Chess: Hans Niemann cheated in more than 100 games, says probe report
The fag end of September 2022, saw World chess champion, Magnus Carlsen, openly accusing fellow player Hans Niemann of cheating.
Niemann, 19, however, denied cheating in competitive chess and accused Carlsen of trying to ruin his career.
Interestingly, Niemann admitted cheating online twice, when he was 12 and 16, but has strenuously denied ever cheating over the board, and even said he was willing to play nude to prove his good faith, according to a BBC report.
The latest bombshell in the scandal, according to The Guardian, is that an investigation into the games of Niemann found the "American grandmaster has cheated far more frequently than previously disclosed."
A 72-page report, of a probe conducted by Chess.com and initially reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, states: Our investigation has revealed that while there has been some noteworthy online play that has caught our attention as suspicious since August 2020, we are unaware of any evidence that Hans has engaged in online cheating since then. Our investigation has concluded that he did, however, cheat much more than he has publicly admitted to, including in many prize events, at least 25 streamed games, and 100+ rated games on Chess.com, as recently as when he was 17 years old.
The full investigation, which was made public on Tuesday evening, stated that Niemann privately confessed to the allegations, and that he was subsequently banned for a period of time from Chess.com, the world’s most popular chess platform, reports The Guardian.
"We believe Hans is an incredibly strong player and a talented individual. That said, given his history on our site, we did not believe we could ensure that he would play fairly in our online events until we could re-evaluate the evidence and our protocols. Nevertheless, and to be clear, it is not our position that Hans should be limited or banned from OTB chess. Hans’ online and OTB ("off the board") behaviors may be completely different, and that should be taken into consideration. We have shared our findings with FIDE and will cooperate with any investigation or requests they pursue, the Chess.com report says.
"It is our belief that OTB event organizers should be taking much stronger precautions against cheating by all players to ensure fair play. To keep the game fair, all players should be playing under the same conditions, and checked before, during, and after matches using the appropriate technologies and methods to counter any outside assistance," the report further says.