After winning a US championship game in which he was compelled to endure a body scan, the chess prodigy suspected of cheating using vibrating anal beads vowed, “I will not back down.”
Last month, chess world champion Magnus Carlsen accused 19-year-old Hans Niemann of cheating after Niemann defeated Carlsen, widely regarded as the world’s finest chess player, seemingly without concentrating.
Then, earlier this week, Chess.com issued a lengthy report alleging Niemann had ‘possibly’ cheated in more than 100 online games, including numerous cash-prize events, but had no evidence to suggest he had cheated in over-the-board (OTB) in-person encounters.
In order to disprove rumors that he employed vibrating anal beads controlled by a third party to identify the optimal moves to make in his match versus Carlsen, Niemann previously said he would play naked.
Yesterday, though, footage emerged of the prodigy being detained outside of his US Championship game and forced to stand at attention as a security official did a handheld body scan.
Niemann’s scan lasted significantly longer than those of the other contenders, and the guard even turned him around to scan his posterior, which elicited amusement from the commentators.
The 19-year-old, who did not appear thrilled with the scan, went on to win his first-round match against a 15-year-old opponent before attacking critics during a post-match interview.
This game contains a message for all. This entire event began with me stating, “Chess speaks for itself,” and I believe this game demonstrated the chess player I am.
It also demonstrated that I will play my best chess here despite the pressure and that I will not back down.
At the US tournament, the 19-year-old was had to submit to a body scan, along with other competitors.
It follows allegations that he cheated using vibrating anal beads.
This game contains a message for all. This entire event began with me stating, “Chess speaks for itself,” and I believe this game demonstrated the chess player I am. After winning a U.S. championship game, Niemann remarked, ‘It also showed I will not back down.’
Niemann abruptly ended the post-match interview, telling the journalist, “You can read that as you like, but thank you and that’s it.”
Magnus Carlsen, widely regarded as one of the world’s best chess players, accused Niemann of cheating.
Niemann abruptly ended the interview, telling the interviewer, “You may read it anyway you like, but thank you, that’s it,” before walking out, much to the astonishment of analysts.
Niemann’s post-match interview marked the first time since September 7 that he openly addressed suspicions of cheating.
Despite assumption from Carlsen and the chess community that he had cheated in their game, he originally protested his innocence, later confessing he had cheated twice as a child but promised never to do so again.
There are no indications that Niemann cheated in any OTB games.
Chess.com conducted an exhaustive examination into Neimann’s online performance and concluded that he likely violated tournament regulations as recently as 2020, citing’many extraordinary signs and strange trends in Hans’ journey as a player’ in a 72-page report.
The document suggested Niemann used illicit computer tools to gain an advantage in more than 100 online games.
It was revealed that the prodigy had privately admitted to Chess.com that he had cheated on multiple times, and that he had been banned from the site, though this was never made public.
According to the story, Niemann confessed his infidelity to Chess.com COO Danny Rensch during a Zoom session and then in writing during a Slack chat.
According to the article, many of the tournaments in which Niemann allegedly cheated included cash prizes, including Chess.com prize events, Speed Chess Championship Qualifiers, and the PRO Chess League.
It is unknown how much prize money Neimann has won throughout the course of his brief career.
Carlsen was defeated by Niemann on September 4 in the renowned Sinquefield Cup, the tournament where the 19-year-old was accused of using anal beads to communicate with his coach.
Niemann vehemently refuted Carlsen’s allegations, stating that he had only cheated twice in his life, at the ages of 12 and 16, and that both instances were among his greatest regrets.
Niemann stated, “Aside from when I was 12 years old, I have never, ever, ever cheated in a tournament with prize money, and I would never do so since it is the worst thing I could do.”
Never during my streaming career did I cheat.
Remember that I was 16 years old, that I never intended to harm anyone, and that these were random games. I could not even conceive of doing it in a genuine game.’
The damning discovery comes after chess champion Magnus Carlsen (pictured) said Niemann was a cheater in September, leading to claims the 19-year-old was using vibrating anal beads to communicate with his instructor.
Photograph of professional chess player Hans Niemann from his Instagram feed.
The Chess.com report appeared to throw doubt on Niemann’s protestations, describing the September 4 game as “suspicious” and stating that “Hans’ explanation of his triumph after the fact added to our suspicion.”
Regarding Hans’ OTB play in general, we believe there are irregularities in his growth in OTB rating.
“Notably, we examine how Hans became the fastest-rising top player in Classical OTB chess in modern documented history considerably later in life than his contemporaries and after we had removed him from playing on our website in 2020.”
However, the report conceded that there was no direct evidence that Hans cheated during his game with Magnus on September 4, 2022, or that he has cheated in other OTB games in the past.
Chess.com explained that statistical analysis was applied to Niemann’s games by comparing his moves to those a chess engine would make in the same position. A substantial link between the two is indicative of dishonesty.
Some, typically newer, players use a chess engine such as Stockfish to determine every move.
The paper indicates that this sort of cheating is evident and easy to detect.
‘Other players, particularly those who play at Hans’ level, are significantly more clever and indulge in’selective cheating,’ utilizing a chess engine to give advise only in crucial moments and frequently making subpar plays on purpose to conceal their engine use.’
</ad-slot