 00:47:17.167 align:center
I don't know. I really don't know.
Like, think about it. I don't know.

00:47:18.126 --> 00:47:20.546 align:center
Talk about something
getting out of control

00:47:20.629 --> 00:47:22.881 align:center
faster than anybody knew what was coming.

00:47:22.965 --> 00:47:27.636 align:center
The chess world has been rocked
by rumors of anal beads.

00:47:28.679 --> 00:47:30.222 align:center
They call it "castling."

00:47:31.765 --> 00:47:35.477 align:center
It involved a vibrating sex toy
in his rear quarters.

00:47:35.561 --> 00:47:39.898 align:center
Dude! He's using anal beads Morse code!

00:47:39.982 --> 00:47:43.235 align:center
I mean, the theory is that basically
someone had some anal beads.

00:47:43.318 --> 00:47:45.195 align:center
And I'm obviously… I'm no expert at it,

00:47:45.279 --> 00:47:48.282 align:center
but I think it's you get
some sort of signal from the beads.

00:47:48.365 --> 00:47:49.825 align:center
It sort of became the truth.

00:47:49.908 --> 00:47:52.202 align:center
Suddenly, it became
this legitimate theory.

00:47:52.286 --> 00:47:55.998 align:center
…player was able to communicate
by flexing his anus,

00:47:56.081 --> 00:47:58.333 align:center
which apparently communicated
to a computer.

00:47:58.417 --> 00:48:00.335 align:center
I mean, this is extraordinary stuff.

00:48:00.419 --> 00:48:02.713 align:center
People on Twitter
started talking about it,

00:48:03.797 --> 00:48:06.967 align:center
and then my own children said,

00:48:07.050 --> 00:48:13.515 align:center
"Did you see that Elon Musk retweeted
about wireless anal beads?"

00:48:13.599 --> 00:48:15.976 align:center
Sending the chess world into chaos.

00:48:16.059 --> 00:48:19.062 align:center
One buzz means a bishop,
two buzzes means a knight.

00:48:19.688 --> 00:48:22.941 align:center
And it sort of exploded.
Joe Rogan was talking about it.

00:48:23.025 --> 00:48:26.653 align:center
"Chess grandmaster denies cheating
by using anal beads."

00:48:26.737 --> 00:48:30.407 align:center
Yeah, I mean, the thing is, I like to win.

00:48:32.367 --> 00:48:34.786 align:center
But do I like it that much?

00:48:34.870 --> 00:48:37.706 align:center
It was, like, mainstream news. Front page.

00:48:37.789 --> 00:48:40.917 align:center
I get why someone would use
vibrating anal beads to cheat.

00:48:41.001 --> 00:48:44.212 align:center
Because even if you lose,
you still kind of win, you know?

00:48:45.088 --> 00:48:48.008 align:center
When I was offered a million dollars
to play chess naked,

00:48:48.091 --> 00:48:51.136 align:center
people were telling me
to take Adam & Eve sponsorships.

00:48:51.219 --> 00:48:52.554 align:center
"No, thank you."

00:48:53.472 --> 00:48:58.101 align:center
I do think the anal implant
is a genuine concern.

00:48:58.185 --> 00:49:02.064 align:center
We had our COVID bump,
we had ourQueen's Gambitbump…

00:49:02.147 --> 00:49:05.734 align:center
-The beads bump was real.
-The beads bump.

00:49:05.817 --> 00:49:08.236 align:center
Anal beads have been super good to us.

00:49:08.320 --> 00:49:10.072 align:center
-Can I just say--
-Don't use that!

00:49:17.079 --> 00:49:19.539 align:center
They enjoyed it. They took pleasure in it.

00:49:20.707 --> 00:49:23.168 align:center
And it was sad
to see my life's work just, like,

00:49:23.794 --> 00:49:25.712 align:center
burn in front of my eyes.

00:49:30.592 --> 00:49:33.887 align:center
Yeah, I think that people,
they might laugh about it…

00:49:36.139 --> 00:49:38.475 align:center
but there's actually
a very sad story behind it.

00:49:38.558 --> 00:49:41.019 align:center
…even if you lose,
you still kind of win, you know?

00:49:42.729 --> 00:49:44.731 align:center
Knight to king seven!

00:49:49.611 --> 00:49:53.490 align:center
Yesterday I probably had to explain
that I didn't use anal beads

00:49:53.573 --> 00:49:55.784 align:center
about five different times
to five different people.

00:49:55.867 --> 00:49:58.745 align:center
That's what my life
and all my accomplishments

00:49:58.829 --> 00:50:02.541 align:center
and all my work has been boiled down
to fucking anal beads.

00:50:03.125 --> 00:50:05.919 align:center
Players arriving for the game.

00:50:06.002 --> 00:50:10.173 align:center
Exactly, as the players get checked
with all the electronic gizmos

00:50:10.257 --> 00:50:12.217 align:center
that we can possibly muster.

00:50:12.300 --> 00:50:13.927 align:center
We can see Hans Niemann already.

00:50:14.011 --> 00:50:15.554 align:center
He arrived to the playing venue,

00:50:15.637 --> 00:50:19.349 align:center
and he's carefully checked
by the chief arbiter of the event…

00:50:19.433 --> 00:50:21.893 align:center
Of course, they had
to make a mockery of me.

00:50:21.977 --> 00:50:23.478 align:center
They were trying to humiliate me.

00:50:26.732 --> 00:50:31.737 align:center
But as we saw,
he got delayed by the security at check.

