By: Chloe Xiao
Magnus Carlsen, renowned chess champion, has recently accused Hans Niemann of cheating once more in their chess match.
Carlsen had been veiling his purpose for withdrawing from the Sinquefield Cup while also tweeting a rather strange tweet, with indications that he suspected that Niemann had cheated. Carlsen later openly tweeted about how he felt that Niemann had reverted to his old habits of constantly cheating on chess matches. Niemann amid the questioning and interviews admitted to having previously cheated, but affirms that he has stopped doing so.
Carlsen however reveals how he noticed that Niemann was very calm and seemed not very concentrated on the overall match yet also playing in a certain distinct way that very few people play in. As if adding on to the evidence, Chess.com later sent a very detailed and descriptive ban, saying that Niemann has cheated much more than he had publicly said he did.
Hikaru Nakamura, a famous and well decorated player is a twitch and YouTube streamer, had made a video explaining why he felt that Niemann had a chance of cheating due to his unusual playing method in that match.
Niemann stated that he felt “very disappointed that the person (Carlsen) I considered a hero has ruined my chess career…” and has now decided to press legal charges against Carlsen, Daniel Rensch, Chess.com’s chief chess officer, Nakamura and many others for slander, and libel for $100 million.
Chess.com came forward with a statement of their own, saying that why were saddened about Niemann’s choice to pursue them in court but that they protect their reputation and that they would always defend the game, players and their “mission of growing and protecting online chess”.
Furthermore, they included that while they had always hoped to privately settle down how Niemann cheated so often they now felt that they were forced to clarify what they had been doing after Niemann had publicly released his statement. Chess.com also stated that they highly valued the trust devoted chess fans had given them and hoped that they would be able to “….Setting the record straight on behalf of … all honest players” and would not let Niemann continue to tarnish their reputation and break the trust of chess players worldwide.