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The chess world has been rocked this week by the sudden withdrawal of GM Magnus Carlsen in the early rounds of the Sinquefield Cup. Although only explained by a cryptic tweet, this unprecedented action has been widely interpreted as an allegation of foul play by GM Hans Niemann, who had defeated Magnus in the prior round.. This has been a complex story with tentacles reaching all over the chess world and making headlines beyond it. In this podcast I briefly attempt to catch listeners up on the key events, and then welcome IM Greg Shahade to try to provide a bit of clarity about what we know right now. Greg is the founder of the Pro Chess League and the US Chess School and in the latter role has observed Hans' chess talent as he has risen up the ranks. Greg shares his perspective of Hans' personality, and of the overall story. Links to the important topics referenced can be found below 0:00- I go through the timeline of events and share a few thoughts.  18:00- IM Greg Shahade joins to discuss the news A few quick notes and links Perpetual Chess Link Fest Sign Up- https://benjohnson.substack.com/ Chess Reddit Megathread https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/x7igg5/megathread_hans_niemann_allegations/ Hans Niemann Round 5 interview-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=CJZuT-_kij0 GM Jacob Aagaard Blog post about his experience working with GM Hans Niemann  https://forum.killerchesstraining.com/t/paranoia-and-insanity-by-jacob-aagaard/856 Chess.com statement  https://twitter.com/chesscom/status/1568010971616100352?s=20&t=lM603tHenLUdoXSKjm4aBQ My March 2022 Interview with GM Hans Niemann https://open.spotify.com/episode/6SNm7UTFwTtzEnabV1p2in?si=6d79b33cdeaf4a5d Thanks to our sponsors Chessable.com and Aimchess!  Chessable- https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/ Aimchess- https://aimchess.com/try?ref=benjohnson12 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices