Hans Niemann is a 19-year-old American chess player. He is of Danish and Hawaiian descent. Niemann moved to the Netherlands, where he entered a school for the gifted in Utrecht. There, Started playing at age 8 Chess because this sport was part of the basic curriculum. Niemann returned to the United States and began to gain popularity and tournaments in the junior category. A few months ago, Hikaru Nakamura announced that Niemann had been killed. Suspended twice for cheating on Chess.com in online tournaments. Something verified by the player himself and acknowledging he did it online, “but never in person”.

Saint Louis landmark

On September 5, playing black in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup in Niemann, San Luis, as the player with the lowest ELO in the tournament, surprise beat Magnus Carlsen Breaking their 53-game unbeaten streak. Days ago, the Norwegians and Americans had played on the beach in Miami, and many wanted to see it as Carlsen’s strategy to test Niemann.

st. After the loss to Louis, Carlsen again faced Niemann at the Julius Baer online speed tournament. And everything there was smoke. Defending world champion retired after making a single move “I must say,” said Niemann, before dropping a few ironic words. I was very impressed with Niemann’s skill And I think his mentor Maxim Dlugy must have done a great job.”

But the explanation of his stance towards Niemann now came in the form of a statement posted by the Norwegian on their own network:I don’t want to play with cheaters In the past because I don’t know what they might do in the future.” Carlsen suspects his opponent was cheating in St. Louis.

The thing is, Magnus accuses Niemann without giving any clues to show that his suspicions were justified. Fabio Caruana, one of the grandmasters who dominate the chess scene, said in an interview with the C-Squared podcast, “Something must have happened between three days in Miami and the Sinquefield Cup. Magnus was already upset about Hans’ participation in the tournament and I had such doubts about Hans for a long time.”. Another related fact is that Russian Ian Nepomniamchi, the candidate to replace Carlsen on the world throne after winning the Candidates tournament in Madrid, also requested “anti-cheat measures” against Niemann before Sinquefield started.

The chess world, especially online chess, has been polarized by Carlsen’s stance and fame that preceded the young Niemann. There is no evidence to confirm that he cheated, beyond the timely confession of the San Francisco chess player. Magnus ended his message very mysteriously: “Unfortunately, at the moment what i can say is limited Without Niemann’s permission to speak openly. So far I’ve only been able to talk about my actions, which made it clear that I wasn’t willing to play chess with Niemann. I hope whatever the truth about this is revealed.” The soap opera is still alive.