Chess talent accused of cheating “via anal beads” is extra thoroughly checked during body scan | More Sports

Niemann easily took the measure of a 15-year-old opponent in the first match. In the interview afterwards, he lashed out at his critics. “This party spoke for itself. I showed what kind of chess player I am and I’m not going to succumb. No matter how much pressure it gets, I’m going to play my best game here.”

The American refused to answer further questions and ended the interview prematurely. “Think what you will, I’m gone,” it sounded.

The ball started rolling when Niemann floored Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen a month ago to everyone’s surprise. It was his first loss in a classic game on board in four years. Niemann was then the lowest ranked player present, ‘only’ 49th in the world ranking.

Carlsen’s reaction rocked the chess world to its foundations. He left the Sinquefield Cup early, saying he would be in “big trouble” if he told the truth.

Every follower, of course, understood what Carlsen was insinuating. That Hans Niemann is a fraud. A cheater. The chess war then continued with the online tournament for the Julius Bär Generation Cup. Carlsen gave up after one move against Niemann, a statement that could count.

There are some factors that argue against the latest sensation. After all, the young American owes his steep rise mainly to online matches, where fair play cannot be checked. It is quite possible that online chess players make use of computer programs that quickly devise counter moves.

The Wall Street Journal reported in that regard that Niemann is suspected of cheating in more than a hundred online games. This would appear from an investigation by the chess website chess.com. After all, at crucial moments his moves often correspond to those of a chess computer. According to the report, the American would have even admitted the allegations in a telephone conversation, after which he was banned from the platform for a certain time.

Finally, Niemann also confessed to having broken the rules twice, each time in an online match. “When I was 12, a friend next to me passed on the best moves on his iPad. But I was still a child then, I didn’t know any better,” it sounded. “When I was 16, I had just left home and needed money ASAP to pay the rent. Today I am terribly ashamed of that.” In a duel ‘over the board’ – that is, with direct eye contact – Niemann says he has never gone off the rails.

Now suppose that something is going on, how could such deception in a public party work? In the past, fraudulent chess players sometimes dared to pick up secret signs of accomplices in the public. But certainly the major tournaments nowadays take place in glass ‘cages’ that are soundproofed and blinded from the inside. Electronic transmitters – which are hidden on the body and can transmit signals – also seem to be a possibility. And then there are the ‘anal beads’, where every move of the chess computer can be forwarded via vibrating code language. The hypothesis was launched on social media, but is now gaining more and more followers.

Niemann, meanwhile, remains stoic under all the accusations. “It must be embarrassing for the world champion to lose to an idiot like me. I feel for him,” he said. “Ah, they can put me in a soundproof room where no technology is possible. I even want to undress completely and get checked naked. Anything to prove that I play clean.”