Vladimir Kramnik Thinks I Cheated!!!!

On November 20, 2023, Kramnik posted a very interesting paragraph on his profile on chess.com. As many of you know, Kramnik has been using this profile to accuse cheaters. This time he took a stab at me. This is my reaction.
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#gmhikaru #chessdrama #cheatinginchess

[@lammatt]

The fact hikaru thought a buttplug was a spoon is the most solid proof he didnt and has never cheated

[@templarroystonofvasey]

Everything is a BP if you use your imagination.

[@Shimimaro89]

​​@@templarroystonofvasey *if you push hard enough

[@xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

@@templarroystonofvasey Pro comment.

[@heyimj662]

​@@templarroystonofvaseya 16x16 inch tungsten cube

[@Boppin.]

​@@heyimj662you mean a 16x16x16 inch

[@alexfedor6638]

Kramnik has clearly never heard the words “bro thinks he’s hikaru 💀”

[@Improvement_arc.]

Real

[@Nub_Fish]

Kramnik thinks he’s Hans

[@orenawaerenyeager]

He should subscribe and be a daily viewer i guess😂

[@adityasen4566]

Kramnik is a former world champion. Tell me when Hikaru wins one

[@gilliesiut2332]

Hikaru just has lots of custom vibration patterns 😂

[@anatolid1931]

Hikaru explains every move he plays, and most of the moves are lightning fast so you can not cheat physically. Poor Kramnik

[@SirLampsALot]

I do not believe Hikaru cheated, but this is simply devils advocate. The reason that your argument of Hikaru explaining his moves doesn’t hold any water is that he could get the best move and he is good enough to understand it and the ideas associated with it. So when he explains it, he could have received the best move and relayed it with the explanation.

[@sprzrz573]

Kramnik provides exact numbers and he just wanna know if these online blitz and rapid wizards can play similarly well onboard

[@huckleberryfinn8795]

Exactly, its literally impossible to to cheat in a blitz game, especially at the end when he moves twice per SECOND. 😂

[@brunosouza3326]

Still no time to cheat in a blitz game, at least not in any conventional way. Only way i can think of is having the best engine automatically making the moves and figuring out the most "human" wait time between moves, then on top of that, Hikaru ad libing to make it seem like he's the one moving. And that's not even taking into consideration the mouse movements on the screen that the whole stream is seeing. So yeah it's close enough to impossible. @@SirLampsALot

[@justinhoang7281]

There are programs that instantly tell you moves

[@Shroobi]

someone in levys video made an amazing explanation "theres a low chance that someone wins 45 games in a row, but theres a higher chance of someone who plays thousands of games winning 45 games in a row" so true. he had thousands of tries at it, obviously not consciously, but at the end of the day, hes had enough attempts to finally hit it.

[@yusouph2002]

As if those gm opponents didn't have thousands of tries. Don't agree with Kramnik here, at all, but this is just a stupid argument

[@wasifchowdhury2004]

@@yusouph2002 Those "GM" opponents had an average rating of around 2430 OTB. Watch the video.

[@Wopple]

@@yusouph2002 But, has the work been done? We would need to scan hundreds of top GMs' blitz games, making sure none of them ever had a 44.5/45 run. If you don't to that, then who knows.

[@StheSharknl]

@@yusouph2002 I hold a Master in Science, did an extension on the work of nobel prize winning econometrics for my thesis (got summa cum laude grade). OP hits the nail on the head, this is how it works. If you play enough games it is possible and probable to have such a crazy streak. Statistics are counter intuitive and a b*tch to learn xD. Can recommend Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Taleb if you want to read a fun and informative book on statistics (NOT a text book). Cheers!

[@jandroid33]

@@yusouph2002 It's not even an argument, that's just how statistics works. The more games you play, the bigger chance to see long win streaks at some points. Try flipping a coin thousands of times and you will at some points get long streak of heads in a row. People should focus on learning more statistics, it's a super critical skill for the entire humanity.

[@loganlasvegas]

Absolutely no one is more transparent than Hikaru. He streams hours every day, constantly banters during his games, strategizes 5 moves in advance, reads/responds to realtime chats, sometimes sings, eats and drinks…while stockfishing? Absurd. Not to mention the man’s integrity and respect for the game.

[@TheBswan]

Yeah but wait til you find out what he's hiding up his a$$hole

[@mortgageapprovals8933]

Whatyou described is the perfect candidate and set of circumstances to cheat. Hikaru must do well over 1,500 chess moves per day and almost 500,000 a year. So if he cheated in 1 of those 500,000 moves. How would you know?!

[@duggme]

​@@mortgageapprovals8933Not at all because it would be very, very inconsequential. As you said, 1 move from 500000. It gave him, what +0.3 advantage for 1 move?

[@djp4418]

@@mortgageapprovals8933wtf are you yapping about 💀

[@barnabasastrofengia5345]

Soooo very true

[@zookaroo2132]

There's never a biggest compliment in gaming history except when opponents think you have aimbot while clearly you dont

[@juanjuan5698]

Bro Hikaru has achieved the highest level of compliments. A former world champion thinks he is cheating 💀

[@DrDeepstack]

Man that takes me back to my unreal tournament days. Being accused of aimbot after totally domination was exactly what you just said.

[@dabeast548]

Agree, but if you really have ????

[@RazielDeTam]

​@@juanjuan5698Kramnik made this compliment to a lot of GMs 😅

[@tseikkisnelkytkaks9013]

Get good enough in anything and this becomes commonplace. It's just a nicer explanation to someone than "this guy is better than me".

[@hasanelias8878]

Ever since Kramink's loss to Niemann, he has been exhibiting signs of heightened paranoia.

[@joewagner4593]

Seems to happen to World Champions😂😂

[@xMr.Agenda]

Underrated comment

[@spinblade6459]

​ @joewagner4593 It seems to happen to World Champions who, very suspiciously, go over and over to use the bathroom during world championship games. So yup, Kramnik's been accused of cheating himself. Now here he is throwing flimsy, unfounded accusations at others. He's despicable.

