A hypothetical angle that could explain the success of Hans Niemann.
Last night I was empathizing with Magnus Carlsen and I made an interesting comparison with his circumstance. I thought of Hans Niemann as Lance Armstrong and Magnus Carlsen as a less popular skeptic of Armstrong’s achievements. If Magnus had publicly claimed Lance was cheating after his 3rd Tour de France victory, I imagine the public would have run Magnus out town. Most of us know the end of the Armstrong saga but the reflection triggered another thought. Could it be possible that Hans Niemann’s results are drug induced?
It wasn’t until early to mid 2021 that Hans started making his rise but it is also worth mentioning that Hans Niemann had turned 18. It could be possible that Hans had been researching performance enhancement before officially becoming an adult. Maybe he had been dreaming about this moment years in advance. It is a weird coincidence that Hans Niemann and Lance Armstrong are both cyclists.
The real question is whether the performance enhancements of a cyclist could have a positive impact on a chess player. I had done a little research into erythropoietin (EPO) and found that it stimulates the production of red blood cells which has the effect of increasing the oxygen to the body. I also have a vague memory of Bobby Fischer suggesting that swimming and the consumption of dark chocolate was his methods for increasing his over the board performance. Submerging yourself under water deprives your body of oxygen and is a natural way of producing EPO. Consuming dark chocolate increases blood flow... (See where I am going?)
FYI: This is a censored version of where I could take the topic.
I might be blowing this out of proportion but I think we are already beyond that point.
If you have any other conspiracies I am all ears! 😆