00:50:31.820 --> 00:50:34.031 align:center
That's a very serious wanding.

00:50:34.114 --> 00:50:37.617 align:center
I felt like everywhere I walked
in this hotel, someone was watching me.

00:50:37.701 --> 00:50:40.912 align:center
I told myself I had to fight,
but I was not in the mental state

00:50:40.996 --> 00:50:42.706 align:center
to play chess, unfortunately.

00:50:42.789 --> 00:50:45.834 align:center
They played kind of
in a very normal fashion

00:50:45.917 --> 00:50:49.838 align:center
up until move nine,
and then Hans went for a setup

00:50:49.921 --> 00:50:54.134 align:center
which I don't believe
I've seen before at all.

00:50:54.217 --> 00:50:57.137 align:center
Every day I'd finish my game
and see all the news,

00:50:57.220 --> 00:51:00.098 align:center
the new articles, and I couldn't focus.

00:51:01.266 --> 00:51:03.268 align:center
-Whoa.
-Whoa. Yeah.

00:51:03.351 --> 00:51:05.520 align:center
Everything I know about chess

00:51:07.481 --> 00:51:09.441 align:center
indicates this is a terrible move.

00:51:10.067 --> 00:51:11.109 align:center
It was just my life.

00:51:11.193 --> 00:51:13.445 align:center
I just knew I was gonna be fucked
for a while.

00:51:14.946 --> 00:51:19.409 align:center
Since this whole thing,
controversy of the last few days,

00:51:19.493 --> 00:51:20.827 align:center
it's been impossible for him.

00:51:20.911 --> 00:51:22.204 align:center
It's a wonder he held…

00:51:22.287 --> 00:51:25.832 align:center
He held on for so long
before it started coming unglued.

00:51:26.374 --> 00:51:29.461 align:center
There was a point where
I was looking in the mirror, and I'm like,

00:51:29.544 --> 00:51:31.296 align:center
"What am I gonna do?"

00:51:31.379 --> 00:51:36.593 align:center
And at last, we have Hans Niemann
in studio with Alejandro.

00:51:36.676 --> 00:51:39.137 align:center
Hans, we gotta speak
about the elephant in the room.

00:51:39.221 --> 00:51:41.181 align:center
You've asked to have some words.

00:51:41.264 --> 00:51:43.642 align:center
Before the interview, I told him.

00:51:43.725 --> 00:51:46.812 align:center
I told the interviewer, "I want you
to let me speak uninterrupted."

00:51:46.895 --> 00:51:50.857 align:center
And in that interview,
I let everything out to public.

00:51:50.941 --> 00:51:53.485 align:center
Okay, so this is what happened,
when I was 16 years old,

00:51:53.568 --> 00:51:57.239 align:center
during my streaming career,
in an absolutely ridiculous mistake,

00:51:57.322 --> 00:51:59.908 align:center
I wanted to get higher rated
to play stronger players,

00:51:59.991 --> 00:52:02.619 align:center
so I cheated in random games on Chess.com.

00:52:02.702 --> 00:52:04.913 align:center
Now, I was confronted, I confessed,

00:52:04.996 --> 00:52:08.959 align:center
and this is the single biggest mistake
of my life, and I am completely ashamed,

00:52:09.042 --> 00:52:13.129 align:center
and I am telling the world because
I do not want any misrepresentation,

00:52:13.213 --> 00:52:14.714 align:center
and I do not want rumors.

00:52:15.465 --> 00:52:18.552 align:center
If you were to ask me
how many games I cheated in online

00:52:18.635 --> 00:52:20.136 align:center
when I'm 12 or 13…

00:52:20.220 --> 00:52:21.805 align:center
Oh my God, okay.

00:52:21.888 --> 00:52:23.682 align:center
I think it was nine games.

00:52:23.765 --> 00:52:24.975 align:center
So it's one tournament.

00:52:25.809 --> 00:52:27.310 align:center
Around the age of 16…

00:52:29.229 --> 00:52:32.691 align:center
Maybe… 20 to 30.

00:52:33.191 --> 00:52:34.484 align:center
Maybe a little mo… I don't…

00:52:35.777 --> 00:52:38.530 align:center
I was a complex person who made mistakes.

00:52:40.031 --> 00:52:41.741 align:center
You make mistakes as a kid.

00:52:41.825 --> 00:52:44.119 align:center
Doesn't mean
that through every single thing

00:52:44.202 --> 00:52:47.747 align:center
that you do for the rest of your life
should be discredited.

00:52:48.582 --> 00:52:50.667 align:center
He truly is
just a Jekyll-and-Hyde human being.

00:52:50.750 --> 00:52:53.587 align:center
An immense talent with a ton of issues.

00:52:54.796 --> 00:52:57.257 align:center
He admitted to just enough
to garner sympathy,

00:52:57.340 --> 00:53:00.010 align:center
ensuring that anything
we would say after that

00:53:00.093 --> 00:53:02.345 align:center
would make us look like the big bad guys.

00:53:02.429 --> 00:53:04.014 align:center
It was exactly the right play.

00:53:05.307 --> 00:53:06.600 align:center
Then after the game,

00:53:06.683 --> 00:53:09.519 align:center
I went to go
on Chess.com to log into my account.

00:53:10.729 --> 00:53:12.063 align:center
Password wasn't working.

00:53:12.147 --> 00:53:14.941 align:center
Because of this game against Magnus,
because of what he said,

00:53:15.025 --> 00:53:18.194 align:center
they have decided to completely remove me
from their website.

