American chess grandmaster Hans Niemann has denied accusations that he used a sex toy to cheat during last year’s match against Magnus Carlsen. Niemann faced Carlsen in the final of the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, Missouri in September 2022.
Niemann claimed a victory over Carlsen, who has been the No. 1 player in the world for more than a decade. After Niemann won, he was accused of cheating by Carlsen which later sparked a legal battle between the pair.
Niemann was accused of using vibrating anal beads, via a remote control, during the final against Carlsen which would indicate to him where to move his pieces on the chessboard. The 20-year-old has previously admitted that he cheated twice in online chess matches when he was 12 and 16, something he says he deeply regrets, but never during on-the-board games.
Now, Niemann has spoken about the accusations during an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored. The chess prodigy has expressly denied the accusations that he used a sex toy to cheat in any matches during last year’s Sinquefield Cup.
“It is very disheartening to be accused of cheating after that victory,” said Niemann in the interview published on Monday. These things happen and I managed to learn a lot during that time and it really has taught me a lot of very important lessons about life and chess.”
Morgan continued to press Niemann on the subject. The presenter asked Niemann: “To be clear, on the specific allegation – have you ever used anal beads while playing chess?”
In response, Niemann replied: “Well, your curiosity is a bit concerning, you know – maybe you’re personally interested, but I can tell you, no. Categorically, no, of course not.”
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It was eventually announced on August 28 that Niemann and Carlsen had reached an agreement to end the lawsuit. Niemann had filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Carlsen, chess website Chess.com, and chess streamer Hikaru Nakamura over the allegations that he had cheated.
Chess.com released a report last year claiming that it was “likely” that Niemann had cheated in online matches between July 2015 and August 2020. The report did not find any evidence that Niemann had cheated during on-the-board matches.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit from Niemann in June this year. Then in August, Niemann issued a statement confirming that the dispute had been “resolved in a mutually acceptable manner”, with Chess.com and Carlsen also issuing statements of their own.
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