To call the chess world toxic is like calling Chernobyl a good place to go for a mild dose of radiation. From the top down cheating scandals are numerous, and any demonstration of true ability is met with a veritable ocean of hate. The sad truth is that chess is a microcosm of the human failure as a species. Perhaps in no other place can the nature of men be seen outside of a battlefield more clearly than a chess board. All things being equal this would make chess a great sport. However things are not equal. Not only do men come to the board with different levels of skill, they come with varying levels of character. Unfortunately it appears that the latter is pretty much absent at this point. To call chess players as such “wolves” is like saying the Thiess of Kaltenbrun would make a good house pet. There is no way to overstate how terrible chess players are to eachother, nor how toxic they are generally. I have had Grand Masters cry like babies, and explain to me how “I just wasn’t on their level,” after a single loss in 15 second chess… years ago. I have had FIDE Masters and International Masters troll me with relentless fury and spend hours dissecting my ability after admitting that they themselves cheated when we played. I have been cursed out by numerous titled players. I have witnessed Dewa Kipas be dishonored by Gotham Chess, a bird feed salesman from Indonesia, who had the audacity to beat Levy Rozman. (A poor player by the way) I have been a similar victim of such character assaults despite my success being far greater against masters than Dewa Kipas, though he is a great chess player. I think Bobby Fischer said it best, enthusiasm for “chess was misplaced, because people don’t know how utterly corrupt it is, and has been for many years.” This is the best player who ever lived saying chess is essentially so corrupt that it’s a waste of time. He went so far as to create his own form of chess, Fischer Random, to illustrate this point. There are so many problems with chess a man has to be insane to associate with it. I can’t live without it myself, it’s the only thing keeping what’s left of my marbles together. But, let me be frank, that’s the game itself. Not the people, the celebrity, the pomp and circumstance. It’s the 64 squares that give me the balance I need to function. I could do without the foolishness of so many so called “great” chess players who can’t even face me in an honest contest. I might come from the outside, but I bring the best talent in a generation. So as the first player on earth to defeat Stockfish in classical control (according to ChatGPT) let me say to the chess world: Grow the hell up, you bunch of toddlers.