Andrew McGettigan’s latest book is The Great University Gamble.
‘Chess speaks for itself,’ Hans Niemann said last month after unexpectedly defeating the world number one, Magnus Carlsen, in Miami. He beat him again in the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis on 4 September. The following day Carlsen pulled out of the tournament, announcing his withdrawal on Twitter ten minutes before play was scheduled to start. He wouldn’t give a reason, but embedded a YouTube clip of Jose Mourinho saying: ‘If I speak, I am in big trouble.’
Bloggers, podcasters and streamers have pored over Hans Niemann’s more recent efforts, competing to produce an analysis that lays to rest the debates over reform or recidivism. None has really cut it. Now Chess.com have released an internal report alleging that Niemann cheated in more than a hundred online games in the lead-up to his second ban from the site in 2020.
Future historians will record that, alongside its many other achievements, the coalition government took the decisive steps in helping to turn some first-rate universities into third-rate companies. If...
Read anywhere with the London Review of Books app, available now from the App Store for Apple devices, Google Play for Android devices and Amazon for your Kindle Fire.
For highlights from the latest issue, our archive and the blog, as well as news, events and exclusive promotions.