Hans Niemann: What happened to him? Did the grandmaster admit to cheating?
Following Hans Niemann’s suspicion of cheating on Magnus Carlsen, his name is currently trending on the internet. From an early age, he already had a successful career in the industry.
Hans Niemann, chess grandmaster and Twitch live streamer, was born in the United States. The title of Grandmaster was officially awarded to him by FIDE on January 22, 2021.
In July 2021, he emerged victorious from the World Open Chess Tournament held in Philadelphia. Niemann made his first appearance on the Top 100 Junior Players list on March 1, 2019, ranking 88th overall.
Since September 2022, he has been ranked 45th overall and sixth among Juniors worldwide. A place for Niemann in the Dutch National Youth Chess Championship 2012 was won by Niemann.
In December 2012, Niemann competed in a ranked event for the first time in the United States. Just under four months later, he entered the SuperNationals V competition in Nashville with a rating of 1486 and a rating of 4/7.
Hans Niemann
Was Hans Niemann unfairly accused of cheating at chess?
During Hans Niemann and Magnus Carlsen’s play, it is alleged that Niemann engaged in cheating. He was honest enough to say he had cheated in the past.
Carlsen, the current world champion, was surprised by Hans’ victory over him with his coins in the Sinquefield Cup, which was played on Sunday and was worth US$500,000. Following this, Hans made the decision to change his behavior.
The chess player said that when he was younger he engaged in unethical behavior by taking advantage of computer support when playing chess online. During a major interview on Tuesday evening, Niemann made allegations not only against Carlsen but also against other people.
Carlsen retired from competition less than twenty-four hours after losing to Niemann in the third round, throwing the chess community into confusion and turmoil.
Shortly after, Nakamura revealed that Niemann had been banned in the past before making the shocking claim that Carlsen quit because he thought Niemann “probably cheated”. Carlsen had withdrawn because Niemann had been banned in the past.
Highlights of Hans Niemann’s Career and Chess Intelligence Quotient
In a message he made on Twitter, Hans Niemann claimed that his IQ is 97. The impressive numbers he has accumulated throughout his career show that he has exceeded his own expectations.
Since 2017, Niemann has been a member of the Professional Chess League, competing for the Saint Louis Arch Bishops in 2019, the Norway Gnomes in 2020, and the Las Vegas Desert Rats in 2017.
In the third round of the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, Niemann took victory over Carlsen using the Nimzo-Indian defense with the dark pieces. It was the first time that Niemann’s live rating exceeded 2700 thanks to this triumph.
In March 2022, Niemann made his way into the Top 100 Chess Players list by finishing in 98th place under Standard Time Control. On top of that, he was recognized as the 12th best American.
In April 2021, the name Niemann appeared prominently on the cover of Chess Life magazine. The story that appeared on the cover detailed Niemann’s rise to grandmaster level.
A look at Hans Niemann’s personal life, including his age and his wife
Hans Niemann is in his prime to start a family with his future wife. As in the year 2022, he has not yet reached the age of 19.
Niemann was born in San Francisco, California to a family of Hawaiian and Danish ancestry. He was quite accomplished in the game of chess despite his young years.
Before moving to the Netherlands at age seven, he was a student at Top of the World Elementary School in Laguna Beach, California. At the age of eight, Niemann began his chess career as a student at the Leonardoschool, a specialized institution located in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
After moving back to California at the age of ten, he attended Del Rey Elementary School in Orinda to complete his elementary education.
In 2019, he uprooted his life and moved to New York, where he completed his studies at the chess-focused Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School. He had previously called the town of Weston, Connecticut home.
Hans Niemann
Education
Niemann was born in San Francisco, California, and has roots in Hawaii and Denmark. Before moving to the Netherlands at age 7, he attended Top of the World Elementary School in Laguna Beach, California. Niemann started playing chess at the age of 8 and attended a specialist school in Utrecht, the Netherlands called Leonardoschool. After moving back to California at age 10, he went to Del Rey Elementary School in Orinda to complete first grade.
In 2019, he moved to New York and completed his studies at Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, known for its love of chess. He lived in Weston, Connecticut, and went to school at Weston High School.
Chess career
Niemann secured a spot in the Dutch National Youth Chess Championship 2012.
Niemann, who taught himself to play, raised his Elo rating from around 2450 to 2650 in just over 3 years after returning to the United States. We don’t teach him anything.
Niemann played his first U.S. ranked event in December 2012. He went to SuperNationals V in Nashville, Tennessee in 2013 with a 1486 rating and a 4/7 score, less than 4 months later.
2014
Niemann went to his first US Chess School camp in St. Louis with coaches Greg Shahade and John Bartholomew when he was 10 years old. At the time, his grade was just under 2000.
Niemann earned the USCF Masters title on December 16, 2014, when he won the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club’s Tuesday Night Marathon. It was the first chess club in the country. Niemann was the youngest winner ever.
