The chess scandal surrounding the 19-year-old Hans Niemann has become a global spectacle. Shortly after an investigative report appeared, the grandmaster competes at the US Championships. After the first round match, he only speaks briefly and breaks off an interview.
Hans Niemann is back. The controversial chess grandmaster has won his first game after serious allegations against him. An investigation report by the “chess.com” portal suggested that the 19-year-old American cheated in more than 100 online games. After his victory in the first round of the US Chess Championships, Niemann spoke publicly for the first time. He didn’t say much.
“This game is a message for everyone,” said Niemann: “It all started with me saying that chess speaks for itself. This game spoke for itself, I think. It showed the chess player that I am. It also showed that I won’t give in. I’ll play my best chess here. No matter what the pressure I’m under. That’s all I have to say about this game. Chess speaks for itself. what can I say.”
Niemann resisted further inquiries and broke off the interview after a brief rearguard action. “Sorry, that’s it,” he said when the moderator wanted to talk to him about the game against 15-year-old Christopher Yoo: “You can interpret it however you want. That’s all I want to say.” Niemann is seeded eighth at the US Chess Championships. But no matter what happens at the tournament in St. Louis, Missouri, the chess world will continue to argue about the grandmaster.
World champion Magnus Carlsen had recently openly accused him of illegal methods. The American subsequently admitted that he had cheated on two occasions when he was 12 and 16, nothing more. The report by the chess portal “chess.com” spoke of more than 100 online games this week. According to the report, Niemann last cheated in 2020.
Carlsen accuses the 19-year-old American of cheating: “I believe that Niemann – even recently – cheated more than he publicly admitted.” The first incident between the two occurred in early September. At the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, the superstar surprisingly lost to Niemann and withdrew from a tournament for the first time in his career. The 31-year-old Norwegian did not give any reasons at the time. The chess scene interpreted Carlsen’s exit as an allegation of fraud against Niemann. The American admitted in an interview during the Sinquefield Cup that he had cheated twice in online games as a teenager, but never in person at the chessboard.
The Niemann case has long since arrived outside of the chess world. He fascinates billionaire Elon Musik as well as the two podcasters Jan Böhmermann and Olli Schulz and the local boulevard. The mix of accusations and speculation about possible methods of cheating, such as the use of anal beads in the grandmaster’s otherwise staid game, fascinates people all over the world.
“Cheating, Groupies, Big Bucks, Fighting: How Chess Became Rock ‘n’ Roll,” headlined the Guardian this week, concluding that alongside 31-year-old Carlsen, who enjoys playing football Star Erling Haaland shows that he is a good poker player and ex-model, a mix of new streaming formats, the pandemic and the Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” have catapulted chess to new heights.
In the German capital of Berlin, too, there is now a chess spa at the lower end of Schönhauser Allee. Night after night, a number of people meet there for a game of blitz chess over a beer. On some nights up to ten chess boards are set up in front of the Späti.
