Scamfluencers - ENCORE: Chess Cheater

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

It’s been more than a year since Hans Niemann’s cheating scandal rocked the chess world and we’re looking back to see if the bad boy of chess has been redeemed. From a young age, Hans knows he loves chess and wants to face off against his hero, Magnus Carlsen. Hans grows into a brash and intense player who makes questionable moves during online chess tournaments. When he finally gets the opportunity to compete against Magnus, their egos and ambitions collide, threatening to tarnish both of their legacies.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Scamfluencers early and ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Apple podcasts. Sarah, do you have a favorite ultra-specific world that we've explored in Scamfluencers? Actually I do. Rita Cronwell, our quarter horse queen, learning about the world of showing horses and how much they cost and their stupid names will live with me forever. That's a pretty good one. Well, my favorite world is the very weird and specific world of chess.

And it's been over a year since Hans Nieman, the prodigious rowdy chess player, was accused of cheating by the world's best player. New York Magazine wrote a feature with some pretty favorable updates about him. Hans settled with chess.com and grandmaster Magnus Carlsen in a more than $100 million defamation suit. The governing chess body also released a report in December that found nothing suspicious about Hans's live tournament play over the last three years. But Hans's reputation as a hothead player is still very much alive.

In October 2023, he racked up a $5,000 bill for destroying a hotel room in St. Louis. He was playing in the U.S. Chess Championship there, and he wasn't doing very well. His tantrum led to the St. Louis Chess Club banning him from 2024 events. And he's still playing and was allowed back on Chess.com, but his temper and mood swings has tournament officials and other players wary of him. If I was him, I'd simply be calm. He doesn't have to go this hard. He was in so much trouble, got out of it pretty okay.

Like why continue being like this, you know? It just seems so much more difficult. Well Sarah, all of this may be coming to the big screen. A24 is reportedly making a movie about Hans and the cheating scandal. It'll be based on a book by the same author who wrote about the other genius boys behaving badly, like the social network about Mark Zuckerberg and dumb money, which is about the GameStop stock craze. For now, here's an encore of our episode all about it, The Chest cheater. Sarah, how competitive would you say you are?

I am really competitive despite not being that good at things. Well, I'm curious if you would cheat at like a board game or something because I think you know that I would absolutely cheat. You know, I actually don't cheat. Okay. It's not because I think cheating's so bad. It's more that I'm just like, it is a lot of work. I might as well just get good at whatever I'm doing, you know?

Okay, I'm glad your laziness has impacted this. I mean, we say this on the show all the time. If you just do the thing legitimately, it's probably less work. Yeah, so is cheating really cheating? I don't know. Good question. Well, today I have a story for you about what has quickly become a topic near and dear

to my heart, the wild world of cheating at chess. It's September 4th, 2022 at the St. Louis Chess Club. The room has high ceilings and it's full of wooden tables set up for games of chess. This is the third day of the prestigious Sinkfield Cup, and there's no crowd, but cameras are ready to broadcast the matches to tens of thousands of chess fans watching live around the world. It's the final tournament in a five-part series, and $1.4 million in prizes are at stake.

Ten of the world's best players are competing, but the star is Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen. He's not just a chess player, he's also an entrepreneur and a model, and in 2013 he was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. That was a decade ago, and he's been the reigning chess world champ ever since. He's called the Mozart of chess, and at just 31 years old, he's arguably the greatest player of all time.

And he looks like a young Matt Damon if someone just kept punching Matt Damon in the face, like, over and over again. Okay, rude. I don't actually think he looks like Matt Damon, but I do know of this guy. Like, he is so famous that I feel like people who know nothing about chess like me know who he is. Yeah, he's big time.

And so, Magnus sits down across from Hans Nieman, a disheveled 19-year-old with a curly mop of hair. Magnus is probably not too worried about this particular matchup. He's the heavy favorite, and though Hans is a rising star in the chess world, he's the lowest rated player in the tournament. Then the game begins. Hans throws Magnus off guard by making a series of surprising moves that,

against incredible odds, give him the advantage. Then he starts taunting Magnus. He alternates between looking extremely bored and then making really aggressive eye contact. I actually have a photo from this game. Sarah, can you describe it for me? Yeah, this is so intense. It looks like it's from a comic book or something.