00:53:18.278 --> 00:53:20.113 align:center
-Did they give a reasoning?
-No reason.

00:53:20.196 --> 00:53:22.616 align:center
That was a permanent ban from Chess.com,

00:53:22.699 --> 00:53:25.702 align:center
and they removed my invitation
from the Global Chess Championship

00:53:25.785 --> 00:53:27.996 align:center
with a first prize of 200,000 dollars.

00:53:28.663 --> 00:53:29.789 align:center
It was all…

00:53:31.499 --> 00:53:32.667 align:center
very well-timed.

00:53:34.127 --> 00:53:36.755 align:center
I'm like, you can be mad
that I'm unfair to you now.

00:53:36.838 --> 00:53:38.840 align:center
I was probably too fair to you before.

00:53:38.924 --> 00:53:42.052 align:center
You lied and you cheated multiple times.

00:53:42.636 --> 00:53:46.139 align:center
The truth is,
Magnus Carlsen's actions were the catalyst

00:53:46.223 --> 00:53:49.601 align:center
to a pot that was much closer
to boiling than people know.

00:53:49.684 --> 00:53:53.396 align:center
I didn't know what I was dealing with.
I acted and removed Hans Niemann

00:53:53.480 --> 00:53:56.650 align:center
because I could no longer punt
or kick the can down the road

00:53:56.733 --> 00:53:59.861 align:center
on the fact that I didn't know
whether Hans was cheating again.

00:53:59.945 --> 00:54:01.738 align:center
That's the reason we removed him.

00:54:02.447 --> 00:54:07.285 align:center
Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to be honest
and speak the truth about all my enemies.

00:54:07.369 --> 00:54:08.662 align:center
Welcome, everyone,

00:54:08.745 --> 00:54:11.998 align:center
to the closing ceremony
of this year's Sinquefield Cup.

00:54:12.082 --> 00:54:14.042 align:center
Hello, Hans.

00:54:15.335 --> 00:54:18.254 align:center
I was happy the tournament
was over because I couldn't handle it.

00:54:18.338 --> 00:54:19.422 align:center
…be here with everyone.

00:54:20.257 --> 00:54:23.677 align:center
Why was I banned at the exact same time
that Magnus accused me of cheating?

00:54:24.678 --> 00:54:26.429 align:center
It's not a fucking coincidence.

00:54:30.600 --> 00:54:32.811 align:center
It's all connected.

00:54:36.022 --> 00:54:38.233 align:center
They banned me
because they're in the process

00:54:38.316 --> 00:54:41.319 align:center
of finalizing the most important merger
of chess history.

00:54:41.945 --> 00:54:47.826 align:center
A merger that will give them complete,
untouchable power over the chess world.

00:54:47.909 --> 00:54:51.496 align:center
You know, if Magnus wants
to come and party, he can or not.

00:54:51.579 --> 00:54:53.707 align:center
People would fucking come to this.

00:54:53.790 --> 00:54:55.875 align:center
They're buying Magnus Carlsen.

00:55:05.343 --> 00:55:08.847 align:center
Play Magnus Group was a group
of 13 companies.

00:55:09.556 --> 00:55:12.017 align:center
They were one of our main rivals

00:55:12.100 --> 00:55:16.271 align:center
and kept Magnus Carlsen
from participating on Chess.com.

00:55:16.938 --> 00:55:21.276 align:center
Not having Magnus Carlsen
on Chess.com was like the NBA

00:55:21.359 --> 00:55:24.904 align:center
but LeBron James was competing
in a separate basketball league.

00:55:26.323 --> 00:55:30.744 align:center
And so we eventually made an offer
to buy them out.

00:55:31.244 --> 00:55:33.747 align:center
You know, paid roughly 80 million dollars.

00:55:37.208 --> 00:55:39.002 align:center
The timing could not have been worse.

00:55:39.085 --> 00:55:42.964 align:center
If someone writes a story, it's like,
these pieces that randomly fit together,

00:55:43.048 --> 00:55:46.843 align:center
it almost looks like this great conspiracy
where this happened, that happened.

00:55:46.926 --> 00:55:48.470 align:center
It was all part of the grand plan.

00:55:48.553 --> 00:55:53.058 align:center
I'm just a little speck, a little ant
that they decided to step on and destroy.

00:55:53.683 --> 00:55:55.643 align:center
There's no denying there was pressure

00:55:55.727 --> 00:55:58.104 align:center
to remove Hans during the Sinquefield Cup.

00:55:59.356 --> 00:56:02.567 align:center
But I stand by that we did not remove
Hans Niemann because of pressure.

00:56:02.650 --> 00:56:04.736 align:center
Of course it's fucking coordinated.

00:56:05.236 --> 00:56:07.238 align:center
They have to pander
to their business partner Magnus.

00:56:07.322 --> 00:56:09.783 align:center
You know, they can't upset him too much,

00:56:09.866 --> 00:56:13.286 align:center
or otherwise he'll throw another tantrum,
and when a baby starts crying,

00:56:13.370 --> 00:56:15.538 align:center
you have to give them something
to shut them up.

00:56:16.331 --> 00:56:19.459 align:center
You think Magnus's manager isn't
on the phone with Danny Rensch?

00:56:19.542 --> 00:56:23.880 align:center
"You know, merger this, merger that."
And, "You know Hans Niemann? Yeah."

00:56:24.881 --> 00:56:30.553 align:center
I don't know how the Niemann case
would impact that one way or the other.

