In his first tournament after an investigation by Chess.com reported that he had likely cheated in more than 100 online games, 19-year-old American Grandmaster Hans Niemann won the first game and drew the second. The report said there was no evidence that he had cheated in ‘over-the-board’ games.
Niemann beat American Grandmaster Christopher Yoo at the US Championship, which is being played ‘over-the-board’. It began on October 5 and ends on October 19 and involves grandmasters including Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez and Levon Aronian, all top 2700 players, and for the women, Irina Krush and Carissa Yip.
The controversy erupted last month when Niemann was accused of cheating by World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen following an over-the-board encounter at the Sinquefield Cup at the St Louis Chess Club in Missouri, USA, which Niemann won.
Since then, as expected, the chess world of over a billion people have been watching Niemann with awakened eyes. Following the accusations last month, Niemann admitted to cheating when he was 12 and 16 in online games, but he said he never did so in face-to-face competition. However, the report by Chess.com contradicts Niemann’s statement as it revealed that he was already 17 when he cheated in some matches, including prize money events. The hugely popular website which banned Niemann for alleged cheating, said he likely did so as recently as 2020.
FIDE has also ordered an investigation into the alleged cheating.
Meanwhile, chess at the Giftland Mall is ongoing on Saturdays after lunch, and Managing Director of the Guyana Deaf Association Sabine McIntosh is training teachers to teach the handicapped the royal game. McIntosh is on a drive to make chess accessible to the handicapped. In August-September, one of her deaf students Anaya Lall participated in the prestigious Chess Olympiad in India.