Niemann participated in the 2014 World Youth Chess Championships in Durban, South Africa. He was in the U12 division and won 6 of his 11 games. Early that year he lost to Annie Wang at the National Junior Chess Congress in Irvine. This broke the 18-year-old record and made Wang the youngest FIDE Master.
2015
Niemann defeated GM Walter Browne in a rated match at the 2015 Las Vegas International Chess Festival National Open. Niemann was only 11 at the time. GM Browne died shortly after the competition ended. After 35 moves, Browne was the winner.
2016
Niemann has been part of the All-America Chess Team of the American Chess Federation since 2016.
Niemann went to the 2016 Saint Louis Invitational as IM Norm after switching to FM in early 2016. Along with Carissa Yip, he was one of the youngest there.
At the 2016 North American Youth Championship, Niemann achieved his first IM standard and finished tied for first in the U18 division.
2017
Niemann won the K-8 division at SuperNationals VI 2017. His rating was 2412, which made him the tournament’s top seed.
Niemann finished third at the 2018 U16 Olympiad in Konya, Turkey, despite winning his first six games in a row.
2018
Niemann competed in the 2018 US Masters Championship in August, where he earned his first GM standard and second IM standard.
Later in August 2018, Niemann earned his final IM Norm at the Cambridge IM Norm Invitational. It was the last thing he had to do to earn the title of International Master.
In December 2018, he went 12-0 and won the K-12 Blitz National Championships. Three days later, at the K-12 championships, he tied for first in his class and won every bughouse duo match.
2019
Niemann won the first ChessKid Games hosted by Chess.com in June 2019. He won 20 games in a row and earned a spot in the 2020 Junior Speed Chess Championship.
Niemann won the 2019 Foxwoods Open Blitz with a 10-0 record, meaning he has never lost a game. At the 2019 U.S. Junior Championships, Niemann, who was Connecticut’s top junior player at the time, tied for sixth.
Niemann came ninth out of 78 competitors at the U16 Open at the 2019 World Junior Championships, despite leading for the first eight of eleven rounds and having a performance rating of over 2600.
Niemann went 12-0 in the Blitz Championship, 10-0 in the Bughouse Duo competition and 7-0 in the Grade 11 Championship at the 2019 Nationals. His 29-0 score was perfect.
Niemann competed in the 103rd Edward Lasker Memorial in November 2019. He tied for first place and earned his second GM Standard.
2020
Niemann finished sixth at the American Continental Open Selection for the 2020 FIDE World Junior Championship.
He won the GM Norm Invitational at the Charlotte Chess Center & Scholastic Academy in October 2020. It was his third and final GM Norm.
His third norm was supposed to take place at the GM Berger tournament of the 3rd Summer Chess Festival in Belgrade in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tournament had to be moved.
He won the 75th Annual Texas State and Amateur Championship, which was held in November 2020 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Niemann won the flash event at the VII Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival in December 2020, and he went on to reach the 2500 Elo mark needed to qualify as a grandmaster.
2021
He came third in the Vergani Cap, held in January 2021 in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. At the Serbian Winter Chess Festival “Paracin 2021” in February, he won the blitz (10.5/11) and classic round robin (7.0/10) competitions.
In April 2021, Niemann was on the cover of Chess Life magazine. The cover story told how Niemann became a grandmaster.
In the Cover Stories with Chess Life Podcast which came out at the same time as the issue, he spoke at length about how he won the title.
Niemann won the 2021 World Open, held in Philadelphia. He beat John Burke in the tiebreaker to win the title. Niemann also earned his mark at 2600 after being tied with Ukrainian grandmaster Illia Nyzhnyk in this competition. He was able to participate in the 2022 American Chess Championship by winning the American Junior Championship, hosted later that same month by the Saint Louis Chess Club.
At the 121st US Open Chess Championship, held in August 2021 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Niemann came second (8.0/9), behind GM Aleksandr Lenderman (8.5/9).
Niemann finished 52nd out of 108 players at the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2021, held in Latvia in October and November 2021.
2022
Niemann became one of the top 100 chess players in the world in March 2022, when he finished 98th in a traditional time check. He was also the 12th best American player.
Niemann and his opponent Jan-Krzysztof Duda had problems with Duda’s laptop in the first round of the FTX Crypto Cup. In Niemann’s second round match against reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, the black pieces won the first game. Chess “speaks for itself”, Niemann said in a later interview. Niemann ended up losing all of his matches in the tournament.
In the third round of the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, Niemann beat Carlsen again using the black pieces and the Nimzo-Indian defense. Niemann’s live rating topped 2700 for the first time after that win. After that, Carlsen left the Cup.
Fast facts
| Full name | Hans Moke Niemann |
| Status | chess grandmaster |
| Age | 19 years old |
| Rank | 45th overall |