[@joewagner4593]

@@spinblade6459 aww, you're new here. Cool story, one everyone knows. 😂😂

[@spinblade6459]

@@joewagner4593 What's the snark for? I was agreeing with you. Clown.

[@maxm6931]

One obvious problem with a statistic like that is that Kramnik states the player scored 45.5/46, whereas in reality the player probably scored 45.5/48 or even lower. Because in all likelihood the player in question lost the games before and after the streak, otherwise they would have been included in it.

[@ragegaze3482]

yea but in kramniks defense, nobody would just be constantly cheating, they would do it in bursts. So you would have to find the most suspicious burst, if you just include every game then obviously it won't look like cheating. People might just resort to cheating after some bad games

[@maxm6931]

@@ragegaze3482 I find attacking an accomplished and hitherto absolutely undoubted player on such a cherry-picked data sample absolutely indefensible, even if it's Kramnik. If you roll a dice 1.000.000 times and then try to find the "most suspicious burst", you can prove every dice is rigged.

[@manojlds]

Extraordinary claims need extraordinary proof.

[@quarlmephystodot2201]

​@@maxm6931he didnt say proof dumb f. irs evidence

[@maximum_75]

'Today I'm the data scientist bitch' has to be the most iconic chess quote I have ever seen 😂

[@kdubjbass]

Indeed though he said “Bish” which adds to the sting in it’s way

[@MrRinre]

Hikaru's FIDE rating being 300 points higher than the opponent's actual FIDE ratings is really all the proof you need 😂

[@Majora96]

350 points higher

[@staatsfunk965]

explain please i dont get it

[@Majora96]

@@staatsfunk965 It's normal for Hikaru to win a lot because he was playing players that are far weaker than him.

[@youexpectedanametoobad3287]

​@@staatsfunk965I think its like, for example: if you are 200 elo it means you are 10 times more likely to win against someone who's 100 elo. so it's like he is 30 times more likely to win because there is a 300 elo difference

[@zoltankurti]

​@@youexpectedanametoobad3287first of all 10:1 odds corresponds to 400 not 100 elo difference. Second you multiply the odds when you add the elo so your calculation ahould have resulted in a 1000:1 odds.

[@michaelscott5653]

I just assumed this was a joke and troll from Kramnik. Hikaru is the last chess player I would ever suspect of cheating. He's got way too much pride in chess to ever do that 😅

[@apposgaming8873]

tbf the guy is also a super gm and is his competition.

[@KvS1248]

Yeah, either he’s joking or he’s starting to turn into Bobby Fischer (paranoia-wise) 😄

[@mannymcgee1317]

Also the amount of High lvl chess he records is almost impossible to Cheat

[@strawmoon9963]

last one is magnus carlsen

[@ragegaze3482]

unfortunately that's actually the opposite of how things normally work. Being better doesn't make you less likely to cheat, it makes people feel entitled for success and gives them another reason to cheat. They just get away with it better because they can hide cheats with actual skill. Not saying hikaru was cheating because I don't believe he was, just that it's a common mistake to believe people are legit just because they have skill.

[@tobysmith3679]

For anyone interested in the maths if you assume a 89% winrate for Hikaru in every game he plays then in every 46 sample of games there's a 0.4% chance that he wins 46/46. Given how many games he plays it's not unreasonable or surprising if that happens.

[@eduardomedeiros8692]

I think that Hikaru chances of beating a 2300 or 2400 player, in Blitz or Bullet,, is something around 95%. I have seen some GM going 0/10 against Hikaru in bullet for example.

[@Kaladin55]

If you look at it from the perspective of a rolling series of trials and ask what the expected number of games played would need to be for a 46 game win streak, assuming the same 89% win probability, the solution is a bit below 2000 games, ~1930. That’s the expected value for the number of games hikaru would have to play for him to have a 46 game win streak. I think its safe to say he probably plays more games than that within a week or two 😂

[@ALTTABINMAINMENU]

@@Kaladin55 Finally someone put it correctly. Thank you!

[@SergeiInyushkin]

Correct but nobody has 90% winning chance. Hikaru total blitz stats are 27K wins and 8K non-wins (draws/losses)

[@khangle6872]

@@SergeiInyushkin disagree, 90% winning chance is indeed possible. I rated about 1200 online and if I play 10.000 games against Hikaru or Magnus, i would lose all of them. Hikaru is top 5 in the world and top 2-3 in bullet. And he play against randos online. A very biased win rate in favor of Hikaru is expected That is not even counted the mental stress for his opponent. For Hikaru it is just no-name randos on the internet that he beat on a daily basis. While for his opponent, they are stressed to play against #2 in world. And even this is assuming independent winning chance for each match. While in reality, opponent will be more tilted the more they lose. Making the winning chance for Hikaru expotentially increasing in a session against the same person There actually a clips about 8 months ago when Daniel do a bullet match against Hikaru for 10 games, lose 9 and only win the final game because Hikaru mouse slip. He got a better position in the openning every time but tilted and making blunders

[@cyin974]

Vlad: "Hikaru cheated!" Hikaru: "Oh boy new content!"

[@canle7973]

Good one!

[@seinundzeiten]

this is going to be exciting

[@TheRonjhet]

😅😂🤣😜🤪

[@Dr_Cardiologist_99]

i mean good for him

[@lukytosuriyadi7488]

This is 🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑 For Hikaru

[@trevorn2351]

That smile when he says "but first we have a lot of drama" 😂 love that Hikaru can't hide his laughter at the situation

[@bookle5829]

I understand why. It's ridiculous. lol

[@jeremykothe2847]

It's kinda money for him really. Even more attention than usual, and we all know he's not a cheater (at least not in this case heh).