00:56:31.054 --> 00:56:34.474 align:center
It was just that
we were future team members

00:56:34.557 --> 00:56:39.270 align:center
that wanted, uh,
to help each other, basically.

00:56:40.230 --> 00:56:43.024 align:center
I understood that I put myself

00:56:43.108 --> 00:56:45.402 align:center
in the crosshairs
of some very powerful people.

00:56:54.369 --> 00:56:58.581 align:center
Henrik and Magnus wanted to know

00:56:58.665 --> 00:57:01.709 align:center
if Chess.com's anti-cheat technology

00:57:01.793 --> 00:57:04.254 align:center
could be used to investigate

00:57:04.337 --> 00:57:09.634 align:center
if Hans had cheated
in any over-the-board games.

00:57:10.593 --> 00:57:12.804 align:center
Whether it was on his meteoric rise

00:57:12.887 --> 00:57:16.850 align:center
or during the Sinquefield Cup,
they were asking us, like, can you do it?

00:57:16.933 --> 00:57:20.478 align:center
We were just looking
for objective information, basically.

00:57:21.062 --> 00:57:23.064 align:center
And our response was like…

00:57:25.942 --> 00:57:27.402 align:center
-We'll take a look.
-We'll try.

00:57:27.485 --> 00:57:28.778 align:center
-We'll try.
-We'll try.

00:57:28.862 --> 00:57:30.989 align:center
We're gonna find out. Right now.

00:57:31.948 --> 00:57:33.867 align:center
Danny convinced me that,

00:57:34.492 --> 00:57:38.121 align:center
"Our algorithm is good
at detecting cheating over the board."

00:57:38.204 --> 00:57:41.332 align:center
And I believed that, uh, absolutely.

00:57:41.958 --> 00:57:44.669 align:center
Chess.com has the best cheat detection.

00:57:44.752 --> 00:57:45.920 align:center
Period.

00:57:46.462 --> 00:57:48.423 align:center
There's no reason to dance around that.

00:57:48.506 --> 00:57:52.010 align:center
Hans Niemann said it himself.
It's not even close.

00:57:53.553 --> 00:57:57.015 align:center
We have a huge anti-cheat department.

00:57:57.098 --> 00:57:59.309 align:center
We put the most people on it,

00:57:59.392 --> 00:58:02.020 align:center
the most amount of money
and resources into it.

00:58:02.103 --> 00:58:05.899 align:center
With the biggest server farms
that are crunching the numbers.

00:58:05.982 --> 00:58:08.443 align:center
We have all the data, all the algorithms.

00:58:08.526 --> 00:58:10.320 align:center
Like, let's go. I want to find this.

00:58:10.403 --> 00:58:12.989 align:center
I'm gonna launch
the world's greatest investigation

00:58:13.072 --> 00:58:17.994 align:center
to find out how this little cheating kid
gamed the system and beat the champion.

00:58:18.077 --> 00:58:20.330 align:center
I'm gonna solve this mystery.

00:58:22.707 --> 00:58:25.752 align:center
So many people came out of the woodwork

00:58:25.835 --> 00:58:29.547 align:center
to provide Chess.com
with evidence that Hans had cheated.

00:58:29.631 --> 00:58:31.799 align:center
I was running down every single story.

00:58:31.883 --> 00:58:34.761 align:center
I'm gonna look at every single game
he's ever played.

00:58:34.844 --> 00:58:39.849 align:center
We did a very thorough job
investigating all of Hans's games online.

00:58:39.933 --> 00:58:44.145 align:center
It was eye-opening 'cause he had
cheated way more than even we thought.

00:58:44.229 --> 00:58:46.564 align:center
The online cheating was rampant.

00:58:47.232 --> 00:58:50.735 align:center
He had cheated
in well over 100 online games.

00:58:54.030 --> 00:58:56.991 align:center
I was like, there's so much smoke here,
there has to be fire.

00:58:59.869 --> 00:59:03.498 align:center
And I thought the truth was
that Hans Niemann cheated over the board

00:59:03.581 --> 00:59:05.166 align:center
at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup.

00:59:07.460 --> 00:59:10.838 align:center
I thought that that was going to be
the end of this story.

00:59:17.804 --> 00:59:19.973 align:center
A development in the cheating scandal

00:59:20.056 --> 00:59:21.641 align:center
that's rocked the world of chess.

00:59:21.724 --> 00:59:24.352 align:center
A 72-page investigation from Chess.com

00:59:24.435 --> 00:59:28.064 align:center
found no evidence that Niemann
had cheated in his game against Carlsen

00:59:28.147 --> 00:59:30.984 align:center
or in any over-the-board games.

00:59:31.067 --> 00:59:36.114 align:center
There's nothing in our investigation
to raise any red flags regarding his…

00:59:38.074 --> 00:59:41.953 align:center
That's a crazy sentence to read right now.

00:59:42.036 --> 00:59:47.208 align:center
Everybody wanted this to be true.
Everyone wanted this to be true.

00:59:47.292 --> 00:59:51.921 align:center
And, like, I felt like I was in the chair
ultimately at the end,

00:59:52.005 --> 00:59:55.133 align:center
saying, "Sorry, everyone, like,

00:59:55.216 --> 00:59:59.804 align:center
this isn't what is being shown
in the data."

00:59:59.887 --> 01:00:01.639 align:center
I was arguing with Erik,

01:00:01.723 --> 01:00:04.892 align:center
"What do you mean,
the data isn't saying that he's cheating?"