We see Magnus' back and Hans' staring at him in probably the most, like, aggressive way you can stare at someone without physically attacking them. Like, he honestly looks like he's going to kill Magnus. Well, ultimately, Magnus can't recover, and in a shocking upset, Hans wins. Magnus shakes Hans's hand and leaves the table stunned. Magnus replays the game over and over in his mind. How was a relatively inexperienced newcomer able to outplay him?

He's the world champion. And so Magnus is left with just one conclusion. Hans must have cheated. And when Magnus shares this theory with the chess world, it snowballs into one of the biggest scandals in the mysteries of the Inca at Machu Picchu, follow the footsteps of Howard Carter to Tutankhamun's tomb and hunt down Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica. For historical adventure and escapism, check out Dan Snow's history hit, wherever you get your podcasts. Alice and Matt here from British Scandal. Matt, if we had a bingo card, what would be on there?

Oh, compelling storytelling, egotistical white men and dubious humour. If that sounds like your cup of tea you will love our podcast British Scandal. The show where every week we bring you stories from this green and not always so pleasant land. We've looked at spies, politicians, media magnates, a king, no one is safe. And knowing our country we won't be out of a job anytime soon. Follow British Scandal wherever you listen to your podcasts. From Wondry, I'm Saatchi Cole. And I'm Sarah Haggye.

And this is Scamfluencers. Today's scam takes us to the competitive world of Chess. You might not believe me now, but trust me, this story is going to take us through the agony and the ecstasy of being incredibly gifted at something. So gifted that you'll do whatever it takes to be considered the best. I'm calling this episode, The Chess Cheater. So before I can tell you about one of the biggest cheating scandals in chess history, we have to go back to May 1997 in New York City. The stage is set for arguably the biggest chess match ever. And I mean a stage is literally set.

It's been decorated to look like what a dumb person thinks a smart person's office looks like. There's leather-bound books and wooden duck statuettes. Television cameras are focused on two men wearing ill-fitting suits, sitting across from each other on opposite sides of a chessboard. One player is the current world chess champion, Gary Kasparov,

a Russian with close-cropped brown hair and a humorless expression. And the other isn't a famous chess player. He's an employee of IBM, and he's playing the moves suggested by the company's supercomputer, Deep Blue. This actually isn't the first time Gary has played Deep Blue. This actually isn't the first time Gary has played Deep Blue. He defeated it last year, but IBM did some reprogramming and now he's agreed to a rematch. He has the world's highest International Chess Federation or FIDE rating. And FIDE ratings are how professional chess players are measured. Only games played in person on a physical chessboard at sanctioned events

count towards a player score. The physical chessboard, at sanctioned events count towards a player's score. The average chess player starts at a rating of around 400, and they need to reach a rating of 1,000 to be officially ranked, and 2,500 to be eligible for the title of Grandmaster, which is chess's highest honor. But Gary has completely surpassed that. His rating is 2,800, and it's the highest in the world. Deep Blue can analyze billions of positions per minute,

but Gary is confident that if he plays aggressively and unconventionally, he can throw the computer off. But when it starts to outplay him, he completely crumbles. He quickly concedes and he storms off set, sending shockwaves through the chess world. As Gary recently recalled to The New Yorker, Many people believe it was a watershed moment where machines established its dominance over human players.

Deep Blue was just the beginning. Artificial intelligence has grown exponentially in the last two decades, and it's made cheating an even bigger temptation. If you can find a way to get the computer computer suggestions to a player, it's game over. Today's chess engines are actually AI programs built to recommend chess moves, and they can beat a grandmaster every single time. Wow, I mean, you thought AI was coming for our jobs as writers, but it's really the chess players who need to be worried.

Oh, Sarah, we should all be worried. Well, chess cheating is simple, but the stakes are high. If you're caught, FIDE can fine a player up to $25,000, pull their grand master title, and ban them from competition for up to 15 years. Even a hint of cheating can damage a young player's reputation and threaten to completely end their careers. Hans is only nine years old when he first sees Magnus Carlsen in person. Hans has only been playing chess for a year, but he's hooked. So in November 2012, his mom brings him to a chess event held at the headquarters of Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California. held at the headquarters of Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California.

