Hans Niemann | |
|---|---|
 Niemann at theTata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 | |
| Full name | Hans Moke Niemann |
| Country | United States |
| Born | (2003-06-20)June 20, 2003 (age 21) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Title | Grandmaster (2021) |
| FIDE rating | 2734 (March 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2734 (November 2024) |
| Ranking | No. 21 (March 2025) |
| Peak ranking | No. 16 (September 2024) |
Hans Moke Niemann (born June 20, 2003) is an Americanchess grandmaster andTwitch streamer.[1] He first entered the top 100 junior players list on March 1, 2019, and became aFIDE grandmaster on January 22, 2021.[2][3][4] In July 2021, he won theWorld Open chess tournament inPhiladelphia. He achieved a peak global ranking of No. 16 in September 2024.[5]
In September 2022, Niemann became embroiled in acontroversy after defeating reigningWorld Chess ChampionMagnus Carlsen in the third round of the 2022Sinquefield Cup.[6] As a result, Carlsen withdrew from the tournament, which many interpreted as an accusation that Niemann had cheated during the match. Later, Carlsen directly accused Niemann of cheating and said that he would decline future pairings with him.[7] In a later interview, Niemann admitted to cheating in online chess games when younger, but denied cheating in over-the-board games.[8]
Niemann was banned from competing onChess.com, which published a report noting over 100 games on the site in which Niemann had "likely cheated" according to an internal anti-cheating measure. In response, Niemann filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com, and fellow grandmasterHikaru Nakamura.[9] On June 27, 2023, a federal judge dismissed one of Niemann's claims.[10] On August 28, 2023, Niemann, Carlsen, and Chess.com announced that they had reached an agreement over the matter, in which Niemann was fully reinstated on Chess.com and permitted to participate in future Chess.com events. Carlsen agreed to play him if they matched up, and all parties agreed not to pursue further legal action.[11]
Niemann was born inSan Francisco,California and is of mixedHawaiian andDanish ancestry.[12] He moved to theNetherlands at the age of seven, where he attended aLeonardoschool [nl] for the gifted and started playing chess.[13] He eventually returned to the United States, attending schools inOrinda,California andWeston,Connecticut before finally attendingColumbia Grammar & Preparatory School inNew York City for his junior and senior years of high school, becoming financially independent and working as a chess teacher to support himself.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]
Niemann attended the U.S. Chess School alongside future grandmastersAndrew Tang,Abhimanyu Mishra,Awonder Liang,Christopher Yoo, andDavid Brodsky—as well as futureU.S. Women's Chess ChampionCarissa Yip. While there, he received training from grandmastersJoshua Friedel,Ben Finegold andJacob Aagaard.[20][21][22] He also received training frominternational masterJohn Grefe, whom he considers his "first serious chess coach."[23][24]
In 2012,[citation needed] Niemann qualified for the Dutch National Youth Chess Championship.[25][26] Later, in December, he participated in his first rated tournament in the U.S. In 2013, he participated in theSuperNationals V inNashville with a rating of 1486, scoring 4/7.[17]
On December 16, 2014, Niemann became the youngest-ever winner of the Tuesday Night Marathon at theMechanics' Institute Chess Club, the oldest chess club in the United States, earning him the title of USCF master.[27][28] He also competed in the under-12 section of the2014 World Youth Chess Championships inDurban, South Africa, scoring 6/11.[14][29] By January, he had crossed the 2000-Elo rating threshold for the first time with a rating of 2192.[5]
From 2016-2023, Niemann was a part of theU.S. Chess Federation's All-America Chess Team.[30][31][32][33][34][35][36] After becoming aFIDE master in early 2016, he competed in the Saint Louis Invitational IM Norm.[15] He and Carissa Yip were among the youngest players in the competition.[37] He also competed in the 2016 North American Youth Championship, tying for first place in the under-18 section. In 2017, he entered theSuperNationals VI tournament as thetop seed in the K–8 category with a rating of 2412, ultimately finishing in first place.[15][38] Niemann has competed in thePRO Chess League since 2017, playing for the Las Vegas Desert Rats (2017), Saint Louis Arch Bishops (2019, winning team) and Norway Gnomes (2020).[39]
