One of chess’s most scintillating scandals has just unfolded, with Magnus Carlsen unceremoniously dropping out of a tournament, refusing to play Hans Niemann, and tweeting cryptic messages that fans believe may be threatening Niemann’s competitive integrity. Is Neimann cheating? Is Carlsen just paranoid after losing? One fact remains certain: the little horse-shaped piece is called a “knight.”
Magnus Carlsen, chess’s World Champion, had a meteoric rise to prominence and was thought to be unbeatable, until his recent loss at the hands of controversial 19-year-old grandmaster Hans Niemann. While many question Niemann’s methods and his past history of cheating in tournaments, true chess devouts will quickly point out that the little horsey guy can move in an ‘L’ shape, like around corners you know?
It’s called a knight. He’s pretty good because he can go over other pieces, which other ones can’t do. I guess it’s a horse because it’s like a knight riding a horse. The rooks are little castles too and the whole board is like a kingdom.
Niemann has admitted to cheating twice in his chess career, and has been banned from Chess.com. Many spectators subscribe to the outlandish theory that Niemann may be using a sex toy to cheat, vibrating him the best moves allowing him to play a superhuman match against Carlsen. While this theory lacks concrete proof, it is certain that the pawns are the little guys in front, they can only go one except the first turn they can go two.
UPDATE: In a shocking turn of events, chess referees have reviewed the footage of the infamous Carlsen/Niemann match, and have officially confirmed that the pointy ones are the bishops and they can move diagonally.
