OSLO, Norway — Chess superstar Magnus Carlsen for the first time openly accused American Hans Niemann of cheating Monday, saying the rising star had done so more recently and more often than he previously admitted.
The chess world has been shaken for three weeks by the Carlsen-Niemann controversy, since the 31-year-old five-time world champion withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup in the US after losing to Niemann, 19.
Last week, the Norwegian’s abrupt withdrawal from a match against Niemann in the Julius Baer Generation Cup online tournament reignited the furor.
“His over-the-board progress has been unusual.”
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He did not specify the exact form of the alleged cheating, but added there was “more that I would like to say.”
My statement regarding the last few weeks. pic.twitter.com/KY34DbcjLo
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) September 26, 2022
Niemann has acknowledged cheating online twice, when he was 12 and 16, but says he has never played fraudulently in a face-to-face match and is even willing to play nude to prove his good faith.
In early September, the huge chess platform chess.com banned the American for cheating on the site.
AFP contacted Niemann for comment but he did not immediately reply.
During their Sinquefield Cup match, Niemann did not seem tense or even to be “fully concentrating on the game in critical positions, while outplaying me as a black in a way I think only a few players can do,” Carlsen continued in his letter.
He called cheating in chess “an existential threat to the game” and said: “I don’t want to play against people that have cheated repeatedly in the past.”
He concluded by saying he hoped the truth would come out, “whatever it may be.”
Speculations have grown that Hans Niemann used anal beads to beat the grandmaster during their chess tournament pic.twitter.com/BWvzDW6daP
— No Jumper (@nojumper) September 14, 2022
While Carlsen did not specify the method of Niemann’s alleged cheating, the rising star has been accused of using remote-controlled vibrating anal beads to receive tips on preferred moves while playing, a Daily Mail report said.
According to the report, the American teenager is alleged to have used the sex toy to communicate with his coach, Maxim Dlugy, who himself has been accused of cheating in the past.
Niemann denied the allegations, insisting he has never cheated in an over-the-board game.
“I know I am clean. You want me to play in a closed box with zero electronic transmission, I don’t care. I’m here to win and that is my goal regardless,” Daily Mail cited him as saying.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