[@nigelmokfilms7294]

“He literally doesn’t care”

[@OGRE_HATES_NERDS]

yeah because it means big profits coming soon

[@DrEMichaelJones]

In contrast to Niemann, who couldn't hide his anger at being caught again.

[@RagingBrohemoth4]

It's just sad, all you have to do is watch Hikaru play to know he's not cheating. He plays like a total human being-- a very splendid human being.

[@WillNewton10]

If you google “splendid” it’s just him in the results

[@t-rozbenouameur5304]

Actually he plays like a machine

[@RagingBrohemoth4]

@@t-rozbenouameur5304Not in the slightest, my dude. Just look at any of his analysis. Dude makes errors all the time (nature of blitz), even in all the accused games (Opponents just fumbled wins more than he did). Just not as many as a mid-player like me. If you are looking for someone that plays like a machine, there's this guy that plays on average better than anyone that's ever existed, by a large margin (even better than Magnus) and has MANY more 100% games. I think his name is like Douche Newbieman or something... Check out that machine if you're into supercomputers, or well, anal vibrations...

[@deathwrow9652]

He plays like a top 5 player in the world. Oh wow, hes beating people who arent top 50 lol

[@greennin]

Actually he doesn’t do that many “machine like” moves. I’ve analyzed lots of his games with machines and machines often don’t agree with his ideas, but they are often good enough general plans to beat humans. He doesn’t play machine like at all

[@chessbergen]

Currently, Hikaru's average accuracy is 87.8 but in the last 7 days from now his average accuracy was 86.3... Lower than his average, his opponents just played a little worse and he got a streak, I doubt he was cheating.

[@Khedran]

Especially compared to another stat sheet put out by kramnik too (I think it was kram) where the top 10 players were averaging 89 to 92% accuracy. Hikaru averaged too low of an accuracy to even make the list technically lol

[@Khairan99]

@@Khedran hey butthurt how do you explain hes the only player never lose any match in this year in any competitions?

[@DVIs101]

​@@Khairan99Hikaru lost vs Magnus in a competition recently. What are you talking about?

[@ramanahveljeyaseelan5406]

​​@@Khairan99he lost to Prag in classical Lost to Magnus in Norway chess(blitz) Didnt he lose a couple of tiled Tuesdays oh Yeah there was one where he got top 46 after fumbling. He even threw agaisnt Vidit in grand Swiss and hard to force a draw.

[@MrRichiarditya]

I think levi (gotham) makes good video on this, basically among those 45 wins, Hikaru was farming wins on people who he can beat easily like 7x at one sitting

[@renerpho]

The best reaction to this comes from Magnus, with this gem on Twitter about a mouse slip by Hikaru. "Wins all these online events, yet doesn’t know how pawns capture? Interesting."

[@EreBu-ep1on]

Magnus is the ultimate troll of the chess world

[@joykenn9772]

@@EreBu-ep1on Maybe

[@highjim7778]

magnus has hikarus back.

[@Blinkers2007GameDev]

So he’s accusing hikaru too?

[@eliezerjk90]

​@@Blinkers2007GameDevno. He has so much respect for Hikaru. He's just teasing the mouse slip. It's more like a friendly banter than anything else.

[@NareinM]

9:31 "Today unfortunately for Kramnik, I'm the data scientist, BISH" That caught me so off gaurd💀

[@spinninglink]

i came to the comments the moment i heard that LOL

[@Cyrano1202]

I'm an old guy from Germany and a weak player (2300 at Lichess) but to me Hikarus' absolutely outstanding results are easy to explain: Hikaru is just an outstanding player. He thinks faster than others, has a strong will to win, doesn't blunder at all, is equally concentrated througout a game, realizes the changes in a position better than others and is fast as hell. All that he has proven constantly for many, many, many years. Kramnik is probably just jealous and it's a poor thing to bring those accusations. Go Hikaru

[@susannewillert2685]

He is literally on stream explaining all his moves in real time. If they were stockfish moves, I doubt he could explain them in while also playing and talking to stream.

[@AceOfAre]

2300 is not weak, it's amazingly strong.

[@alge2402]

bist kein deutscher, merkt man 😉 fake Hikaru troll

[@dimasaditya1906]

@@AceOfAre comparing that to hikaru is like heavens and earth lmao

[@LoudWaffle]

Don’t call 2300 weak bruh 😭

[@nikitaeremeev3850]

As a Data Analyst by profession, I can say that this is a very solid approach to disprove a hypothesis which sounds as ridiculous as it could be. Those are normally the hardest ones to validate. Good job, GM Hikaru

[@coryjorgensen622]

HIkaru won 45.5 out of 46??? What could the explanation be??? Could it possibly be that he's one of the top players in the world???

[@MIDO44444]

*Gasp*

[@uduehdjztyfjrdjciv2160]

He is, but he is not so dominant 😂

[@Steel_Gage]

He is in that time format.

[@AmericazGotTalentYT]

@@Steel_Gage and against IMs

[@TheRealPunkachu]

And playing in one of the most favorable formats for him, where he has gone blow for blow with Magnus… yeah ngl I don’t see how anyone could take this as evidence of cheating lol. It’s maybe an outlier but outliers happen and Hikaru has been at the top of the game for a long time.

[@user-og7oc3gs6g]

Hikaru reached about 2700 rating while sacrificing his queen out of the opening so what makes you think he can’t win 45/46 with his queen lmfaoo

[@witheringhs7766]

the fact that you dont think that makes him even more suspicious is exactly why he's getting away with it lmao

[@panacea1297]

@@witheringhs7766 ur baiting too hard, reel back a bit and maybe people will fall for it

[@romanvercier3556]

@@witheringhs7766if this was Magnus would you also be this accusing ? I didn’t think so. Why Hikaru then? Do you accuse all top players ? That’s ridiculous. He’s top 2 in this format. If you can’t believe this guy you can’t believe anyone

[@S.O.A_Zero]

​@@witheringhs7766Dude, he just beat like 10 players and farmed the same players for even 7 games in a row. His average was not even 90% and always explained his strategies

[@witheringhs7766]

@@panacea1297 only an actual moron would think the original posters statement somehow shows that it's more likely he isn't cheating.... whether he is or isn't, that comment is about the dumbest thing you could say to prove a point.

