Grandmaster Hans Niemann defends reputation after cheating claims

Grandmaster Hans Niemann defends reputation after cheating claims

Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen last week accused 19-year-old American international grandmaster Hans Niemann of cheating
Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen last week accused 19-year-old American international grandmaster Hans Niemann of cheating. Photo: Jewel SAMAD / AFP/File
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

American international grandmaster Hans Niemann said Wednesday he "won't back down," after the chess platform chess.com reported he has "probably cheated more than 100 times" in online games.

Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen last week accused 19-year-old Niemann of cheating.

"Overall, we have found that Hans (Niemann) has likely cheated in more than 100 online chess games, including several prize money events," the world's leading online chess platform wrote in a Tuesday evening report that ran 20 pages, with 50 additional appendices.

Chess.com banned Niemann on September 5, shortly after the first accusations were made, but the platform is defending itself against suggestions that it is under pressure from Carlsen, whose Play Magnus company it is in the process of buying.

Read also

The censor cannot hold: the pressure of controlling China's internet

After a victory in the US Chess Championship Wednesday, Niemann said the game he had just won "spoke for itself and showed the chess player that I am".

He added, "It also showed that I'm not going to back down and I'm going to play my best chess here regardless of the pressure that I'm under," but declined to comment further.

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see YEN.com.gh News on your News Feed!

Chess.com says it is "extremely confident" in its means of detecting cheating, which includes using grandmasters -- the highest rank of chess players -- as well as an analysis of moves made by computer programmes.

- 'Statistically extraordinary' -

The suspicions of the platform go beyond the framework of the internet. It also devotes part of its report to Niemann's spectacular and rapid progress on the chessboard.

"While we do not doubt that Hans is a talented player, we note that his results are statistically extraordinary," said the report which illustrated the American's rise with a dramatic graph.

Read also

Crowd-pleaser or obscure pick for literature Nobel?

However, chess.com said it had no evidence that Niemann had cheated in "over-the-board" (OTB) games when players are physically present.

"There is nothing in our statistical investigation to raise any red flags regarding Hans' OTB play and rise," said the report.

Last month, at the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis, Carlsen lost to Niemann OTB and then withdrew from the tournament, posting a video that implied something improper had taken place.

Chess.com described this encounter as "bizarre" but concluded that there was no evidence "that Hans cheated in this game and we do not advocate for any conclusions regarding cheating being made based on this one encounter".

Two weeks after St Louis, the two players met again in the sixth round of the online Julius Baer Generation Cup. This time Carlsen resigned after making just one move, going on to release a statement that he would not "play against people that have cheated repeatedly in the past".

Read also

A #MeToo scandal too far in France?

The International Chess Federation announced on September 29 that it was opening an investigation into these accusations of cheating.

Niemann has admitted to cheating in the past on chess.com, when he was between 12 and 16 years old, but denies the most recent accusations, claiming to be "ready to play naked", if necessary.

New feature: Сheck out news that is picked for YOU ➡️ find “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.