In August 2018, Niemann competed in the U.S. Masters Championship, earning both a GM and an IM norm.[40][41][42] He became eligible for the title of international master after his performance at the Cambridge IM Norm Invitational in August 2018, officially receiving the title later that year.[43][44] From November 24-December 3, Niemann participated in the World Youth Under-16 Olympiad inKonya, Turkey—scoring six consecuting wins before finally finishing in third place overall.[13][45] Then, from December 14-16, he played in the National K-12 Grade Championships, winning the blitz competition undefeated with a score of 12/12, tying for first place in thebughouse duo competition, and tying for first place in the event overall.[16][46][47][48]
From 2019-2021, Niemann's Elo rating rose from 2466 to 2645—an increase of almost 200 points.[5]
In April 2019, Niemann won the Foxwoods Open blitz event with a perfect 10/10 score.[3][49] Then in June, he won the inauguralChessKid Games hosted by Chess.com in a duos team with Alexander Wang, with Niemann scoring 20 straight victories in the event and qualifying for the 2020 Junior Speed Chess Championship.[13][50] Later that month, he tied for sixth place at the 2019 U.S. Junior Championships in a field including Awonder Liang, Andrew Tang, andJohn M. Burke.[3] In October, he participated in the 2019 World Youth Championships, leading the Open Under-16 section for seven rounds with a performance rating of nearly 2600 before ultimately finishing in ninth place.[51][52][53] In November, Niemann competed in the 103rdEdward Lasker Memorial, tying for first place and achieving a GM norm.[54][55] Then in December, he played in the National K-12 Grade Championships again, scoring 12/12 in the blitz event, 10/10 in the bughouse duo competition, and 7/7 in the 11th-Grade Championship.[56][57][58]
In April 2020, Niemann participated in the FIDE World Youth Championship, placing sixth in theAmerican Continental Selection Open.[59] Then in November, he achieved his third and final GM norm at the Charlotte Chess Center & Scholastic Academy GM Norm Invitational, placing first in the event overall.[60] Also in November, he won the 75th AnnualTexas State Amateur Championship inFort Worth,Texas with a score of 6½/7.[61] In December, Niemann won the blitz competition at the VII Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival. He also surpassed the 2500 Elo threshold required to become a grandmaster, officially receiving the title in 2021.[4][44][62][63]
In January 2021, Niemann placed third in the Vergani Cup, held inBassano del Grappa,Italy.[64] In February, he played in the Winter Chess Festival "Paraćin 2021" event in Paraćin,Serbia, winning both the classical and blitz sections with scores of 7/10 and 10½/11 respectively.[65][66][67] Then in April, Niemann was featured on the front cover ofChess Life magazine, with a cover story documenting his journey to becoming a grandmaster and an accompanying podcast.[68][69] In July, Niemann won theWorld Open inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, defeating John M. Burke in tiebreaks.[70][71][72] Later that month, he won the U.S. Junior Championship hosted by theSaint Louis Chess Club (SLCC), which entitled him to compete in the 2022U.S. Chess Championship.[73] In August, he finished second behind grandmasterAleksandr Lenderman at the 121stU.S. Open Chess Championship with a score of 8/9.[74]
In May 2022, Niemann broke into the classical top 100 with a rating of 2656.[5] He was the 12th-ranked American.[75] In August, he participated in theFTX Crypto Cup, winning a game with the black pieces in a second-round match againstMagnus Carlsen.[76][77] In the post-game interview after defeating Carlsen, Niemann said "chess speaks for itself" before walking off. Despite winning four other games, Niemann did not win any of his overall matches in the tournament, finishing last out of a field of eight with zero match points.[78] A few weeks later, at the 2022Sinquefield Cup, Niemann won another game against Carlsen, leading Carlsen to withdraw from the tournament and sparking international controversy.[78] Niemann then faced Carlsen again two weeks later in theJulius Baer Generation Cup. Carlsen resigned the game after one move, further fueling the controversy.[79]
