US international grandmaster Hans Niemann is caught up in a controversy.Photo:TIM VIZER/AFP via Getty Images
TIM VIZER/AFP via Getty Images
Hans Niemann, a 20-year-old chess prodigy, denies using a sex toy to beat opponents.
In an interview withPiers Morganon his showPiers Morgan Uncensored,Monday, the young grandmaster was asked if he had ever used anal beads while playing. He told the 58-year-old host, “I can tell you, no. Categorically, no. There’s absolutely no evidence that I’ve ever cheated.”
“It’s very disheartening to be accused of cheating after that victory. These things happen and I managed to learn a lot during that time and it really taught me a lot of very important lessons about life and chess,” Niemann added to Morgan.
Last year, Niemannfiled a lawsuitagainst world chess champion Magnus Carlsen, among others, claiming he had been defamed and that they had “unlawfully [colluded] to blacklist him from the profession to which he has dedicated his life.”
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“My lawsuit speaks for itself,“he wrote on X— formerly known as Twitter — in October 2022 while sharing a copy of the suit.
Niemann and Carlsen’s feud began in September 2022 when Niemann beat Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis. The defeat broke Carlsen’s 53-game winning streak in classical events and he soon quit the tournament.
But Carlsen, 32, implied that something untoward had taken place during the match when he tweeted a video that showed Portuguese soccer manager José Mourinho saying he preferred “not to speak” or he would face “big trouble.” Carlsen’s caption for the post stated that he had “withdrawn” from the tournament.
“I am not afraid to tell the world that I cheated as a 12-year-old and in some random games as a 16-year-old, because I know who I am,” the player confessed. “Everything I have done for the past few years is to make up for that mistake and I hope that my results, commitment and hard work have shown that I have learnt my lesson.”
source: people.com
