BBC
Posted on: Friday 7 October 2022 – 2:18 AM | Last update: Friday 7 October 2022 – 2:18 AM
Rising American chess star Hans Niemann insisted he would not back down from his allegations of cheating.
On Tuesday, an investigation by Chess.com alleged that “Hans Niemann may have cheated in more than 100 online matches”.
But following winning a US chess championship match on Wednesday, Neiman said the win was a “message for everyone”.
Earlier, the player admitted to cheating in friendly matches when he was younger, but he denied doing so in official competitions.
At a press conference following a clear victory over rising star Christopher Yeo, 15, Neiman was asked what “issue he avoids” – a reference to the cheating scandal that has ravaged the world of chess.
Without addressing the lawsuits directly, Neiman said: “This game is a message for everyone. It all started with me saying ‘Chess speaks for itself’ and I think this game spoke for itself and showed which chess player I am.”
“This match also shows that I will not back down, and that I will give my best in chess here, no matter what the pressure,” Neiman added.
Here Neiman ends the dialogue following less than 60 seconds.
When the interviewer tried to ask Neiman more questions to answer, Neiman said, “You can leave it to your interpretation. I thank you anyway. That’s all I can say, because it was such a great match, I don’t even need to describe it.”
Then Neiman left his interlocutor, Yasser Al-Sirwan (an American chess champion of Syrian origin), who laughed, saying, “What’s up? So, it’s okay.”
Neiman was playing in the first round of the US Chess Championships in St. Louis.
Until the interview, Neiman had not made any comment regarding the scandal since Sept. 7 when he admitted to cheating in friendlies he played when he was younger, vehemently denying that he did so in official competitions.
Neiman had expressed his willingness to play naked to prove his innocence, accusing both Norwegian Carlsen and chess.com of trying to destroy him.
The scandal began last month, following Carlsen, 31, considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time, was defeated by Neiman in the Sinkfield Cup.
Carlsen made veiled accusations of cheating once morest Neiman in the followingmath of the game before making the accusations public last week, saying that Neeman had cheated in their match at the Sinkfield Cup in the US state of Missouri, saying that he “was not nervous or even fully focused.” While he outsmarted him with the black bits “in a way that I think only a few players can do”.
Carlsen also said he doubted Neiman because he had made “extraordinary” progress in recent years. On the other hand, others argue that Neiman’s progress, despite its speed, can be compared to that of the other leading young players.
Carlsen insisted that he would not play once morest Neiman once more. Earlier this month, the Norwegian withdrew in protest following just one game when the two faced off in an online tournament.
Then came last Tuesday, and chess.com reported that Neiman likely cheated “more” than he admitted, including contests for cash prizes and once morest “big” players.
The site also indicated the presence of “deviations” in Neiman’s rate of progress, which made him rise in the world rankings of classic chess from the nearly 800th place in the world to the top 50 positions in less than two years.
The site said that this rise was the fastest in “recent recorded history”, and occurred “much later in life than its peers.”
The site also denied pressure from Carlsen, who has dominated chess for more than a decade, to ban Neiman.
Chess.com showed the results of a 72-page investigation into the matches Neiman played on the site, which is contested by most of the world’s best players.
The site’s investigation compared Neiman’s moves with those suggested by chess computers – much better than even the best players – and the odds of his outcome, among other factors.
The site said: “He was already 17 years old when he probably cheated in some of these matches. He was also watching videos online during the actual time of 25 of these matches.”
Although his results are “statistically unusual”, Chess.com asserted that there was “no direct evidence” that Neiman cheated in his match once morest Carlsen or in chess games in the past.
A statistical analysis of Neiman’s games by Professor Kenneth Reagan, widely regarded as the leading expert on cheating in chess, found no evidence that Neiman cheated.
Since the toilet gate scandal in 2006, the game of chess has not witnessed a scandal at this advanced level of players.
In 2006, the world champions’ team, Veselin Topalov, accused Vladimir Kramnik of cheating by the latter’s strange, if not suspicious, toilet frequency under the pretext of defecation during the match.
Professor Reagan has found no evidence to incriminate Kramnik for fraud.