In December, Niemann placed second at the Chessable Sunway Sitges Open after winning in tiebreaks againstAmin Tabatabaei. As a result of the tournament, Niemann's rating rose above 2700 on the official FIDE ratings list for the first time.[80][81] Later that month, Niemann played in theWorld Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships in Kazakhstan, finishing 100th out of 177 inrapid section and 47th out of 176 inblitz section.[82][83]
In April 2023, Niemann finished sixth out of 200 at theMenorca Open, with the top ten players all tying for first place with scores of 7/9 after the nine-roundround-robin.Gukesh D ultimately won the event after tiebreaks.[84][85] Later that month, he participated in the Kazakhstan Chess Cup, a "side event" to the2023 World Chess Championship held in Astana at the same time.[86] He finished sixth in a field of 167.[87][88] In May, he played in theBaku Open International Chess Festival, starting as the top seed but ultimately finishing 54th out of 122.[89] International masterPrraneeth Vuppala achieved a surprise victory against Niemann in the tournament, crossing the 2500 Elo mark necessary to become a grandmaster as a result.[90][91] Later that month, Niemann participated in the 2023Dubai Open Chess Tournament as the second-highest seed. He finished 47th after losing to non-titled playerXue Haowen with the white pieces in the eighth round.[92]
In June, Niemann won the 1000GM 2023 Las Vegas Super Swiss after tiebreaks with grandmasterMikhail Antipov.[93] Then in July, he won the Uralsk Open 2023 in Kazakhstan with a score of 7½/9.[94] In August, he won the Timșoara Grand Prix Rapid, the third stage of the Romanian Grand Prix.[95] He then transferred to the fourth stage Arad Grand Prix Classic, placing second after grandmasterHaik Martirosyan.[96] Later in the month, he reached a settlement with Chess.com and began playing games on their site again.[11] In October, Niemann competed in the U.S. Chess Championship at the SLCC, coming in seventh.[97] Then in November, he joined the Tournament of Peace, a ten-player GM round robin, as the second seed.[98] He ultimately won by a three-point margin, with a final score of 8/9.[99] In December, he played in the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships again, this time finishing 26th out of 105 in the rapid section and 39th out of 206 in the blitz section.[100]
In January 2024, Niemann competed in theTata Steel Chess Tournament's B section. After starting the tournament with wins against grandmasterLiam Vrolijk and international masterDivya Deshmukh, he suffered back-to-back losses against international masterEline Roebers and grandmasterMarc Andria Maurizzi, ultimately finishing in seventh place.[101][102]
In February, the SLCC prohibited Niemann from participating in any of their invitational tournaments in 2024, citing his "inappropriate behavior."[103] It was later revealed that Niemann caused damage to his hotel room during the 2023 U.S. Chess Championship, with Niemann publishing a video confirming that he had damaged a hotel room but claiming that he had "incessantly apologized and was supposed to be reinstated by the hotel."[104][105]
Niemann also played in the Djerba Chess Masters in February, defeating grandmastersAryan Tari andBilel Bellahcene but suffering another loss against Marc Andria Maurizzi. He ultimately finished the tournament in second place after tiebreaks against grandmasterDaniel Dardha.[106][107] In April, he participated in theGrenke Chess Open, scoring 8/9 and coming in first place with victories against grandmastersFrederik Svane andVelimir Ivić.[108][109] Then in May, Niemann played in the Dubai Global Police Chess Challenge, starting off slowly with three draws against 2400-rated international masters. However, he was able to score wins against grandmastersAydin Suleymanli andS. P. Sethuraman in the seventh and eighth rounds respectively. He ultimately finished the event in a tie for fourth place, with a score of 6½/9.[110][111]
In June, Niemann launched his official website, "GMHans.com," offering chess training, Q&A sessions, and personal advice.[112] He also played for Tremblay-en-France in the French Team Championship, scoring a personal 5/7 with victories against grandmastersMarkus Ragger,Arturs Neikšāns, and Marc Andria Maurizzi.[113][114] By July, his rating had risen to 2703, the first time it had been over 2700 for over a year.[5] In August, Niemann was the team captain for the official GMHans.com team in the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships.[115] His team placed tenth in the rapid event and got to the quarterfinals of the blitz event, ultimately losing to grandmasterJan Gustafsson's WR Chess Team.[116][117][118]