01:00:04.976 --> 01:00:10.398 align:center
As time went on, every theory,
every accusation fell apart.

01:00:10.481 --> 01:00:12.609 align:center
The over-the-board evidence wasn't there.

01:00:12.692 --> 01:00:15.570 align:center
I thought that we were gonna,
like, set the world free

01:00:15.653 --> 01:00:17.947 align:center
on the fact that we solved
this incredible mystery.

01:00:18.031 --> 01:00:21.284 align:center
And in fact, in the end,
it looked like we fucked up.

01:00:21.367 --> 01:00:24.329 align:center
Of course they wanted to find
some smoking gun or some proof like,

01:00:24.412 --> 01:00:25.830 align:center
but it didn't exist.

01:00:26.331 --> 01:00:28.708 align:center
So it just, unfortunately for them,
I'm innocent.

01:00:28.791 --> 01:00:30.501 align:center
I always have been innocent.

01:00:31.002 --> 01:00:32.920 align:center
We stood before Magnus Carlsen,

01:00:33.004 --> 01:00:35.632 align:center
this brand-new working marriage
of companies together

01:00:35.715 --> 01:00:39.552 align:center
and said what they didn't want to hear,
which is that Hans Niemann was innocent.

01:00:40.178 --> 01:00:42.263 align:center
That was some of the hardest shit
we had to do.

01:00:42.347 --> 01:00:44.140 align:center
And it's the stuff people don't know.

01:00:45.016 --> 01:00:47.268 align:center
This is how they operate.

01:00:47.352 --> 01:00:48.561 align:center
They talk a lot.

01:00:48.645 --> 01:00:54.317 align:center
I've had to tell, especially Danny,
a few times, like, can you just use

01:00:54.400 --> 01:00:57.236 align:center
a bit fewer words
to say what you want to say?

01:00:57.320 --> 01:00:58.738 align:center
I don't want all the bullshit.

01:00:59.489 --> 01:01:01.199 align:center
They didn't have the smoking gun.

01:01:02.367 --> 01:01:04.869 align:center
I felt pretty bad.

01:01:04.952 --> 01:01:08.289 align:center
I felt that… I'd sort of been gaslit a bit

01:01:08.373 --> 01:01:12.126 align:center
by Danny and Chess.com
into thinking that they had evidence

01:01:12.210 --> 01:01:14.879 align:center
which they really didn't.

01:01:14.962 --> 01:01:19.509 align:center
That's the sort of… the ace that I felt
that I had all the time.

01:01:20.093 --> 01:01:24.931 align:center
In retrospect, maybe Chess.com
was so concerned

01:01:25.014 --> 01:01:26.766 align:center
about the relationship to Magnus,

01:01:26.849 --> 01:01:30.353 align:center
they might have promised
a little bit more than they could deliver.

01:01:30.436 --> 01:01:34.065 align:center
It just didn't… just didn't happen.

01:01:34.148 --> 01:01:37.819 align:center
So that left me
in a bit of a strange situation.

01:01:37.902 --> 01:01:39.362 align:center
What to do now?

01:01:40.947 --> 01:01:43.199 align:center
I don't mean to be, you know,

01:01:43.950 --> 01:01:47.870 align:center
zealous here,
but everyone's day of judgment comes.

01:01:47.954 --> 01:01:51.124 align:center
The teenage chess grandmaster
accused of cheating last month,

01:01:51.207 --> 01:01:54.085 align:center
now suing his accusers
for 100 million dollars.

01:01:54.168 --> 01:01:57.672 align:center
That's according to a lawsuit
he filed in federal court yesterday.

01:01:58.172 --> 01:02:02.427 align:center
We got the news that he'd filed a lawsuit,

01:02:02.510 --> 01:02:05.263 align:center
suing, you know, everybody and their dog.

01:02:05.346 --> 01:02:08.725 align:center
The filing reads, in part,
"Enraged that the young Niemann

01:02:08.808 --> 01:02:11.144 align:center
dared to disrespect the 'King of Chess,'

01:02:11.227 --> 01:02:13.271 align:center
and fearful the prodigy
would further blemish

01:02:13.354 --> 01:02:16.190 align:center
his multimillion-dollar brand
by beating him again,

01:02:16.274 --> 01:02:18.317 align:center
Carlsen maliciously retaliated."

01:02:18.818 --> 01:02:20.361 align:center
It was a bit too much.

01:02:21.529 --> 01:02:25.241 align:center
Claiming this whole conspiracy
against one kid,

01:02:25.324 --> 01:02:30.455 align:center
like, maybe he believes this,
which I really don't think.

01:02:31.581 --> 01:02:35.168 align:center
This facade that he puts up
in interviews and media training,

01:02:35.251 --> 01:02:37.003 align:center
it's all a complete joke.

01:02:37.086 --> 01:02:39.213 align:center
Even his friends don't like him.

01:02:39.714 --> 01:02:43.718 align:center
His friends will… Like…
"He's like unbearable even to be around."

01:02:43.801 --> 01:02:49.015 align:center
All of his friends would be telling me
about how annoying it is to be around him.

01:02:49.724 --> 01:02:53.478 align:center
I sued them
because they lied and they conspired

01:02:54.061 --> 01:02:56.230 align:center
and they destroyed my entire career
and life.

01:02:56.731 --> 01:02:59.776 align:center
They made a mockery of me,
and they all did it in coordination.