[@patrickstar1164]

It's sad how easily people will blame each other, without understanding how much they damage the guy.

[@jimipet]

Also, lets not forget that you were playing essentially the same players over many times, so the variance is even higher. This is because if you happen to outperform against an opponent (due to the fact for example that you are familiar with their tactics), then its more likely that you will keep winning the same opponent much more times than what your elo difference would suggest. Its just so it happens that those 6 opponents were underperforming against Hikaru. In the 57 games, you can see clearly that the other 2 opponents were overperforming against Hikaru. If Hikaru keep playing the 46 games with those 2 oppponents he would have gotten a much lower winning percentage.

[@anonanon6764]

And because the opponent will be badly tilted, demoralized etc.

[@jimipet]

@@anonanon6764 Yes this is also a factor, if you keep winning the same opponent you have more confidence and the opponent gets tilted. An example of this, I have seen in my games were I play many games with the same opponents. There have been cases that after lets say 30 games I beat 20/30 with an opponent A higher rated than me.There have been also times were I have lost 20/30 with opponent B which is lower rated than me. If I keep playing, it seems harder and harder for me to beat opponent B than opponent A. Now this doesnt mean that opponent A is worse than opponent B, it just means that opponent A plays worse with me than his average, and opponent B plays better with me than his average. And majority of the times is because I am familiar with opponent A tactics, while I am not familiar with opponent B tactics, even though the opponent B is the lower rated player.

[@canefan17]

This is the most important point imo ^

[@matthewmerritt6460]

The demoralization factor is huge. Get owned 5 or 6 times in a row and watch your accuracy drop

[@shawnsyte8806]

Kramnik trying to catch a cheater: Opens a game review for a random game, checks that elo is over 3000, +1 Cheater in the bag

[@Joe-og6br]

"Why don't you have a seat over there" Chris Hanson immediately came into my mind.

[@newil_yovac]

​@@Joe-og6br*Vliss Kramson

[@wanwan2180]

so proud of the evolution of Hikaru going from "I'm not a data scientist" to "I'm a data scientist" ❤

[@kareandersson]

Hikaru did what he had to do here. I am not against Kramnik and other non experts collecting stats at all - and statistics can absolutely be proof. But this particular piece of data isn't an anomaly at all. There are several factors which indeed makes it totally expected.

[@tokyosmitsubishi]

Bish*

[@bruce2953]

I love that no matter whether you love or hate hikaru, everyone's on his side for this

[@godfreyofbouillon966]

Why would you hate Hikaru? What has he done, your wife?

[@ashusadventures]

I don't like him. He is annoying

[@samuel5153]

​@@ashusadventuressounds like a you problem

[@ashusadventures]

@@samuel5153 no it's a general consensus if you have followed chess from a long time. He has like two modes one when he plays outdoors at parks with older guys ,Relaxed classy then the other where he acts like a teenage girl on period craving for drama all the time, full of himself just talk like 🦜🦜🦜🦜 take Hans neinen case for example he wasn't involved yet went overboard without proof end up settling in court

[@matthewmitchell2570]

@@samuel5153it’s def a problem he has lol people be projecting their misery.

[@esddzul9135]

gotta give it to him that he actually did an excel presentation to give clarification to the situation.

[@ryanbigguy]

I can't believe Hikaru cheated, should have done a cavity check!

[@hairdumb3095]

He cheated on his diet and he got a cavity? weird comment

[@MeatBunFul]

Cavity check on live stream pls

[@samzhang867]

Copied Nemo’s tweet lol….

[@Khairan99]

he is 3rd best player on planet earth

[@mervhansen3730]

I don’t think GMHikaru will bend over and submit to a cavity check - unless you’re referring to his teeth.@@Khairan99

[@blimpyy]

Just take it as a compliment Hikaru is simply too good

[@MrGuliton]

Yeah, when people start to accuse me of cheating in PVP, I know I made it.

[@HunterBelkiran]

If someone accuses you of being a cheater, you have a right to defend your reputation.

[@blimpyy]

@@HunterBelkiran thats true. Hikaru aint doing anything wrong 👌🏻

[@pancouvervenguins8573]

I’ve been watching Hikaru for years and have not once heard any suspicious buzzing sounds

[@Tobbi-ti5il]

As a Norwegian I have said behind your back that you are enoying because you are so good. But good is not the same as cheating. I am happy they are trying to catch cheaters, but here they have jumped to a conclution way to fast. I respect you Hikaru and dont think you are doing something sus.

[@nonickname5392]

It seems to me, that considering how strong Hikaru is and how much time he spends playing chess, it would be stranger if there was no long win streak at some point.

[@SpencerCokely]

Let’s all pray for Vlad. Hopefully he doesn’t go full Bobby Fischer.

[@JuanGonzalezZzZzZz...]

He is on his way to, clearly.

[@Haigvoltage]

never go full Bobby Fischer!

[@hrvat7770]

He pointed out something that's very unusual and has a very low probability to be done without cheating. It can happen but very unlikely. Like winning the lottery. What's wrong with you kiddy fanboys here? You don't know if he cheats or not. Only hikaru knows. I'm sure if he cheats he does it in a very smart way where no one will ever figure out.

[@agarrikr2996]

@@hrvat7770yes and we don’t know if Magnus cheats, or if any grandmaster cheats. Your argument is stupid. It’s innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent. As far as we know, it’s not unusual and it’s very usual for Hikaru to win any game against lower rated players. He’s not you.

