Magnus Carlsen accuses Hans Niemann of cheating, chess saga continues

Magnus Carlsen was the World Chess Champion and made it clear that he thinks Hans Niemann had cheated during tournament play. He didn’t provide evidence to back up his assertions. This is Carlsen’s first formal statement on the ongoing chess scandal, and the first to include an explicit accusation. For weeks, the controversy has been the topic of much online discussion.

“I believe that Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted,” the statement reads. Carlsen goes on to explain his reasoning: “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. This game contributed to changing my perspective.”

The chess drama started earlier in the month and only has continued to snowball over recent days. The drama began in 2022 Sinquefield Cup, when Niemann beat Carlsen, an opponent much less ranked. On Sept. 19, Carlsen lost a game against Niemann after only one move. This was during round 6 in the Julius Baer Generation Cup. Social media platforms subsequently lit up with conversation, as chess fans — and even those outside the game’s normal audience — debated the significance of these events.

“I believe that cheating in chess is a big deal and an existential threat to the game,” Carlsen’s statement reads. “I also believe that chess organizers and all those who care about the sanctity of the game we love should seriously consider increasing security measures and methods of cheat detection for over the board chess.” (It is notoriously difficult to detect cheating in high-level chess games. The AI software can guide novice players to advantageous moves while more experienced players will only require such assistance during very specific inflection points.

Carlsen does not offer proof of Niemann’s cheating, nor state whether he has any. Niemann has never been caught cheating on an over-the board match. However, Chess.com removed Niemann from their platform on September 8. shared its reasoning on Twitter.) Carlsen closes the statement by noting that he is “limited in what I can say without explicit permission from Niemann to speak openly.”

Polygon reached Hans Niemann to get his opinion.