Chess world rattled by cheating allegations after 19-year-old beats one of world's top players

The game of chess has been rattled by allegations of cheating after a young American beat one of the best players in the world in a controversy that appears to lack solid proof but has led to the young player being banned from playing in one of the major chess websites in the world.

A 31-year-old Norwegian grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen, considered one of the best chess players in the whole world, competed in the US$350,000 Sinquefield Cup, a global chess tour event held in St Louis, Missouri, in early September, when he went off against Hans Niemann, a 19-year-old from San Francisco.

As Carlsen possessed the white pieces, he was able to make the first move first and beat his opponent by one turn. As the game went on, Carlsen removed his suit jacket from his seat across from Niemann, who was sporting a black pullover and dishevelled curly hair. Until the game finished, both guys took notes while running their hands through their hair, further mussing their mop tops.

Niemann won, a shocking upset.

"(Carlsen) played quite poorly, I didn't do anything special," Niemann said in an interview after the match.

He said that, by a "ridiculous miracle," he had looked into what chess bloggers have described as an obscure line of attack — which Carlsen used — that morning, and therefore had a good shot at predicting what Carlsen was going to do.

On 5 September Carlsen announced he had pulled out of the tournament, though he did not specify why, exactly, he had done so.

The chess world seized on the drama after Carlsen posted a video clip of a Portuguese professional soccer manager saying "If I speak I am in big trouble," in response to a question about referees. Many took this clip to mean Carlsen thought Niemann had cheated.

Emil Sutovsky, director-general of the Fédération Internationale des Échecs, chess's governing body, said on social media that Carlsen had never quit before, no matter how his tournaments went.

"He must have had a compelling reason, or at least he believes he has it. Don't call him a sore loser or disrespectful," Sutovsky said.

Cheating scandals aren't unheard of in chess, but it's tough and rare when two players are sitting directly across from each other. The history of cheating in chess reveals that rule violations are one type of cheating; for instance, it is against the rules to touch a piece and then not move it.

But, sleight-of-hand, borrowed from close-up magic, can be part of cheating, too, perhaps manipulating the placement of pieces on the board or putting back an already sacked piece without an opponent noticing, could be done, too.

Other potential methods involve technology, such as secret communications that transmit a computer's interpretation of the game to the player, giving them an edge over the human on the other side of the table.

Elon Musk even got involved, tweeting about an absurd hypothesis that Niemann had employed a vibrating sex item hidden in his rectum that was communicating the winning plays to him. 

In 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2019 players were caught consulting hidden phones to determine their next moves, which shocked the chess community.

Niemann has also been accused of gaining access to Carlsen's strategy via a leak or computer hack.

As it stands, there's no actual evidence that Niemann cheated and while he was frisked before his next game, nothing was found.

"A lot of people who I once had respect for, who, I once sort of looked up to, a lot of my heroes, have decided to hop on this bandwagon," said Niemann. "I'm the only one who knows the truth."

"I am proud of myself that I learned from that mistake and now have given everything to chess," Niemann said. "This is the single biggest mistake of my life."

As a result of what Niemann has dubbed a "targeted attack," Chess.com has since banned Niemann from participating in online games and a $1 million tournament in Toronto.