[@tomyao7884]

@@hrvat7770 We can use basic reasoning to make an educated guess. Using that logic, we don’t know for sure if magnus is actually the strongest player or if he cheated for 20+ years to fool us into thinking hes world champion. We dont know if any chess player is a cheater or not, but if there is no evidence and its unreasonable, then we can dismiss paranoid claims

[@jordancool4853]

To accuse of cheating without engine correlation analysis is wild.

[@ameleo66]

Kramnik, a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown...

[@henrybrown8289]

It is easy for Hikaru to defend himself against Kramnik's accusations, he would have a bigger problem if his wife accused him of being a cheater.

[@user-rg1pi2bj4b]

Here is my response(as a mathematition): if you play as many games as Hikaru did while being as good as Hikaru is, it would be really strange if the continues subsegment of games where your performance was 3600+ could not be found. It is not statistically accurate to pick a subsegment that benefits your point out of half a million games and saying that it is a statistical anomaly, thus he is a cheater. If you pick best 46 games Hikaru played in a row over the course of years ofcourse it will be a statistical anomaly, he played half a million games. If the probability of an event if one over hundred thousands than it's an anomaly. But if you play half a million games this anomaly will probably happend five times. So yeah.. Kramnik needs to go back and review his stats notes

[@samzied]

thank you

[@dcoy8666]

Good point , didn't't consider that.

[@kingkillah101]

may be a 'mathematitioin' but not an English major. j/k

[@user-rg1pi2bj4b]

@kingkillah101 yeah, probably cause it's my third language, have a nice day

[@nikitasergeev8364]

Law of large numbers obviously

[@talisb7883]

Hikaru, your reputation speaks for itself; in a way that no one capable of rational reasoning (as opposed to emotional reasoning, like Kramnik and Nepo seem to be doing) would take these allegations seriously. That said, in this video, you did a good job defending yourself (for anyone that doesn't follow your games long enough to realize how ridiculous these accusations are).

[@KancerKowboy]

I actually feel sorry for Kramnik, same way I feel sorry for Morphy. I think he is seeing ghosts and truly doesn't know any better. Paranoia can be like that.

[@bluecocacola]

what happened to Morphy?

[@KancerKowboy]

He thought people were stealing his shoes@@bluecocacola

[@eikkeeh]

yeah, i recall some streams that Hikaru really likes and has tremendous respect with Kramnik. especially when asked whose elite chess player he wants to play with, and he answers Kramnik with so much respect. so sad his hero lived enough to become his villain:(

[@sushinfudoshin8991]

really sad

[@davidmasse2829]

Good Lord, Kramnik thinks everyone is cheating. Doesn’t he realize Hikaru doesn’t need to cheat.

[@xekind]

Exactly. Maybe if Hikaru was #2 he might be a little tempted, but at #1, there's no point.

[@Joe-og6br]

Are you insinuating Magnus is cheating. 😂

[@YashvardhanMemoryTricks]

​@@xekindhe isn't #1

[@charleskun6384]

Just another episode of Kramnik accusing a GM (in this case, its one of the top GMs) of cheating

[@joykenn9772]

@@YashvardhanMemoryTricks He is

[@Wagefreedom]

The sticker on the shirt is classic, hilarious, self-deprecating Hikaru. Could've started the video over but the man is too good to have to sweat the small stuff, just laughs it off...

[@andyb2977]

Kramnik's whole argument essentially boils down to "It should not be humanly possible to be as good as Hikaru"

[@captainbifid]

Honestly, considering all the different activities Hikaru engages in during his streams (commenting, chatting, eating, etc.), if he was ALSO checking an engine at the same time, I'd be VERY impressed 😂

[@lammatt]

And drawing arrows too

[@captainbifid]

@@lammatt you're so right

[@Khairan99]

@@lammatt cheater never do that

[@ultrainstinctshaggy669]

Hikaru moved from not being a data scientist, to being a data scientist Gotta love the character development. Welcome to the data science world, Hikaru

[@babstra55]

also the lack of math in both kramnik's and hikaru's 'data science' made me laugh.

[@ryanschultz9037]

Plug: chess players learn Python.

[@xxjongjongxx]

First and foremost; At the end of the day he will reiterate - but first and foremost at the end of the day - to reiterate he will reiterate at the end of the day.

[@mrhaas182]

Interesting to see Hikaru's Games, when he actually is saying his thinking through the game. Different the case of Niemann When he couldn't analyze his own game after the match

[@laurasanchez7105]

Hahahaha someone really said "now you can't return it" when he pulled off the sticker 😂

[@maremare9366]

Nobody understands Ian in this tweet: Ian is referencing Kramnik as a hero because he accuses everyone. But Ian said that we do not need him right now, or in other words, that Hikaru is innocent. Nobody understood Ian somehow.

[@deltalima6703]

Makes sense actually. 👍

[@j.a.g1291]

this was my initial thought process too. i was surprised to see people think that nepo is accusing him. until nepo clarifies it remains ambiguous now...

[@kyota9712]

Yeah I think that's what he meant

[@SSColonelPeter]

Maybe, maybe not. Ian should clarify his tweet himself.

[@nagasawa__2632]

@@j.a.g1291 i get the feeling ian won't reply and we'll just see another mysterious tweet about something different already... (because he is the hero gotham deserves)

[@avm36]

kramnik slowly becoming a meme

[@stanshchepotiev3046]

you guys are either idiots or just cheaters yourself. The online chess playing platforms are gradually turning into garbage collectors

[@NotQuiteFirst]

Kramnik didn't die a hero, now he's lived long enough to become the villain

[@dyyno5578]

​@@NotQuiteFirstthe clown*

[@henkdachief]

like hikaru when he accused hans niemann, the young chess prodigy

[@yourchannel4659]

@@henkdachief but hans is a cheater, are you regarded?

