BY: ETHAN SUTTON
JANUARY 18, 2023
Chess can be described by a lot of different words, and one such word many might use is boring, however the latest cheating scandal to shock the normally silent chess community is anything but.
Magnus Carlsen, the number one ranked grandmaster, is not one who revels in the public eye, so it came as quite a surprise when he hinted that 19 year old American grandmaster Hans Neiman may have cheated at the Sinquefield Cup, one of the world’s most prestigious events after ending Carlsen’s 53 unbeaten streak. While Magnus didn’t explicitly say he cheated he quietly resigned from the tournament, which had a 100,000 dollar prize pull and tweeted a very cryptic tweet reading “If I speak, I am in big trouble.”
After his shocking defeat, grandmasters started taking sides, either denouncing Nieman and saying he cheated, or defending the 19-year-old; there was a metaphorical civil war in the chess community.
Magnus faced Nieman again in the Julius Baer Generation cup. He completed just one move before resigning and turning off his camera immediately afterwards. Magnus would go on to win the tournament, but the message was clear, he thought Nieman was cheating.
Magnus would later write in a tweet that he believed, “Nieman has cheated more – and more recently – than he has publicly admitted.” He also wrote that, “We must do something about cheating.”
Chess.com would go on to ban Nieman, and release a 72 page report stating that they had found evidence that he has likely cheated more than 100 times on their site, including in games that were played for prize money. The report also said that there was no direct evidence to prove Nieman had cheated on any over-the-board games.
Another thing to note is that Nieman’s long time coach Maxim Dlugy admitted to cheating in multiple tournaments between 2017 and 2020.
Nieman is fighting these serious allegations by filing a 100 million dollar lawsuit against Magnus Carlson, Chess.com, and Hikaru Nakamura, a well known chess grandmaster. Hans is suing for defamation, stating that all of the cheating allegations have had a detrimental impact on his career, his reputation, and is also hindering his future in chess. Hans’s future will definitely be negatively affected by these allegations, he could be blacklisted from some tournaments, and any tournament wanting Hans and Magnus will have to choose one, considering Magnus has refused to play Hans in chess.
We may never know if Hans Nieman has ever cheated on any over-the-board games, but no matter what happens, this is definitely the most wild and insane chess drama that has ever occurred.
The Pioneer Online 
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