Hans Niemann

The world's No. 1 chess player, Magnus Carlsen, has accused a 19-year-old opponent of cheating and refused to face him in top tournaments.

Some grandmasters and others in the chess community have supported Carlsen but stressed that he should release evidence or a detailed explanation to support his actions. In online events, a player could do what Niemann admitted to previously doing – running a chess engine on a phone or other device that will spit out the best moves. Carlsen had also played an unusual sequence of moves in the match in an attempt to catch Niemann off guard. "Whether it is online or 'over the board,' cheating remains cheating," Dvorkovich said. Louis tournament, organizers implemented additional security measures and touted their "fair play rules" as among the most comprehensive in chess. His Elo rating, which measures the strength of a chess player relative to his peers, has increased by 350 points in a span of four years – raising eyebrows among some of his competitors. (In general play, Chess.com matches opponents with comparable ratings.) "It must be embarrassing for the world champion to lose to me," Niemann said. [an interview with the St. "I believe that cheating in chess is a big deal and an existential threat to the game," Carlsen said in Niemann said afterwards that, in a coincidence, he had researched that odd sequence of moves – and figured out the best way to reply to them – earlier in the day. [a statement on Twitter](https://twitter.com/MagnusCarlsen/status/1574482694406565888/photo/1), saying in part that he believes the 19-year-old has "cheated more – and more recently – than he has publicly admitted."

When Niemann was invited last minute to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I strongly considered withdrawing prior to the event. I ultimately chose to play. "I believe ...

We are strongly committed to this fight, and we have invested in forming a group of specialists to devise sophisticated preventive measures that already apply at top FIDE events." That is the worst thing I could do: cheat in a tournament with prize money," he said, via KSDK-TV. I want to continue to play chess at the high level in the best events," he said. "I believe that Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than he publicly admitted. I hope that the truth on this matter comes out, whatever it may be." We strongly believe that there were better ways to handle this situation," FIDE said. "That is more that I would like to say. His over the board progress has been unusual, and throughout our game in the Sinquefield Cup I had the impression that he wasn’t tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions, while outplaying me as black in a way I think only a handful of players can do. I ultimately chose to play. "I know that my actions have frustrated many in the chess community. When Niemann was invited last minute to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I strongly considered withdrawing prior to the event. I also believe that chess organizers and all those who care about the sanctity of the game we love should seriously consider security measures and methods of cheat detection for over the board chess.

It's been a few weeks since 19-year-old Hans Niemann shocked the chess world by taking down the world's highest-rated player, Magnus Carlsen, ...

The pressure is now on Niemann to give Carlsen the permission he seeks. Anything Carlsen says at this point will likely send shockwaves throughout the chess community, and that could seriously harm Niemann’s reputation. Will he give Carlsen permission to speak freely on the matter? I’d assume that Niemann will make a counter-statement in the coming days. Niemann admitting that he’d cheated in the past is the ultimate embarrassing detail. Admitting that he’d cheated in the past makes Niemann seem all the less likely to cheat in an over-the-board situation against the world’s highest-rated player, since why would he admit to that if he was still cheating now? I wouldn’t say that Carlsen is hanging his queen here, but perhaps a bishop, knight, or center square pawn. It’s a bold move from Carlsen that could pan out horribly if Niemann calls his bluff. Despite all these accusations though, Carlsen has yet to bring up any hard evidence that Niemann was actually cheating during either of their matches. You might be thinking, “Why would Niemann admit to cheating at all?” Well, the best way to get away with a lie is to add a bit of truth to the statement. However, Carlsen believes that Niemann is not telling the whole truth with that statement. Carlsen was given the advantage for his matchup with Niemann, and still was outplayed massively.