[@abhishekpratapnigam]

I have never seen an accused so happy and excited

[@gokumasteredultrainstinct6883]

Being accused of cheating is the greatest compliment. We all know it's not true and bogus stats prove it's not true.

[@tjsylvia285]

I think people get jealous of other people. It's just really as simple as that. Hikaru is the top two in the world in 3 minute chess.

[@lostblue5651]

Just Karma. Hikaru always accused fair players of cheating, even back in time on ICC.

[@MrDsmover]

But Kramnik is a world champion. Hikaru never was one.

[@asdness_5597]

​@@MrDsmoverwell Hikaru had to face Magnus and other very strong opponents

[@ThatGuy-nv7cx]

⁠@@MrDsmoverbut kramnik is also significantly worse in speed chess. For example, kramnik is 60 pts lower in time control chess compared to his classical rating (based on fide) and Hikaru is 100 points HIGHER than his classical rating in speed chess (fide). Being a world champion means nothing in this context, because we are talking about speed chess. Classical chess might as well be a separate game like 960 because the playstyles are so different.

[@camedarus]

Kramnik has always been an absolute scumbag. Nothing of value will be lost when he completely retires from the world of chess.

[@houssem_elfhaiel]

Kramnink took « the ceiling joke » seriously 😂😂

[@sebastionlucas7477]

When chess is in ur blood and in ur head we know u don't attempt to even consider to cheat, ur pure in the game bless

[@Trees36547]

This response vs "the chess speaks for itself"

[@adityarangarajan3948]

Hikaru was eating noodles during the 4-hour video he released, playing those games he's been accused of cheating in. Noodles. Let that sink in.

[@vharmi.]

Idk man, the broth could have been made with stockfish fillet...

[@Moonlakes]

@@vharmi.oh my god man..

[@robmark2506]

The FSM was with him.

[@michaelblankenau6598]

I think I get the connection . Use your noodle meaning use your brain . Ergo , Nakamura is eating brains .

[@lammatt]

The noodles have vibrating devices in them

[@Shinisussy]

9:33 " I am the data Scientist Bish " I did not expect to hear this out of nowhere lmao

[@livechesschannel]

I can’t even begin to comprehend of someone accusing Hikaru of Cheating in Chess. For someone who loves chess so much since he was so young cannot ever imagine of doing it.

[@blades9937]

the quote ian said is literally about a character named "Two face"(Harvey dent) and he's saying it about Kramnik. Harvey Dent was insane.

[@Rearmostbean]

All jokes aside, it is wrong to insinuate others of cheating when they haven't the data to support that. Good thing Hikaru can fall back on his Data Science career

[@newil_yovac]

Magnus: Doesn't sound sensible to me, I'll just use their mistakes from being a 16 year old as proof enough!

[@babstra55]

he didn't though, there was no math here whatsoever. I don't know what hikaru was talking about but this wasn't data science. and neither was what kramnik did. both just made up random feelings-based opinions with no mathematical analysis whatsoever.

[@bruce2953]

And if Kramnik takes him to court, Hikaru at least has his lawyer career to back him up

[@Rearmostbean]

@@bruce2953 Hikaru is a furnace of ambition KZbinr Gm Data scientist lawyer

[@Rearmostbean]

@@babstra55 the whole point of video was math... He played with ~90% accuracy, he talked of cherry picking a data set, the expected win rate vs actual. Compare this to the analysis of Hans games where he played many games, over 10, with 100% accuracy, just when he needed them when $ was on line.( I bring that only up for comparison sake, that is what real unusual, possible cheating looks like) Say what you want, but Hikaru did make a defense using math, come on

[@venet7572]

Thats time when chess speaks for itself literally

[@jiggs8073]

That is one of the highest compliments you can get in chess.

[@KingoftheJuice18]

"I find it interesting" and "Just asking questions"-cowardly attempts at sowing ungrounded suspicion.

[@ritik5152]

Levi very clearly explained that what farming is and what hikaru did so i dont think there is any point in acussing him of cheating

[@uduehdjztyfjrdjciv2160]

And what farming is? By definition 400 elo difference is 10 wins 1 lose (draws don't count, and it blitz, so draws are rare here). 45-1-0 is much above most probable 36-7-3.

[@lordspotato5032]

​@@uduehdjztyfjrdjciv2160estimated models cant be used with that much accuracy mate, learn statistics. Especially at such an extreme end as high ranked hikaru. "Most probable" is so unfathomably an unstable concept to base your ideas off of.

[@hieuphungminh6690]

​@@uduehdjztyfjrdjciv2160Notice how few players he is playing against. There is a human and psychological factor to consider in this. It's not pure statistics.

[@ThatGuy-nv7cx]

@@uduehdjztyfjrdjciv2160and Hikaru won at least 6 of those by flagging the opponents in completely winning positions… if this was 3+1 or any other time control, he would’ve lost those games. It was only his speed in moving pieces that won him the game (something cheating couldn’t help with)

[@meeshermans297]

@@uduehdjztyfjrdjciv2160 The refutation lies in the language you use yourself. *Probable.* If I roll a six-sided die ten times, and it lands on a six three times, am I a cheater? No. You can only assume that the results will follow the statistical curve if you have an incredibly high sample size, and cherry picking a 50-game streak from Hikaru is absolutely not a large enough sample size.

[@chicholajuve]

9:33 this is why Hikaru is going to win the Candidates.

[@alejandroyanes8932]

Ive been watching and following you for years, no way you are cheating, some people just cant stand a perfect mix of talent, hard work, success and carisma

[@haammer2009]

I am following your games more often and I know what strengths you have when playing back to back matches, my verdict is that the chess board was (C)HEATING without C. You were on fire HN ❤

[@hurmuzi1545]

0:11 yea sure, "I have a sticker on my shirt" What an excuse to get away from the cam and turn on the engine on your other device.

