The chess world was rocked when world no.1 Magnus Carlsen accused American grandmaster Hans Niemann of cheating & refused to play against him.
Hans Niemann : Cheating method | Magnus carlsen
Niemann was born in San Francisco, California, and is of mixed Hawaiian and Danish ancestry.
Before moving to the Netherlands at the age of 7, he attended Top of the World Elementary School in Laguna Beach, California. While attending a Leonardoschool [nl] gifted school in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Niemann began playing chess at 8 years old.
After moving back to California at 10 years old, he finished his elementary school education at Del Rey Elementary School in Orinda.
He graduated from Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, which is known for its chess culture, in New York City after moving there in 2019.
He previously lived in Weston, Connecticut, where he attended Weston High School.
Hans niemann cheating method
On Sept. 6, Niemann publicly admitted using electronic devices to cheat — but he insisted he only did so when he was 12 and 16 years old. In the first instance, Niemann said, he was “just a child.
Other than when he was 12, Niemann said, he had never cheated in a tournament with prize money. It was “the worst thing that I could ever do,” he said.
Niemann also said he hadn’t cheated when he was streaming games (many top players run lucrative video accounts on Twitch and other services).
But the new Chess.com report states, “Hans has likely cheated in more than 100 online chess games, including several prize money events. He was already 17 when he likely cheated in some of these matches and games. He was also streaming in 25 of these games.”
That’s far more than the handful of games that were seemingly referenced in 2020, when the site initially suspended Niemann for six months.
According to the report, other players and Chess.com staff had lingering doubts about Niemann that only grew after his 2020 suspension, as his ranking soared and he was poised to compete in high-profile events with large payouts.
Magnus Carlsen
World chess champion Magnus Carlsen has for the first time openly accused fellow player Hans Niemann of cheating.
In a statement, he said he believed Mr Niemann had “cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted”, though offered no evidence.
Carlsen had previously made veiled accusations against Niemann, who beat him this month in a major upset.
Niemann, 19, has denied cheating in competitive chess and has accused Carlsen of trying to ruin his career.
The teenager has admitted cheating online twice, when he was 12 and 16, but has strenuously denied ever cheating over the board, and even said he was willing to play nude to prove his good faith.
The scandal began earlier this month after Mr Carlsen, considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, was defeated by Mr Niemann at the Sinquefield Cup, ending a 53-game unbeaten run in classical chess.
He subsequently quit the tournament, despite there being six rounds to go, and later tweeted a clip in which football manager José Mourinho is seen saying: “If I speak, I am in big trouble”.
Last week, the pair met again in an online tournament, but Mr Carlsen quit after making only one move – an apparent protest at Mr Niemann’s participation.
Mr Carlsen went on to win the tournament, and afterwards said he would be saying more about the scandal, adding that he wanted “cheating in chess to be dealt with seriously”.