Later that month, Niemann started the "Hans Niemann Against The World" event on GMHans.com. The event saw Niemann match up against several top-50 players, includingAnish Giri,Nikita Vitiugov, andÉtienne Bacrot, facing each of them in their respective FIDE countries (The Netherlands, England, and France). Each match consisted of six classical and rapid games and twelve blitz games. For match points, wins in the classical portion were worth three points, wins in the rapid games were worth two points, and wins in the blitz games were worth one point. Niemann defeated Giri 24-18 winning 3½-2½ in classical, tying 3-3 in rapid, and winning 7½-4½ in blitz.[119] He subsequently defeated Vitiugov 25-12. He scored victories in all three formats, going 8-5 in classical, 8-4 in rapid, and 9-3 in blitz.[120] He finally defeated Bacrot 27-12, winning the classical portion 4½-1½, tying the rapid portion 3-3, and winning the blitz portion 9-3. As a result of his victories in the event, Niemann gained 22 rating points and entered the top 20 in the world in classical.[121]
From August to September, Niemann participated in the Speed Chess Championship, defeating grandmasterMaxime Vachier-Lagrave in the first round 12½-11½.[122] He then defeated grandmasterWesley So in the second round 13-10. As a result, Niemann was slated to face Magnus Carlsen in the semifinals.[123] The match was highly anticipated, with Niemann expressing a desire to take revenge on Carlsen for allegedly defaming him.[124][125] In the end, Carlsen defeated Niemann 17½-12½, taking an early lead in the 5+1 format before drawing Niemann in the 3+1 and 1+1 formats.[126] Niemann then played against Hikaru Nakamura in the consolation match, losing 21-9.[127]
Niemann finished theWorld Rapid Chess Championship 2024 with a score of 8½/13, defeating Hikaru Nakamura in the last round.[128] He finished 6th in the Swiss-system tournament ofWorld Blitz Chess Championship 2024, qualifying for the knockout stage, in which he lost to Magnus Carlsen in the quarterfinals. In the 10th round he was paired withDaniil Dubov, who missed the game, claiming that he got to his hotel room and fell asleep in the 15 minutes between rounds.[129]
In March 2025, Niemann played inAeroflot Open 2025, followed by a 18-game blitz match (3+2)[130] lasting 2 days against Dubov in Moscow, the loser having to answer a question from the winner under apolygraph. Hans trailed the event on the first day with a score of 5.5-3.5. On the second day he struck back to equalize the score to 8.5-8.5 before the last round. In a nail-biter last round, Hans blundered an equal minor piece endgame under time pressure to lose the round, the match ending with a score of 9.5-8.5.[129]
Niemann streams chess on Twitch, competing against fellow chessstreamers such asDaniel Naroditsky,[131]Alexandra Botez, Andrew Tang,Hikaru Nakamura, andMagnus Carlsen.[132] He first started streaming in the summer of 2018, with activity picking up in 2019. His viewership grew during theCOVID-19 pandemic, coinciding with an overall boom in the chess category on Twitch.[133][134] In 2020, Niemann served as a coach for the inauguralPogChamps tournament.[135] The tournament featured various internet personalities includingFuslie,Cr1TiKaL,xQc,Forsen,Ludwig, andxChocoBars.[136]
In the third round of the 2022Sinquefield Cup, Niemann defeated then-World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen with the black pieces, playing theNimzo-Indian Defence. Niemann's live rating surpassed 2700 for the first time with this win.[6] Carlsen withdrew from the tournament the following day, revealing his decision through a cryptic tweet that included a video of Portuguese football managerJosé Mourinho saying: "If I speak, I'm in big trouble, and I don't want to be in big trouble."[7][137]
Although Carlsen did not make any explicit accusations himself, his tweet, coupled with the heightened security measures implemented at the tournament after his defeat, suggested that he was accusing Niemann of cheating. Niemann denied the accusation, and commentatorsLawrence Trent andRustam Kasimdzhanov both expressed doubt that Niemann could have cheated. Meanwhile, grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura pointed to several elements of Niemann's post-match interview that he saw as warranting suspicion.[7][138][139] Niemann continued the tournament with four draws and two losses, finishing in seventh place.[140]
