Chess world, we need to talk

So there was some drama today Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup. It is extremely rare for a player to withdraw from a closed round-robin top-level event like that. The only reason this happens in recent times is due to health reasons.

However, Magnus did not withdraw due to health reasons. 

The speculation is that after Hans Neiman defeated Magnus Carlsen in round 3 of the Sinquefield Cup, Magnus believed that Hans cheated in order to win the game, and withdrew as a sign of protest. Once again, this is speculation. Part of why I'm writing this is to clear a few things that I believe are taken out of context.

Magnus Carlsen did not publicly accuse Hans Nieman of cheating. While that seems to be implied, and as we'll discuss later, the evidence is there, Magnus never blatantly accused the man of cheating. For all we know, Magnus could have had a family emergency, and had to fly back to Norway. For his sake, I hope that's not the case, and I speculate that if it were something like that, we would know by now. Here's another thing the internet is saying that is absolutely flipping ridiculous:

Magnus Carlsen is NOT Bobby Fisher 2.0. If you posted that online... then... I don't know what to say. That is a horrible comparison (unless you're talking about chess play). Bobby Fischer was racist, extremely isolated, and basically disappeared after he won his first world title match. Magnus is not racist (or if he is, he doesn't make it known), he can be weird and eccentric at times, but he is overall a good guy and has defended his world title four times (he even made himself play when he wasn't necessarily motivated). And what did he do after refusing to defend his title for the upcoming match? Struck a multi-million dollar deal with Chess.com... the dude is a BUSINESSMAN! Ohhh, and for those who think he withdrew because he lost to Hans? Give me a break, lol.

Now... if Magnus suddenly changes as a human being, and becomes more reflective of the human Bobby Fischer, then I sincerely apologize in advance. For his, and the chess world's sake, I hope that is not the case.

So here are my two cents on the speculation. Again, this is speculation, so I don't necessarily think one way or the other, but I am very suspicious of Hans, and it's going to take a lot to persuade me the other way. Hikaru talked in depth about Hans' history of cheating on Chess.com, and the fact that there have been rumors circulating:

To top it off, Hans' post-game interview today was extremely weird and cringe. 

Alejandro Ramirez is my new favorite chess commentator! Turning the engine off, posing Hans with the tough questions, out-calculating him this whole analysis, and making Hans overall uncomfortable. 

Honestly, that's all I really have to say. Hikaru spoke about it a lot. And I know a lot of people don't like him, but when Hikaru speaks about top-level chess drama, I listen, as he's a top player himself, with very authentic takes. 

With my first two points (Magnus did not directly accuse, and he's not Fischer 2.0), I hope I didn't sound angry. My blogs are meant to be extremely positive, and I don't want my thoughts taken the wrong way. I just think that sometimes, people just say things because they sound good, but they make zero sense.

Anyway, I think I'm gonna sign off. It's been extremely interesting to follow, and hopefully, we'll be back for more positive insights on chess!