About 100 people, most of them young players, pack a windowless conference room to see Magnus. Hans must be feeling excited, maybe even overwhelmed. He's about to meet his hero. Honestly, Magnus is every young player's hero. At just 21, he's the youngest person to ever be ranked number one in the world. And he's not just a hopeless nerd. He's self-assured, charming, and even a little bit arrogant. Like in this interview with Charlie Rose from around this time. You need to have that edge, you need to have that confidence, you need to have that, you know, absolute belief that you're the best and you'll win every time. Hans watches as Magnus plays four randomly selected kids at the same time, and he beats them all in about 15 minutes.

Magnus is his hero. He doesn't want to just play like him. Hans wants to play against him. He even tells his mom that he's going to make it happen someday. Hans goes home with an enormous chess piece signed by Magnus. Here's a photo of it. Wow, that is a giant chess piece.

This is a funny photo because the first photo I saw, Hans was an adult and he was staring down Magnus. And it's funny because he still has this like look of intensity in his eyes in this photo. Like even as a small child, you can tell he's like, I'm going somewhere here. Well, after this event, Hans throws himself into the world of competitive chess.

Over the next year, he participates in 100 tournaments and doubles his FIDE score, from 1,000 to 2,000. And then in 2014, he selected to compete in the FIDE World Youth Championships in South Africa. Thousands of kids from more than 100 countries compete in the week-long tournament. It's like the baby Olympics of chess. And between official tournament games,

Hans plays chess for fun against some coaches from Belgium, and he completely destroys them. He mocks the adults so ruthlessly that some of them look like they would like to hit him. Another player's father actually has to step in and deescalate the situation. And like his hero, Hans has skills and a really cocky attitude. Months later, 11 year old Hans becomes the youngest ever winner of a prestigious event called the Tuesday Night Marathon, which is held at the oldest chess club

in the US. He's officially become a player to watch, but he's got his eyes on an even bigger prize, playing Magnus and winning. A few months after winning the Tuesday Night Marathon, Hans is hanging out with one of his friends, probably at his family's new home in Connecticut. That's when he decides to compete in the online qualifier for an upcoming Chess.com tournament.

It's called Titled Tuesday Blitz. His FIDE rating is around 2,200, which is still 300 points shy of the Grand Master title, along with all the bragging rights and the tournament invites that come with it. An online tournament won't raise Hans' FIDE rating, because qualifying tournaments have to be in person. But chess.com is the premier site to compete, and Hans needs to raise his profile to get on the radar of the world's best players,

and sponsors. Flying all over the world to compete in tournaments isn't cheap, so pro players wear button-ups and blazers covered in brand logos. Like soccer players or race car drivers. I mean, just look at this picture of noted model, Magnus. That is so dorky. Very terrifying. It's funny because he's clearly concentrating so hard on this game, but he's wearing like a white button-up shirt and a blazer and it's like, on this game, but he's wearing like a white button-up shirt and a blazer and it's like just covered in weird sponsor names and you're like, wow, this guy has no idea how dumb he

looks because he's so into this game. It's a very white collar soccer jersey happening over here. But Hans is really feeling the pressure to win. So Sarah, he cheats. He later talks to the St. Louis Chess Club about how he pulled it off. I was with a friend and I was playing title Tuesday and he came over on the iPad with the engine and I was 12 years old and he said you know he started giving the moves. Cheating is easy and no one catches him and the win brings him the online hype he was hoping for. And it's about to make him even bolder.

Four years later, Hans gets a scholarship to Columbia Grammar, a private school in New York City. And what's even more impressive is he's doing it all by himself. At just 16, Hans leaves his family's house in Connecticut and moves, alone, into a Manhattan apartment. He supports himself by teaching chess for 20 to 30 hours a week. And on top of teaching and school, he's working tirelessly to earn the title of Grandmaster. Over the next two years, Hans competes in tournament after tournament, until finally his FIDE score reaches 2,465.