[@Des_kun4033]

The fear of being irrelevant is really hitting kramnik hard, its kinda sad.

[@ameeshupadhyay]

A great resolution to this would be in-person blitz matches with Ian and/or Kramnik - I'm sure there would be money in it... and the community would win all around

[@jcguy777]

Nice Hikaru, you are very good with the numbers as well as being a high level chess player. Thanks for explaining this. Kramnik needs a reality check.

[@jamesdelb6885]

I watched every game in the 3 hour 45 minute stream. There is absolutely no way that Hikaru cheated. He even called out moves before he made them, in split second decisions. Hikaru even explained the moves he made matter-of-factly as he made them. Kramnik should learn more about the internet and how it works (streaming) before he accuses anyone of cheating, especially the world's number 1 speed chess player.

[@SirLampsALot]

I copypasted this from another comment I wrote but it also applies to this. I don’t believe that Hikaru cheated and am simply providing devil’s advocate. The reason that your argument of Hikaru explaining his moves doesn’t hold any water is that he could get the best move and he is good enough to understand it and the ideas associated with it. So when he explains it, he could have received the best move and relayed it with the explanation.

[@RishabhSharma10225]

@@SirLampsALot That's exactly what I was gonna say but you said it well :)

[@HaydenNK3]

@@SirLampsALot Yes however that alone can't be enough proof if proof was truly needed. It's just that the opposite would be a tell that he does cheat, but since he can explain you can't hold him responsible of making a move he doesn't understand. when you take into acount the fact he can make a move in a split second, calling them out/explaing them afterward, and that overall his style has nothing to do with a the one of a computer... well hard to believe the accusation...

[@Aki-ow9hd]

​@@SirLampsALot it doesn't matter, what you said is hypothetical. If he received external help constantly, it would deteriorate his chess.

[@BobfromSydney]

@@SirLampsALot It just doesn't work because some computer moves require you to see some sort of obscure tactical trick otherwise they don't make sense. Some of them are really not obvious at all such as a queen in the middle of an "open" board suddenly getting trapped out of the blue.

[@TeflonGeorge]

When Kick announced Hikaru moving to their platform, out of slight curiosity I clicked on a stream to see who the guy was. I didn't even know a single thing about chess, I immediately got hooked with his streams and got enarmoured with the game. I created a chess account and started learning to play the game. Fast forward 6 months later and I'm starting to understand why this game isn't as mainstream, I'm in business so I have a different perspective but I'm noticing there's a strong contingent of top players that have a big jealousy of Hikaru & Gotham Chess because of their reach. They hate that one of their own (Hikaru) can make millions playing the same game and have millions of fans meanwhile someone who isn't even on the same level (GothamChess) can make more than all the top players. This jealousy hasn't fueled a sense of capitalism/competition which would've grown the game, it has actually made many more resentful. Hopefully the new generation of GMs follow Hikaru and Gotham's footsteps in building a brand and growing the game.

[@captain_britain]

Well put! Out of curiosity, what's the highest rating you've achieved in these 6 months?

[@Moonlakes]

very well said. Didn't even think about it from this perspective yet, but it definitely makes sense

[@chall-us6de]

who asked

[@lookylookman]

Deyyyum, Looking Good Lately Hikaru. Keep up the good work man.

[@ninjanoodle2674]

Hikaru just needs to let the chess speak for itself…. oh wait.

[@halfbee7886]

Respect to Kramnik for giving Hikaru more content materials.

[@Hopoy1]

Levy drowing in content

[@cameronjames3499]

He's also giving Hikaru the marketing opportunity to bring out his own Brand of vibrating "plugs" right in time for Christmas.

[@trippyturtle777]

Hikaru is the only KZbinr I watch in .75x video speed

[@dinou912]

XQc 😮

[@GOG223]

Hikaru 50% Levy 75%

[@trippyturtle777]

@@GOG223 Eric 200%

[@Phantomzor]

Kramnik never heard that stockfish uses Hikaru to calculate

[@klefdnb]

Oddly enough, every time there's drama Hikaru is mixed in, somehow.

[@pakiaoo7]

Kramnik is just aging so badly

[@BakedNConfused]

It's the food and 💊

[@uduehdjztyfjrdjciv2160]

Kramnik obviously dropped a lot and got raged, but even now he is not so weak, that random FM/IMs outplay him every game 😂. Also Caruana supported his claim that there are a lot of cheaters, because he sucks online much more than OTB, so 😂caruana aging too? 😂 P.s. Firouzja is old too, he sucks in finals too with -100 performance according to Kramnik.

[@agarrikr2996]

@@uduehdjztyfjrdjciv2160all of them aren’t qualified to even speak of Hikaru, he’s levels above and they can’t accuse him of cheating. The same way that if Magnus beats you, you don’t go accusing him of cheating.

[@ghostbaconhair]

kramnik is just aging

[@redeyexxx1841]

​@@agarrikr2996Kramnik legacy is 10 times better than Hikaru. 3 times World chess championship. Dethroned the mighty Kasporov. He also won chess world cup Hikaru never won anything!

[@SerbanTV]

Love the drama and the comedy of Hikaru and the way he presents the facts. Anyway, this is good for chess!

[@HurtFeelingsCreator]

I never heard a cheated describe what they are going to do 20 moves in advance.

[@jackofalltrades2920]

Imagine being so good at something that people think you are cheating

[@elpred0]

not only that, that OTHERS pros thinks are u cheating, not scrubs!!!

[@chrisditto8701]

The former WORLD CHAMPION of CHESS thinks you're cheating

[@sintaxera]

I've watched Hikaru play while talking through his moves enough to believe that its more likely he played at 3600 for 46 games in a row than he is smart enough to be able to cheat at chess successfully

[@SeekAndDestroyTM]

Remember when Ian almost became world champion but then he forgot to take a game seriously and it went from a draw to a loss, and then he was so shaken that he started accidentally knocking pieces off the table? Burned in my memory.