01:03:00.443 --> 01:03:02.445 align:center
And no one's denying that.

01:03:03.237 --> 01:03:06.282 align:center
I'm the one who had
the most personal relationship with Hans.

01:03:06.365 --> 01:03:10.578 align:center
A talented young man individually,
normally focused on only your own chess…

01:03:10.661 --> 01:03:13.706 align:center
It's just hard 'cause when you get sued
for 100 million dollars,

01:03:13.790 --> 01:03:18.419 align:center
it is the biggest punch in the gut,
the most mind-blowing experience.

01:03:18.503 --> 01:03:21.506 align:center
Like, I don't have
100 million dollars, FYI.

01:03:21.589 --> 01:03:24.884 align:center
Like, that's not something that is, like,
that is there.

01:03:25.468 --> 01:03:28.888 align:center
I certainly don't think
that he's a mentor to me now.

01:03:28.971 --> 01:03:32.350 align:center
Actually, you know, I think
all the terrible things he's done

01:03:32.433 --> 01:03:34.143 align:center
has inspired me so much.

01:03:34.227 --> 01:03:37.563 align:center
So, whatever the opposite of a mentor is…

01:03:37.647 --> 01:03:39.941 align:center
It's a mentor
but in the worst possible way.

01:03:40.024 --> 01:03:43.736 align:center
So he has the effect of a mentor
by inspiring me and invigorating me

01:03:43.819 --> 01:03:45.780 align:center
to destroy all of them.

01:03:46.364 --> 01:03:48.699 align:center
Have you not seen
what the guy has done to me?

01:03:48.783 --> 01:03:52.495 align:center
Have you ever used anal beads
while playing chess?

01:03:52.578 --> 01:03:55.164 align:center
Not a question I thought
I'd ask a guest, to be honest.

01:03:55.248 --> 01:03:58.751 align:center
That interview was a good example
of what my life has become, right?

01:03:59.252 --> 01:04:01.712 align:center
It's anal beads this, anal beads that.
I have to live with that.

01:04:02.630 --> 01:04:05.132 align:center
Well, your curiosity is a bit concerning.

01:04:05.216 --> 01:04:08.803 align:center
Maybe you're personally interested,
but I can tell you no.

01:04:09.303 --> 01:04:10.888 align:center
Okay, categoric no.

01:04:11.556 --> 01:04:14.392 align:center
Just the fact that how Hans

01:04:16.185 --> 01:04:18.604 align:center
survived through this process

01:04:18.688 --> 01:04:22.400 align:center
and even seemed to "thrive" on this noise,

01:04:22.483 --> 01:04:27.488 align:center
it's, uh, it's very impressive
and nearly disturbing.

01:04:28.906 --> 01:04:32.285 align:center
Magnus Carlsen, are you still
suing him for 100 million dollars?

01:04:33.870 --> 01:04:35.872 align:center
The case has been resolved, Piers.

01:04:37.665 --> 01:04:40.084 align:center
There was obviously the settlement.

01:04:40.167 --> 01:04:41.586 align:center
Um…

01:04:41.669 --> 01:04:44.005 align:center
And, mind you, I didn't want to settle.

01:04:44.672 --> 01:04:51.470 align:center
But also, the US legal system sucks,
and it's really expensive.

01:04:51.554 --> 01:04:53.139 align:center
He can't look me in the eye.

01:04:54.890 --> 01:04:57.226 align:center
He's, like, literally afraid
to even be close to me.

01:04:58.978 --> 01:05:00.354 align:center
It's traumatic for him.

01:05:01.188 --> 01:05:03.232 align:center
If he had to shake my hand,
or look me in the eye,

01:05:03.316 --> 01:05:05.484 align:center
he'd collapse, he'd throw a tantrum.

01:05:05.568 --> 01:05:08.946 align:center
I think it's very likely
that I'll play him again.

01:05:09.030 --> 01:05:11.240 align:center
But he needs to get a bit better

01:05:11.324 --> 01:05:14.785 align:center
to play me in proper,
like, over-the-board tournaments.

01:05:24.170 --> 01:05:27.965 align:center
I'm joined by Magnus Carlsen
on the evening before the first match

01:05:28.049 --> 01:05:31.552 align:center
of the 2024 Speed Chess Championship
in Paris, France.

01:05:32.303 --> 01:05:34.096 align:center
Let's address the elephant in the room,

01:05:34.180 --> 01:05:37.642 align:center
your semifinal matchup
is against Hans Niemann.

01:05:38.392 --> 01:05:39.894 align:center
You've never had a villain.

01:05:42.229 --> 01:05:45.316 align:center
How does it feel to have
this kind of presence in your life now?

01:05:45.399 --> 01:05:48.444 align:center
Which, it will not go away
so long as you are competing.

01:05:50.029 --> 01:05:53.741 align:center
Carlsen has avoided the youngster,
who is now rapidly climbing the charts

01:05:53.824 --> 01:05:56.118 align:center
and defeating super grandmasters.

01:05:58.746 --> 01:06:04.585 align:center
Niemann has certainly become a lot better
at chess the last couple of years,

01:06:04.669 --> 01:06:08.255 align:center
and it's a matchup
I certainly didn't… didn't want.

01:06:08.339 --> 01:06:11.008 align:center
The press conference is gonna be up here.

01:06:11.092 --> 01:06:14.261 align:center
-Where's the press conference? Here?
-It's gonna be right here.

01:06:14.345 --> 01:06:16.138 align:center
I don't do exclusives.

