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Official explanation I saw repeatedly:

The cross atop the Black King's head, which is attached by inserting a peg, had either come loose or fallen out. Sevian for some reason chose that moment to pick up the piece and comment.

Things I don't understand: a) Why do it on Niemann's time while he was thinking? b) Speaking during a game is verboten; c) Why (according to some accounts) did Sevian replace the King on the wrong square?

In other words, I don't understand. Sevian should simply have informed the arbiter of the issue. Background: Sevian (IMO), throughout his junior years, consistently came off as somewhat less than a simpatico personality. So there could be friction between him and Hans, who projected as abrasive even before the cheating brouhaha and related pressure.

Incidentally, following that round all the Kings' crowns were glued in place. 🤣

If you want to spend 49 minutes, Ben Johnson's Perpetual Chess Podcast had a lawyer on to comment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svMvQJzDVX0

Thanks Geeker, that was very informative.

Regarding the Sevian incident, he definitely put the king back on the wrong square:-

https://youtu.be/Oz9oNZAGuEY?t=741

Now that l'affaire Niemann is in court, I don't expect too much interesting commentary, lest the pundits wind up with subpoenas!

I've been following the "Chess 960"/"Fischer Random"/"shuffle chess" world championship. This week's highlight comes from Magnus Carlsen offering an apparently sound Bishop sacrifice on move 1! (Not possible in "normal chess") . Nakamura declined the sac, by the way...

See for instance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Q0qjPKKyU
or the opening part of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ7LKH6IS1w

Thanks Geeker, I'll check that out.

Speaking of Nakamura, I don't know how familiar you are with Lex Fridman's podcasts but this is an interesting one where he and Hikaru discuss all thing chess .... including the Niemann affair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJNvxYEcVAY

Brendan, I don't know anything about Fridman, but I happened to watch that particular video! At the height of the Niemann brouhaha I was checking Nakamura's Youtube channel daily, and the Fridman segment appeared one day.

GM Keith Arkell has commented a few times on the English Chess Forum. One example:

Regarding online cheating each site has its rules and I guess the honest thing to do is to abide by those rules.

How is otb cheating done? I have no idea! I am at the basic level of detection whereby if my opponent starts going to the loo every move then I start to feel uneasy. There have been a few opponents who clearly found a way of doing it while remaining at the board. I can usually tell by their body language as well as their moves, but, just like Magnus, if I say anything I risk getting into trouble.

There are some who just wander to where the parents are sitting with their laptops open. Of course this isn't the kind of crude cheating which accusers of Hans are talking about. As I've mentioned elsewhere, there are stories which more and more of us have heard, but they may or may not amount to anything. For that we need to await the outcome of the FIDE investigation.

Another from Keith Arkell to follow @37

I would say cheating detection is a very subtle thing, and not necessarily about pointing the finger at exceptionally well played games. A game which a human defines as well played would most likely have been played by a strong human or a human honestly playing the game of their life. Engine chess is very different. It doesn't look like good chess at first, but contains deep tactics which always work. It's hard to put into words but if you are a strong player and you have a lot of experience looking at chess with engines you recognise it.

Yesterday I listened to an interview with MVL about this cheating scandal. I knew immediately that he was referring to this same feeling you get when one of the players is playing engine moves. He didn't outrightly accuse Hans of otb cheating. It is dangerous to, of course, but he referred to some of his suspicious otb games. I think most of the top players have the same feeling about this case. You can listen to MVL on Premier Chess Podcast Episode 230 with National Master Evan Rabin.

Likely for the hard core and/or weird, but...

I enjoy watching high-rated GMs play blitz online. Today was the 3d Halloween "Monster Mystery Bash" event on chess24. I was out all day and missed it live, but am now going to check out the video.

Nothing wrong with hard core Geeker, I've been following the Fischer Random World Championships.

It's fun to see how the top GMs play when the bank rank pieces are in a different order.