Cheating online is easy, but cheating in person requires a little bit more spycraft. Fans speculate Neiman had an accomplice who was watching the game being broadcast live online and consulting an AI chess program. One of the things that caught on without evidence was could someone cheat using anal beads, which is not a sentence you thought would be ever set in connection with chess ever before.
The chess world is in chaos after its top player accused 19-year-old Hans Niemann of using AI to cheat. Niemann is responding with a $100 million lawsuit against his accuser and the chess website that says he likely cheated in scores of games.
This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn and Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Efim Shapiro and Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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