defector-orange-no-empty-space

lede_post_card_default

lede_post_card_stacked

lede_post_card_featured_post

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero

lede_post_card_featured_posts_sidebar

lede_post_card_highlighted_post

lede_post_card_horizontal_a

lede_post_card_horizontal_c

lede_post_card_related_post

lede_post_card_square

lede_article_featured_16x9

lede_article_featured_3x2

lede_article_featured_1x1

lede_article_featured_flexible

lede_article_content

lede_article_content_wide_width

lede_article_content_full_width

lede_byline_avatar_post_card

lede_byline_avatar_highlight

lede_profile_coral_avatar

lede_logo

lede_logo_banner

lede_logo_footer_banner

lede_logo_simple_header

lede_sponsorship_logo

lede_sponsorship_logo_river_card

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card_logo

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card

Footer Legal

Header - Categories

Header Menu

The last good website.

Topics

This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

defector-no-empty-space

Defector

NYC: Come To Our WNBA Comedy Show On July 15

ten-minute-quarters-3-2-final-real-maybe (1)

Live Event

headshot1

Patrick Redford

Norway's Magnus Carlsen (L) plays against India's Gukesh Dommaraju during the first game of Norway chess tournement in Finansparken in Stavanger on May 26, 2025. (Photo by Carina Johansen / NTB / AFP) / Norway OUT

CHESS-NORWAY

Chess

Magnus Carlsen Melts Down, Pounds Table After Inexplicable Blunder

Visual Editor. Runs <a href="http://defectorstore.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">defectorstore.com</a>. Philadelphia-based, if you couldn’t tell.

DFmBbTQF_400x400

Dan McQuade

Magnus Carlsen at Day 2 of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship on December 27, 2024 in New York City.

magnus-carlsen-chess-looking-at-board

Magnus Carlsen Quits Chess Tournament Over Jeans Violation

Screenshot 2024-09-06 at 11.40.03 AM (2)

Hans Niemann’s Return To The Big Stage Didn’t Go So Hot

US Chess grandmaster Hans Niemann speaks to the press in the run-up to the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, on January 11, 2024. Niemann was previously accused of cheating by former world champion Norway's Magnus Carlsen, but the two have now ended their feud. (Photo by Olaf KRAAK / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT

CHESS-NED-GRANDMASTER

Hans Niemann And Magnus Carlsen Are, Somehow, Going At It Again

Carlsen has already lost at this point, and he looks visibly agitated

Screen Shot 2023-10-12 at 10.42.09 AM

Magnus Carlsen Responds To Shocking Upset By Once Again Kinda-Sorta Accusing Opponent Of Cheating

US international grandmaster Hans Niemann waits his turn to move during a second-round chess game against Jeffery Xiong on the second day of the Saint Louis Chess Club Fall Chess Classic in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 6, 2022. - Niemann said on October 5 that he "won't back down," after the chess platform chess.com reported he has "probably cheated more than 100 times" in online games. (Photo by Tim Vizer / AFP) (Photo by TIM VIZER/AFP via Getty Images)

CHESS-USA-SPORT-NIEMANN

Hans Niemann And Magnus Carlsen Announce A Reluctant Ceasefire

Carlsen cries out in anguish after the misclick

Screen Shot 2023-04-07 at 9.28.05 AM

Magnus Carlsen Crashes Out Of Final Tournament As World Champion With Hilarious Blunder

Screen Shot 2021-04-16 at 8.43.55 AM

Ben Tippett

MADRID, SPAIN - JULY 5: Russian Grandmaster competing under the FIDE flag Ian Nepomniachtchi receives the award as the winner of the competition (2nd from L) with Ding Liren of China, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaiyán and Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland during the 2022 FIDE Chess Candidates Tournament closing ceremony on July 5, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. (

FIDE Chess Tournament Closing Ceremony In Madrid

The World Chess Championship Begins On The Edge Of The Unknown

Norways Magnus Carlsen (R) gestures during his round 9 game against the Indonesias team at the 44th Chess Olympiad 2022, in Mahabalipuram on August 7, 2022. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP) (Photo by ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)

CHESS-IND-OLYMPIAD

Magnus Carlsen’s Lawyers Call Hans Niemann’s Lawsuit A Big Dumb Publicity Stunt

Hans Niemann Hits Back At Magnus Carlsen And Other Foes With A Big Civil Lawsuit

Hans speaking after his win at the U.S. Chess Championships.

Screen Shot 2022-10-06 at 10.27.04 AM

Hans Niemann Remains Defiant

Niemann flying high after defeating Carlsen

Screen Shot 2022-09-07 at 9.17.54 AM

Report: Hans Niemann Cheated More Often, More Recently Than He Admitted

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.09

Profile Pic

Chris Thompson

Magnus Carlsen Finally Just Says It

Carlsen gives his surly interview to Chess24

Screen Shot 2022-09-22 at 9.16.00 AM

Magnus Carlsen, While Refusing To Accuse Hans Niemann Of Cheating, Basically Accuses Hans Niemann Of Cheating

Hans and the commentators reacting to Magnus quitting.

Screen Shot 2022-09-19 at 10.33.05 AM

Magnus Carlsen Escalates Conflict With Hans Niemann By Resigning After One Move

A Slippery Cheating Accusation Has Rocked One Of The Biggest Tournaments In Chess

Iranian chess prodigy Alireza Firouzja (L), 17-years-old, plays against Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the current World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, 30-years-old, in the first round of the international chess tournament TataSteel Chess Tournament 2021 in Wijk aan Zee on January 16, 2021. (Photo by Remko de Waal / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT (Photo by REMKO DE WAAL/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

NETHERLANDS-TATASTEEL-CHESS-WORLD-CHAMPIONSHIP

Magnus Carlsen Says He’ll Only Defend His Title Against Teenage Genius Alireza Firouzja

CHESS-FIDE-UAE

Magnus Carlsen And Ian Nepomniachtchi Brought Classic Sports Drama To Chess

Russia's grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi and Norway's grandmaster Magnus Carlsen play game nice during the FIDE World Chess Championship Dubai 2021, at the Dubai Expo 2020 in the Gulf emirate, on December 7, 2021. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

It’s All Gone To Hell For Ian Nepomniachtchi At The World Chess Championship

CHESS-WORLD-UAE

The World Chess Championship Has Given Us The Best And Worst Of Classical Chess

Carlsen going through it as the game crosses over into history.

Screen Shot 2021-12-03 at 11.59.48 AM

Magnus Carlsen Wins Longest World Chess Championship Game Of All Time

Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

Your Complete Guide To The 2021 World Chess Championship

BEVERWIJK, NETHERLANDS - JANUARY 21: Andrey Evgenyevich Esipenko of Russia competes against Fabiano Caruana of the United States of America during the 83rd Tata Steel Chess Tournament held in Dorpshuis De Moriaan on January 21, 2021 in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Teenage Grandmaster Pulls Off Stunning Upset Over Magnus Carlsen

magnus carlsen