[@MaxIronsThird]

That was really sad, he got destroyed by Magnus, then couldn't even win against Ding, those last few games were full of blunders. I remember feeling sorry for him. PS: I have no idea how China hasn't made a movie about it yet.

[@neerajnongmaithem392]

now i dodnt feel one bit sorry for him. if I knew he had an attitude like this, I would had never felt bad for him @@MaxIronsThird

[@roydondsa]

Bro don't bring that up .Jeez

[@kanatatakonys5318]

i agree that Ian is acting immature as of now, but bringing up that moment is much more rude than what he's doing rn

[@SeekAndDestroyTM]

@@kanatatakonys5318 not even close

[@hmm6006]

I'm waiting for Hikaru to say "chess speaks for itself", that would be fire.

[@f12mnb]

The best argument that counters the assertion is how well Nakamura plays over the board in blitz and rapid. A lot of people who have great records on-line seem to vanish when they play over the board.

[@TheBlueSkateboard]

Out of everything there is to accuse about Hikaru, cheating would have been the last thing I would have thought of, by a long shot.

[@HabitualPlanet]

Hikaru is just a beast, period.

[@vladimirkrjuchkov5385]

46 games but 7 players.... how to make a mountain out of a molehill

[@swifty8puppies]

Ian should be thanking Levi 😂if not for Levy at least a million people would have no clue who he was.

[@skibidibopmmdada78]

Like most well adjusted people, he probably doesn’t care about people knowing who he is

[@infinitytoinfinitysquaredb7836]

Kramnik needs a friend. Maybe we could all pitch in and buy him a puppy.

[@lammatt]

He befriended Hans irl a while ago

[@dannyb763]

Crushing it over the board in 2023 also weakens any chances of cheating, not to mention the fact Hikaru draws about 16 arrows for potential moves and couldn't possibly be doing that plus eating pasta plus talking to chat plus bopping to music plus cheating.

[@babstra55]

that's a very good point about his classical strength.

[@ronaldbell7429]

This. I made a similar point then saw your post. Hikaru can talk about his games in detail, showing that he’s thinking about the game in depth. People who do the old Far Side joke of “and then a miracle happened” in the middle of an explanation are the ones to suspect. Or the people who can’t discuss their games afterward at all. Now, I’m one of those people who can’t discuss their games afterward. But my level of play shows a reason other than cheating; I simply am not understanding the game, while I play, well enough to later think about what took place and why. Also, sadly, if I’m cheating, I’m using an ELO 5 bot to get instructions from ;)

[@thebirdhasbeencharged]

GMs can absolutely cheat, at their strength level just seeing one move or knowing they are winning by some type of hint it's possible but off all people to accuse he chose the speed demon Naka 😂, might as well had gone after Magnus

[@graysonparker1593]

The idea that Hikaru couldn’t be cheating because he’s doing too many other things is dumb lol. One flicker of the eyes over to an analysis board of his game would give him more than enough information to win. That being said, there is 0 evidence that is happening.

[@Khairan99]

hes just too good

[@felixgraf459]

Hikaru is just the Bullet-Boss. Talent + passion + hard work. It's that easy. Everyone can see it clearly. There are hundreds of hours of proof. At the end of the day its a compliment.

[@usptact]

The old dude is starting see cheaters everywhere.

[@biffboffo]

9:32 The best thing on the internet today. 😂😂🤣

[@Axiomatic75]

With the amount of games Hikaru plays online, streaks like this are bound to happen, especially if his opponents are much lower rated. It's not like he won 45 games in a row against a super GM, that would indeed be suspicious.

[@Khedran]

Or 45 games against 45 different players. It was multiple games against less than 10 people. If you can beat someone 400 rating points lower than you in over the board chess, you're gonna school them online regardless of the inflated elo scores

[@peterkoch3777]

Humans underestimate the possibility of runs of a certain length. I encountered this as a pupil as a means to distinguish real "throw of a coin" series from human made-up ones.

[@grampaseri]

@@peterkoch3777 To add onto this, analysis like that is used in data forensics to catch falsified records, like accounting or spending records. Humans try too hard to make data look 'random' as we perceive it. It's a fascinating subject.

[@vez3834]

Exactly. With the amount of games he plays, there will inevitably be a streak where he's feeling really good. It wasn't against a varied sample of opponents. It was so obviously cherry picked rather than taken over a long period of time. In 100 games there are 51 streaks of "50 games in a row". Just taking the worst looking "50 games in a row" is shady. Also... even IF he won 46 games out of 46 (no draws) at a chance of 88.29% to win... the probability of that would be about 0.325%*. That's not even close to astronomical. That's a number where if we assume there are 1000 people playing against opponents where they have 88% chance of winning... we would assume about 3 of those would win all of the games. And in reality there are plenty of people playing 100 games a day. All of those players would have 51 streaks of "50 games in a row" where any single streak could have a "probability" of under 1%. (*Unless I'm seriously mistaken somewhere. I used a binomial probability calculator, but it wasn't able to handle draws. Sadly that means there is definitely inaccuracy in there. I'm however not going to spend an insane amount of time on this. It also assumes the trials are independent, which they are not... as outside factors can change Hikaru's performance and the opponents aren often the same one over and over again. Elo doesn't try to reflect your exact current performance rating, but rather your performance over a lot of games.) As a side note: "52 wins or more" out of 56 games at a chance of 87.65% has a cumulative probability of about 16.29%. Same method as I used for the other one. (he got 51.5 points... but again, I can't handle draws without using more time on this :D but "51 or more" would have a probability of 29.5%. So it's probably somewhere between 16% and 29%.)

[@pepi560]

You looked one to many times at your ceiling stockfish... He's on to you

[@JustAPokemonCommentingOnVideos]

9:33 hikaru is so cute when swearing lmaoo ❤