Chess news has lately raised some interesting points on integrity within the sport, and it should be something that esports as a whole needs to pay attention to.
If you’ve not kept up to date, I will provide a short summary of what I’ve understood to be happening...
Magnus Carlsen, arguably the greatest chess player of all time, recently lost an over the board chess match versus a player called Hans Niemann at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup where Magnus withdrew from the event shortly after. Following that, the two players met at another event where Magnus forfeited after playing only 1 move.
A recent statement from the World Chess Champion has cast doubt on the legitimacy of some of Niemann’s performances, as well as how measures of security and cheat prevention are handled by chess’s governing body; FIDE.
Regardless of the truth of the allegations - you have to ask yourself whether the sport would be in a position like this if the FIDE or any associated event organiser invested more heavily into methods of cheat prevention/detection to begin with.
Why should this news concern anyone in esports?
Here are some points to consider:
It is worse to have questions raised on integrity of play than it is to have a decisive outcome that a player or team has cheated in a competition. With only opinions and no proof this only leads to lack of trust from players and spectators. This damage can have lasting commercial impact on a sport/esport if viewership starts to dip.
Whereas most traditional sports have governing bodies that are responsible for managing the integrity of competitions, in esports this is very different. Aspects of integrity are occasionally managed by game publishers if they are running a franchised league (e.g. OWL, LoL Esports), but more often are managed by third party TO’s (tournament operators) who run events on behalf of the publishers and/or developers.
Esports has had historic incidents that have fuelled event organisers to implement stronger security measures. Having questions over the integrity of players can create a highly toxic environment where unfounded allegations can be bandied around without fear of invalidation. On a broader level, a toxic community can also create a climate that will ultimately be less appealing to those wishing to invest in the space.
The news in chess should be a stark reminder that, although esports has come a long way, we can never let our guard down. While ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission) is an entity that supports stakeholders in dealing with these issues, they do not have the scope to oversee all competitions in the industry. developers/publishers and third party TO's need to continue holding themselves to the highest standard to prevent, detect and deter cheating.
Comments