01:06:16.222 --> 01:06:17.807 align:center
It's not a matter of an exclusive,

01:06:17.890 --> 01:06:21.560 align:center
it's just a matter
of we're a broadcaster of the tournament.

01:06:21.644 --> 01:06:23.521 align:center
You gotta be allowed
to have a civil conversation.

01:06:23.604 --> 01:06:24.438 align:center
Oh, really?

01:06:25.564 --> 01:06:29.235 align:center
The fact that Hans is here
is just, like… it is mind-blowing.

01:06:29.735 --> 01:06:31.362 align:center
If someone from Chess.com tells me

01:06:31.445 --> 01:06:33.489 align:center
I am contractually obliged,
then I will do it.

01:06:33.572 --> 01:06:34.740 align:center
I've done my part.

01:06:34.824 --> 01:06:36.826 align:center
He's gotten so much fucking better.

01:06:36.909 --> 01:06:38.536 align:center
He's playing the best chess of his career.

01:06:38.619 --> 01:06:41.747 align:center
Like, there was no anticipating this.

01:06:41.831 --> 01:06:46.335 align:center
It's going to be interesting
from a pure chess perspective

01:06:46.419 --> 01:06:48.504 align:center
to see what he can do.

01:06:49.213 --> 01:06:53.050 align:center
What's your main feeling
about this matchup with Magnus?

01:06:53.134 --> 01:06:54.427 align:center
Is it excitement?

01:06:54.510 --> 01:06:57.513 align:center
Is it relief
that you can finally play him again?

01:06:57.596 --> 01:07:00.641 align:center
-Is this revenge?
-It's pure serenity.

01:07:01.142 --> 01:07:02.393 align:center
Very calm.

01:07:04.854 --> 01:07:08.899 align:center
If he loses this match,
it'll be the greatest stain on his legacy

01:07:08.983 --> 01:07:10.985 align:center
because he put
his entire career on the line.

01:07:12.653 --> 01:07:14.989 align:center
All right. We are here
for the match of the day,

01:07:15.072 --> 01:07:16.907 align:center
the one everyone has been waiting for.

01:07:16.991 --> 01:07:18.951 align:center
How's the crowd feeling
about today's match?

01:07:19.035 --> 01:07:21.120 align:center
Let's go. Let's hear some energy from the…

01:07:21.203 --> 01:07:23.205 align:center
Whoo!

01:07:24.832 --> 01:07:26.584 align:center
It's time.

01:07:27.710 --> 01:07:31.172 align:center
Whoa. Yeah. Yeah, okay.

01:07:31.255 --> 01:07:36.844 align:center
Our first player of today's match,
grandmaster Magnus Carlsen.

01:07:38.554 --> 01:07:42.058 align:center
There's always a little bit of fear,

01:07:42.141 --> 01:07:44.894 align:center
playing against somebody
whom you don't really trust.

01:07:44.977 --> 01:07:49.023 align:center
And his opponent,
grandmaster Hans Niemann.

01:07:50.024 --> 01:07:52.902 align:center
There's a lot of history.
There's a lot on the line emotionally,

01:07:52.985 --> 01:07:54.945 align:center
especially for Hans Niemann.

01:07:55.029 --> 01:07:56.614 align:center
You see him there. He's locked in.

01:07:56.697 --> 01:07:59.158 align:center
He wants this one
more than anything in the world.

01:07:59.241 --> 01:08:03.412 align:center
This is the culmination
of a two-year saga.

01:08:03.496 --> 01:08:06.290 align:center
Almost two years to the day.

01:08:06.373 --> 01:08:08.542 align:center
Everyone has been waiting
for this matchup.

01:08:08.626 --> 01:08:12.046 align:center
The first time that they are sitting
across from each other in two years.

01:08:12.129 --> 01:08:15.883 align:center
Your life is defined by critical moments.
And you have chances and opportunities.

01:08:15.966 --> 01:08:18.928 align:center
This is one of these opportunities.
And I will rip him to shreds.

01:08:19.011 --> 01:08:23.849 align:center
There is potential for this
to spiral if things start the wrong way.

01:08:23.933 --> 01:08:25.309 align:center
There's no doubt about that.

01:08:26.936 --> 01:08:28.229 align:center
We've got drama.

01:08:28.312 --> 01:08:29.730 align:center
We've got action.

01:08:29.814 --> 01:08:32.441 align:center
And we are gonna have chess
in less than ten seconds.

01:08:33.442 --> 01:08:35.861 align:center
Can I get an amen?

01:08:35.945 --> 01:08:39.990 align:center
Life is truly poetic, and I think
that this is the most poetic ending.

01:08:40.699 --> 01:08:41.575 align:center
I'm here in Paris.

01:08:44.328 --> 01:08:46.580 align:center
It's the best place for revolutions.

01:08:50.000 --> 01:08:51.252 align:center
Bring out the guillotine.

01:08:56.173 --> 01:08:59.844 align:center
Wow. A4 played by Hans.
He's trying to explode the queen side.

01:08:59.927 --> 01:09:01.387 align:center
Magnus darts to the center.

01:09:01.470 --> 01:09:04.557 align:center
You see Hans bobbing there
and getting angry. Can he convert?

01:09:04.640 --> 01:09:06.475 align:center
What a decision from Magnus Carlsen.

01:09:06.559 --> 01:09:08.519 align:center
Only Hans can win-- I'm wrong!

01:09:08.602 --> 01:09:10.938 align:center
Gets himself in trouble! It's almost mate!