That's just 35 points shy of Grandmaster. It's so close he can almost taste it. And then comes March, 2020. Suddenly the only place Hans or anyone can play chess is online. In the first month of the pandemic, the number of daily players on chess.com skyrockets from 280,000 people to 1 million. Oh, and around this time, the Queen's Gambit comes out on Netflix, and so people get really hyped up on chess.

And with millions of new fans gathering online, some big chess players become outright celebrities. Streaming also opens up a whole new source of revenue. Instead of relying on sponsors, prize money, and teaching, players can get money directly from fans. And since Hans' teaching jobs have mostly dried up, he needs to make it in the world of online chess. So he starts playing on chess.com constantly and streaming more and more. His infamous temper actually makes him a really compelling watch. He's always screaming, which I know personally is a great revenue model.

Here, listen to this clip from Han streaming a game. How am I this fucking good? Get fucking down and bow down. I absolutely hate this. He's bringing toxic gamer culture to a quiet game that's as old as time. Buddy, this is not Fortnite, okay? You are rewriting the history of chess in real time.

Since when has chess been, like, full of wholesome characters? What are you talking about? I don't think it chess been full of wholesome characters? What are you talking about? I don't think it's been full of wholesome characters, but there is like a level of self-respect. Here's the thing, to me this isn't what chess stands for. Like, as someone who has heard of chess and seen people play it at the park. Okay, well, we will all take your suggestions on this game that you don't play under advisement. But the point is that Hans is very good at this and everybody other than you does really want to watch it. So now Hans is desperate to create an online following fast and he knows he needs to win as many games as possible.

So he cheats and he's not even being sneaky about it. He does something called second screening and that's where you toggle between your game and another window with the chess engine suggesting moves. It is literally the laziest way to cheat. Hans isn't thinking about the ramifications. He's willing to do anything to support himself playing chess. But he's about to face a crackdown. Danny Ranch lives in Arizona, and he looks like how Joe Rogan would look, I think, if

he played chess. He's an international master, which is one level below a grandmaster. He's also the chief chess officer of Chess.com. Danny and the Chess.com team always knew that playing online could be huge. But even they were shocked by the explosion of virtual matches during the pandemic. And this surge in online players also comes with a surge in cheating. Chess.com's Watchdog group, literally called the Fair Play Team, compares finished game results to suggestions from a computer engine to determine if players have cheated.

And in June 2020, Danny learns that one of the site's strongest players, Hans Nieman, has likely been cheating on their site. Danny emails Hans to tell him that Chess.com believes he's violated the site's anti-cheating rules. As a result, they're suspending his account. At first, Hans plays dumb and he pretends not to understand. Dani believes Hans is a young player who lost his way. So he tells Hans that if he just admits to cheating, he can start a new account after a brief suspension period. Hans privately confesses, and Dani gives him a new profile and a fresh start.

I understand not wanting to like punish someone at the full extent of Chess Law. But also, if this guy was getting popular on this platform and he was cheating, I do think people have a right to know that, like, hey, this is what happened. We're giving him another chance to create a new profile. Well, some people notice Hans's new username on chess.com, and they assume that it's because he got caught cheating. But Hans never admits to it publicly. And since it's only speculation, it doesn't stop him from competing in FIDE tournaments. So when in-person games begin again, Hans jumps right back in to go after what he always wanted. The Grandmaster title.

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to see the newly built Duomo towering above you in Renaissance Florence? To feel the spray of Caribbean waters on your face as you sail into the pirate port of Nassau? I'm Matt Lewis, host of the Echoes of History podcast, and if like me you want to get a taste of time travel into the worlds of Assassin's Creed, join me every week as we explore the real life stories and events that inspire the locations, the characters, and the storylines of this legendary game franchise. We'll be talking to historical experts to uncover the secrets of the past

before stepping into the animus to delve into how these moments are recreated. So whether you're a history fan, a gamer, or just someone who loves a good story, Echoes of History has something for you. Listen and follow Echoes of History, a Ubisoft podcast brought to you by HistoryHit, wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, I'm Hannah. And I'm Saruti. And we are the hosts of Red Handed, a weekly true crime podcast. Every week on Red Handed, we get stuck into the most talked about cases. From Idaho student killings, the Delphi murders and our recent rundown of the Murdock

