An array of recent stories, and a few games, too.
A “draw” of sorts in the Niemann-Carlsen lawsuit. It looks like Hans Niemann has settled with Magnus Carlsen and Chess.com, putting an end (I think) to his defamation lawsuit against Carlsen (and his company), Chess.com (and Danny Rensch), while the component of his suit aimed at Hikaru Nakamura was already dismissed a while ago. (Some parts were dismissed with prejudice, meaning that they can’t be re-filed, others without it, so in theory they could be, though that seems unlikely at this point.) It seemed to me that Niemann’s case was weakest against Nakamura and strongest against Carlsen, so I’m not particularly surprised that there was a settlement. The upshot for Niemann is that Carlsen is now “officially” willing to play against him in events (we’ll have to wait and see whether there’s some “wink wink, nudge nudge” boycotting in Niemann’s future), and Niemann is no longer banned from Chess.com either in general or from its prestige events in particular.
Speaking of Magnus Carlsen, he has, with David Howell, published his first chess book. Based on their Chessable course, it’s available now on the New In Chess website, comes out from Amazon on November 1, and I’m guessing that at some point between now and then it will be available on the Forward Chess app as well. (Please spend responsibly.)
Kramnik on Praggnanandhaa: Vladimir Kramnik believes that Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (and Dommaraju Gukesh, but for him it’s already official) is a genuine top ten player. During last year’s Olympiad I said that several of the leading prodigies, including Gukesh and Pragg, would be 2800 or near 2800 in a couple of years, and while someone might quibble about exactly how close one must be to count as “near” (the sort of tiresome comment that makes blogging a drudgery rather than a chance to enjoy being part of a community of chess fans) these two certainly seem to be well on their way.
From about a week ago: FIDE has put restrictions on male-to-female transgender participants who want to play in female-only events. There are lots of interesting angles here: please jump in with comments. (A request and a suggestion. The request: there aren’t going to be any uncontroversial positions here, so please be polite. If you’re not, your comment will be removed and you may be blocked from the site. Second, if you would feel more comfortable posting anonymously, please do so. There’s an old Yakov Smirnoff joke that goes something like this: “In my country [Russia], we too [as in the USA] have freedom of speech. What we don’t have is freedom after speech.” That’s a practical if not a legal problem in the U.S., and it’s already a legal problem in Canada and England. So be prudent, and everyone should be respectful.)
I gave you all a year off, but now it’s time to jump back in. (Those of you with no interest in college football should avert your eyes.) The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame got the 2023 campaign off to a great start, drubbing their friendly rivals from Navy 42-3 - in Dublin, Ireland! The #13 Irish take on Tennessee State this coming Saturday.
I don't believe the settlement is a draw at all but rather an admission on the side of Carlsen that, not only can cheating on Niemann's part not be proven, but in fact it almost certainly did not occur. The injustice of the situation is that it seems very likely that Niemann's chess career has been permanently derailed by Carlsen's baseless insinuations in a fit of pique. Thus a mere monetary settlement is insufficient, and I am glad Carlsen came clean and admitted there is no evidence Niemann cheated in their game, which is what the settlement tacitly signifies.
Most lawsuits are settled out of court, so it's hard to draw any conclusions. Carlsen's statement is nonconcessive, and certainly doesn't indicate any change in opinion. It just acknowledges the existence of a report, and uses the phrase "no determinative evidence". Niemann has to some modest extent been rehabilitated (it's hard to see the settlement as changing minds one way or the other) and has found his way back to playing on chess.com, while his legal opponents have got the hazard of a lawsuit off their backs. In the meantime, with Niemann only nominally still a junior and having a live rating of 2667, then even ignoring Carlsen's soft power, the chances that they will be paired in some event any time soon seem rather low, and in over the board play, close to nonexistent.