01:09:13.566 --> 01:09:17.444 align:center
This is gonna be a nasty finish
here, and this finally will end the match.

01:09:18.028 --> 01:09:20.823 align:center
Seriously, the guy just got it done
in a match.

01:09:20.906 --> 01:09:24.326 align:center
What an incredible performance.

01:09:24.410 --> 01:09:28.330 align:center
Magnus Carlsen, the world
number one, just took down Hans Niemann.

01:09:28.414 --> 01:09:32.042 align:center
A player who is maybe one
of the best known players on the planet

01:09:32.126 --> 01:09:34.128 align:center
for some things off the board,

01:09:34.211 --> 01:09:36.463 align:center
but his play on the board,
it wasn't quite enough,

01:09:36.547 --> 01:09:39.300 align:center
and Magnus Carlsen, he made him pay.

01:09:39.383 --> 01:09:42.761 align:center
Magnus Carlsen dominated this match,

01:09:42.845 --> 01:09:46.182 align:center
and whatever Hans Niemann
thinks that means,

01:09:46.265 --> 01:09:48.017 align:center
and whatever statement that sends…

01:09:48.100 --> 01:09:51.103 align:center
Chess is not gonna be speaking
for itself tomorrow, guys.

01:09:53.272 --> 01:09:55.274 align:center
Remember that summer

01:09:55.816 --> 01:09:58.611 align:center
You were number one

01:09:59.737 --> 01:10:05.701 align:center
But everybody said that
Lord, you deserve to have won

01:10:07.578 --> 01:10:12.541 align:center
And I say to you
That I deserve to win too

01:10:13.209 --> 01:10:16.503 align:center
Well, I'm better for that

01:10:17.129 --> 01:10:19.048 align:center
Thanks to you

01:10:22.218 --> 01:10:24.428 align:center
It's not the worst city to lose in.

01:10:27.389 --> 01:10:30.893 align:center
He always said that he wanted
the chess to speak for itself.

01:10:31.602 --> 01:10:34.939 align:center
He wanted to settle things
not in the courtroom,

01:10:35.648 --> 01:10:37.816 align:center
but on the chessboard, so…

01:10:41.195 --> 01:10:43.155 align:center
I might have lost on the chess board,

01:10:43.239 --> 01:10:46.367 align:center
but on my end,
I'm doing pretty fucking well.

01:10:46.450 --> 01:10:49.161 align:center
As a lone warrior against a legion.

01:10:51.038 --> 01:10:53.540 align:center
Even though my entire life
and career has been destroyed

01:10:53.624 --> 01:10:57.920 align:center
and I'll have to live with the fact that
every conversation I have about chess,

01:10:58.003 --> 01:10:59.463 align:center
we'll eventually discuss anal beads.

01:11:00.339 --> 01:11:05.302 align:center
I am a man on a mission, and they've
made it my life's purpose to win.

01:11:05.886 --> 01:11:08.430 align:center
I'm gonna be a stone-cold killer
for the rest of my life.

01:11:10.099 --> 01:11:14.353 align:center
There's something about Hans

01:11:14.853 --> 01:11:17.147 align:center
that creates an uneasiness inside of me.

01:11:18.148 --> 01:11:20.109 align:center
How do you explain Hans Niemann?

01:11:21.151 --> 01:11:24.571 align:center
You know, now you have
the Norwegian world champion,

01:11:24.655 --> 01:11:26.073 align:center
a god among men,

01:11:26.824 --> 01:11:28.993 align:center
the most dominant chess player
of the modern generation,

01:11:29.076 --> 01:11:30.577 align:center
and it's not even close.

01:11:31.453 --> 01:11:33.414 align:center
And then there's the kid.

01:11:34.373 --> 01:11:36.875 align:center
The kid who had the beads?

01:11:39.378 --> 01:11:42.798 align:center
He's now one of the most recognizable,
infamous people

01:11:42.881 --> 01:11:44.675 align:center
to ever play the game of chess.

01:11:45.467 --> 01:11:48.929 align:center
And in my opinion, he lost the person
that he was along the way.

01:11:50.472 --> 01:11:52.766 align:center
They're just
a complete chess mafia, really.

01:11:52.850 --> 01:11:54.727 align:center
That's it.

01:11:55.936 --> 01:12:00.107 align:center
And I just cannot wait for Magnus,
while he's old and disheveled

01:12:00.190 --> 01:12:02.359 align:center
and going further deep into his insanity,

01:12:02.443 --> 01:12:05.404 align:center
I'm gonna be young, improving,
and he's gonna have to watch it.

01:12:07.072 --> 01:12:08.782 align:center
I'm not motivated by spite,

01:12:08.866 --> 01:12:12.911 align:center
but if that's gonna inspire him
to be the best version of himself,

01:12:12.995 --> 01:12:14.204 align:center
then…

01:12:14.288 --> 01:12:16.040 align:center
then, uh, go for it,

01:12:16.123 --> 01:12:18.751 align:center
just as long as he plays…

01:12:18.834 --> 01:12:20.502 align:center
plays, um, fair.

01:12:21.170 --> 01:12:22.713 align:center
I'm going to be the best player.

01:12:25.132 --> 01:12:26.383 align:center
No one's gonna believe that now,

01:12:26.467 --> 01:12:29.553 align:center
but this clip will play over
and over again in ten years. Just wait.

01:12:30.804 --> 01:12:34.641 align:center
I know things that the world doesn't,
and that's because I can see the future.