Hans Niemann defends himself after he was accused of "likely cheating in more than 100 online chess games"
06 Oct 2022 13:03:09
In a huge unfortunate incident, American grandmaster Hans Niemann was found to have ‘likely’ cheated in more than 100 games in an investigation conducted by Chess.com.
Prior to this, Niemann was accused of cheating by world champion Magnus Carlsen last month after the former upset the latter at the Sinquefield Cup. The whole incident rocked the sporting world and set fire to debates and discussions regarding cheating in the game of chess.
Chess.com has alleged Niemann "has likely cheated in more than 100 online chess games, including several prize money events." It also noted that Niemann is "the fastest rising top player in classical OTB chess in modern history" but hasn't found clear evidence that Niemann cheated over the board.
On Wednesday, in his first public appearance following the accusations of cheating in chess levelled against in September, came out in his own defense and stated he "won't back down." He spoke after his win in the US Championship match against 15-year-old grandmaster Christopher Yoo.
"This game is a message to everyone. This entire thing started with me saying 'chess speaks for itself' and I think this game spoke for itself and showed the chess player I am,” Niemann said. "It also showed I'm not going to back down and I'm going to play my best chess here regardless of the pressure," he added.
"You can leave it to your own interpretation, but thank you, that's it. That's all I can say, because it was such a beautiful game I don't even need to describe it," Niemann concluded. He also refused to answer any more questions and ended the interview just under 60 seconds.
Though an investigation by Chess.com had discovered him likely to have cheated more often than he had admitted to, they still do not have any evidence that could be produced against the American. Following the first set of allegations hurled against him, Chess.com had banned Niemann on 5 September.