The film sets the stage with a classic David vs Goliath framing. In one corner, we have Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian maestro who admits, “I’ve been the definite best player in the world now for 12 to 13 years.” In the opposite corner sits Hans Niemann, the 19-year-old American whom Carlsen dismissively describes as a player who “happens to be American and talks a lot.”While the documentary provides a slick, high-production recap of the drama, it leaves us with several pointed takeaways that suggest the checkmate in this rivalry is still far off.

1. Magnus settled, but did he forgive?

One of the most revealing segments involves the $100 million lawsuit Niemann filed against Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Chess.com following the cheating allegations.While the case was settled out of court, “Chess Mates” makes it clear that Carlsen’s heart wasn’t in the compromise.His decision to settle appears to have been a pragmatic surrender to bureaucracy rather than an admission of being wrong.Carlsen himself clarified that he never wanted to settle outside the court, but as he says, “The U.S. legal system sucks and it’s really expensive.” He just didn’t want to go bankrupt fighting it.

2. A collateral damage?

The documentary dives deep into Niemann’s core defence. It is rather evidently portrayed that his ban from Chess.com wasn’t all about cheating. In late 2022, Chess.com acquired Carlsen’s company, Play Magnus Group, for a staggering $82 million. As a commercial partner with Carlsen, it was arguably in Chess.com’s interest to ban Niemann, who alleges in the film that his reputation became collateral damage in a broader business arrangement.“They banned me because they’re in the process of finalising the most important merger of chess history,” Niemann says, claiming the deal gave the parties “untouchable power”.He later views himself more as a victim of a monopoly. “I’m just a little speck, a little ant that they decided to step on and destroy,” he says.In the documentary, Magnus suggests he was led to believe that Chess.com possessed concrete evidence against Niemann. However, it was not actually the case.

3. The missing apology

If Chess.com and Carlsen were willing to reinstate Niemann and allow him back into the fold, a casual observer might expect a public “sorry”. Yet, Niemann’s posts on social media following the documentary’s release tell a different story.Taking to X, Niemann voiced a sentiment that echoes throughout the film: “I never received an apology. Let that sink in.”In the documentary, Danny Rensch, co-founder of Chess.com, admits he wasn’t looking for a scandal, but for Niemann, the damage to his reputation was existential.Reflecting on the “anal beads” theory that Elon Musk famously amplified, Niemann laments, “That’s what all my life and all my accomplishments and all my work has been boiled down to… it was very sad to see my life’s work burn in front of my eyes.”

4. Hans Niemann, the documentary’s hero?

While Netflix attempts to maintain a neutral stance, the editorial choices lean heavily into Niemann’s perspective.Despite Niemann admitting to cheating when he was aged 12-13 and in 20-30 games, he is portrayed as the gritty outsider, the kid who moved to New York at a young age to play against park hustlers, fighting an untouchable power in the chess world. “You make mistakes as a kid, doesn’t mean that every single thing that you do for the rest of your life should be discredited,” he defends.

Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann (Photo by Michal Walusza)

Niemann later leans into this role with an insane level of self-confidence at one point, stating, “I take pleasure in knowing he was one of the best players in the world for so long and I broke him.”By focusing on his emotional volatility, the documentary positions him as the more dominant, albeit polarising, personality of the piece.

5. Is it worth the watch?

For the chess aficionados, “Untold: Chess Mates” is likely to be a disappointment. The documentary provides nothing new in terms of forensic evidence.We revisit the 72-page Chess.com report which found no evidence of over-the-board cheating, and we hear Erik Allebest note that “as time went on, every theory, every accusation, fell apart.”If you lived through the Sinquefield Cup drama in real-time, you are essentially watching a high-budget highlight reel. Carlsen still maintains that Niemann “didn’t appear to be putting in a whole lot of effort” during their games, and Niemann still maintains his innocence.We are left exactly where we were years ago, in a stalemate of “he said, he said.”“Untold: Chess Mates” is an excellent entry point for the casual viewer who missed the 2022 headlines. It perfectly captures the paranoia that can infect an elite sport when a genius meets a disruptor.ALSO READ: ‘Mossad agents in Iran’: Do Indian GMs agree with World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura’s FIDE jab?As Magnus’s father, Henrik Carlsen, notes, the most disturbing part might just be how Niemann “survived through this process and even seemed to thrive on this noise.”