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this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2024
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Is the lawsuit between him and his rival that they mentioned funny enough to look up?
Not really. The "funny" parts were all speculation and jokes from the public. The whole thing is actually kinda sad.
After losing to Hans, Magnus suspected he was cheating so he withdrew from the tournament and released a statement implying Hans was cheating. (Which isn't an unfounded claim, because Hans admitted to cheating in a tournament when he was 12, and again in a casual match when he was 16). That led people to ask how you cheat without a phone/computer... And that led to the vibrating anal beads meme.
So now everyone knows Hans as the anal beads guy, and everyone wonders if he's still a cheater. The accusation did irreparable damage to his reputation and mental health.
Personally, I doubt he was cheating. I'm sure Magnus has a more analytical view of the match, but not even Chess.com can prove he cheated, so... IMO the case against him can't be all that substantial. To me, it seems like he was probably being a sore loser and used his power in the chess world to leave permanent scars on his opponent's career.
Edit: I mixed up Magnus for Hikaru 😬 But iirc they were both making similar implicit accusations.
I don't even think Magnus intended any serious effect, let alone the scale that the meme communities escalated to. I agree he was probably being a sore loser, throwing out a frustrated and immature "I don't believe I could have lost fairly" line.
I'm sure Hans could have lived with that accusation if there wasn't any significant evidence and chalked it up as just that, being a sore loser. The internet went and blew it up though, with little regard for how that would affect Hans, so what Magnus intended doesn't help him much in the end.