According to a recent investigation, American chess grandmaster Hans Mok Niemann cheated more than 100 times throughout his online professional career.
He was discovered to have violated the rules in competitions as recently as 2020, according to a 72-page analysis by Chess.com that noted “several extraordinary signs and strange trends in Hans’ career as a player.”
Niemann privately admitted to Chess.com that he had cheated on the website, according to the paper, which was acquired by the Wall Street Journal. He was then banned from the website.
According to the article, cash awards were awarded in several of the events Chess.com claimed Niemann had cheated in.
The damning allegation comes after Niemann gained notoriety in September when Magnus Carlsen, the 31-year-old world chess champion, said Niemann was a cheater. This led to suspicions that the 19-year-old was using vibrating anal beads to communicate with his coach.
Niemann vehemently refuted the allegations, claiming that he had only ever cheated twice in his life, when he was 12 and 16, and that both transgressions were among his biggest regrets.
Niemann’s over-the-top, in-person gaming was not discussed in the report; it was primarily focused on his online activity.
According to the research, Hans is the top player in classical [over-the-board] chess who has risen the quickest outside of his online play.
According to rating alone, Hans should be included in this elite group of young players. We acknowledge that Hans is a skilled player, but we also point out that his statistics show amazing results.
Niemann is still silent on the report’s conclusions.
Danny Rensch, the chief chess officer of Chess.com, detailed Niemann’s ‘blatant cheating’ against some of the best players in the world in a letter outlining the reasons for Niemann’s removal from the website in 2020.
Rencsh said in the letter that there had always been “severe worries about how pervasive your cheating was in prize tournaments.”
Rensch said Niemann sought the advice of a computer to guide him during a live-streamed match on the Internet, but he stayed silent about anal beads.
Rensch wrote, “We are prepared to present strong statistical evidence that confirms each of those cases above, as well as clear “toggling” vs. “non-toggling” evidence, where you perform much better while toggling to a different screen during your moves, where you perform much better while toggling to a different screen during your moves.”
Rensch was referring to how during the livestream Niemann appeared to look at a different screen at the same moments he made suspicious movements.
Chess.com may utilize statistical data on players’ past results to assess if their play is typical of them. It can also compare moves to those that a chess machine would like to make in order to identify cheats.
The article mentions that many of the game’s best players have been detected cheating by Chess.com’s anti-cheating procedures.
The current world number one, Carlsen, withdrew from a game against Niemann on September 19 after only one move, citing his desire to protect the integrity of the game of chess.
In a statement, Carlsen said, “I recognize that my actions have angered many in the chess world.” “I’m annoyed. I would want to play chess. I wish to keep competing in the finest chess tournaments at the top level.
Cheating in chess, in my opinion, is a serious issue and poses an existential danger to the game.
Later on, he said, “So far, I have only had the ability to communicate via my acts, and those actions have made it very plain that I do not want to play chess with Niemann. Whatever it may be, I hope the truth about this subject comes to light.
Niemann promised to play in the naked to show his innocence as the anal beads story persisted.
“I have never cheated in an excessively competitive game.” I’ll go completely nude if they want me to, he added.