Later that month, on September 22, Niemann faced Carlsen again in a much-anticipated game during theJulius Baer Generation Cup. Carlsen resigned the game after one move, further fueling the controversy.[79][141] Less than a week later, on September 26, Carlsen formally accused Niemann of cheating in a statement posted on Twitter.[13][142][143][144] Carlsen stated that he had considered withdrawing from the Sinquefield Cup due to Niemann's last-minute inclusion, that he believed that Niemann had cheated more often and more recently than he had publicly admitted, and that he was convinced by Niemann's behaviour during their Sinquefield Cup game to withdraw from the tournament. He stated that he was limited in what he could say openly without "explicit permission from Niemann," and that he would not play chess with Niemann in the future.[145][146][147][148]
The incident has been characterized as the most serious cheating controversy for international chess since theToiletgate incident in theWorld Chess Championship 2006.[149] Many chess players and public figures commented on the controversy, including former world championGarry Kasparov.[150]
The executive director of the St. Louis Chess Club, Tony Rich, said that no formal complaint was made in writing.[151] Chief Arbiter Chris Bird published a statement affirming there was "no indication that any player has been playing unfairly" during the tournament but did not address the reason for additional security measures added after Carlsen's withdrawal.[152]
Hikaru Nakamura alleged that Niemann had previously been canceled fromChess.com for cheating in online tournaments.[153][149] Niemann admitted in a post-game interview to having cheated inonline games when he was 12 and 16 years old, but strongly denied ever cheating in an over-the-board game.[7][8][154][155] He also revealed that Chess.com had suspended him from their site again and prohibited him from competing in future Chess.com events in light of the controversy.[8][154] Chess.com's chief chess officer,Danny Rensch, confirmed that Niemann would remain suspended pending an explanation of his past cheating on the platform.[149][156]
A statistical analysis of Niemann's games since 2020 performed by anti-cheating expertKen Regan that included the Sinquefield Cup game between Carlsen and Niemann found no evidence of cheating.[157][158][159][160] In early October 2022, however, Chess.com released a report identifying more than 100 games in which he had "likely cheated" according to an internal measure, some as recently as 2020—when he was 17.[161]
On October 20, 2022, Niemann filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com, Play Magnus Group, and Nakamura regarding the cheating claims. The case was filed in theDistrict Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis, where the Sinquefield Cup took place.[162] Yale law professorStephen L. Carter wrote that the case would be "tough to win" based on legal precedents and the difficulty of provingactual malice under US law.[163] By December 7, 2022, all defendants except Play Magnus Group had filedmotions to dismiss on various grounds, including lack of jurisdiction and the State of Connecticut's anti-SLAPP laws.[164][165][166][167]
On June 27, 2023, one of Niemann's claims was dismissed by a federal judge.[10] On August 28, Chess.com announced in a blog post that the parties had reached a settlement and that there would be no further litigation. Chess.com reinstated Niemann's account and let him play in future events. Carlsen agreed to play Niemann if paired in the future, stating:
I acknowledge and understand Chess.com’s report, including its statement that there is no determinative evidence that Niemann cheated in his game against me at the Sinquefield Cup.[168][169]
"Chess speaks for itself", Hans Niemann infamously said after defeating Magnus Carlsen in Game 1 of their Round 2 match in the FTX Crypto Cup in Miami. He had won with the black pieces, but Magnus went on to win the next three games against Hans, while Hans lost all his matches in the event.
Sinquefield Cup officials asked Regan to run the program on Carlsen and Niemann's game and the results were unambiguous: "I found nothing," he said. Regan's model showed Niemann's performance "was one standard deviation up" on some metrics, "but by definition the standard deviation standardly happens"