Saga. Last year, we also started a second weekly show, Shorthand, which is just an excuse for us to talk about anything we find interesting because it's our show and we can do what we like. We've covered the death of Princess Diana, an unholy Quran written in Saddam Hussein's blood, the gruesome history of European witch hunting and the very uncomfortable phenomenon of genetic sexual attraction. Whatever the case, we want to know what pushes people to the extremes of human behavior. Like, can someone give consent to be cannibalized? What drives a child to kill?

And what's the psychology of a terrorist? Listen to Red Handed wherever you get your podcasts and access our bonus short-hand episodes exclusively on Amazon Music or by subscribing to Wondry Plus in Apple podcasts or the Wondry app. In December 2020, Hans travels to Spain to compete in a chess festival and when he defeats a French grandmaster who's more than twice his age, he finally gets his FIDE rating over 2,500. He's officially a grandmaster. Hans jumps headfirst into being a professional chess player. With less than a semester of high school left, he decides to continue traveling through Europe

and finish school remotely. He plays in 10 tournaments in less than three months, stopping in Belgium, Italy, Serbia, and Montenegro. He wins the U.S. Junior Chess Championship and less than a year later becomes one of the top 50 ranked chess players in the world. Hans is the fastest rising chess player in modern history. Other chess players are taking notice, including his idol, Magnus.

On top of being the world champ, Magnus has his own chess company called Play Magnus, where people can learn and play chess online. And the company invites 18-year-old Hans to be one of its ambassadors. They pay him, put him into tournaments, and raise his profile. As Hans' star continues to rise, his attitude steadily gets worse.

The fiery personality and raging antics that were entertaining on Twitch are not translating to real-life tournaments. In June 2022, after losing the Prague Chess Festival, Hans explodes in the ballroom of the Hotel Don Giovanni. He very publicly rails against the tournament, the city, and the accommodations. By now, people are sick of Hans' shit, but he doesn't seem to care. He taunts his critics. He claims he'll be such a dominant chess player that he'll be able to play any tournament no matter how badly he behaves. Two months after his blow up in Prague, he throws a tantrum during a game at the FTX Crypto Cup in Miami.

A technical malfunction temporarily pauses the game, and Hans thinks it causes him to lose. Here he is in a post-game interview with Chess24. It's completely fucking ridiculous that the laptop is just running out of power. And because the laptop runs out of power, of course he has all the time to think in the world to find all the best moves. He might be especially worked up because this snafu happens the night before a lifelong dream is about to come true.

Hans is finally going to sit across the board from his childhood hero, Magnus. So that night, he goes back to his hotel room, shuts off the lights, orders Uber Eats, and decompresses with some Netflix. Hans has been dreaming of this moment ever since he was a little kid. And now, it's going to make him or break him. The next day, Magnus sits down across from Hans to play the second round of the FTX Crypto Cup. There's a $210,000 prize and thousands more in Bitcoin at stake. Magnus and Hans sit in leather gaming chairs, but instead of playing on a board, they're playing online,

and their computers are placed back to back like a high-tech game of Battleship. The walls are video screens all displaying trippy graphics and sponsors' logos. Sarah, I have a photo. I am dying to make you look at it. Okay, this is Bleak. It's like some weird Jetsons version of chess. And I don't know if I mentioned this,

but I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to the game of chess. I think it should only be played in the classic way that men have been doing since the beginning of time. I'm so glad you found a new annoying thing to shape your personality around. Honestly, it's not really fun to look at. No, it's deeply unfun to look at, that's true. It's kind of like, of course, a crypto cup

will make a chess tournament look like this. Yeah. Well, this is not a FIDE sanctioned game, as I'm sure you can tell, but it does get a lot of attention. The reigning champ starts by making the first move, and Magnus' style is to slowly dominate and demoralize his opponents. He likes watching people sweat, But that doesn't happen here. Hans gradually takes control,

giving Magnus a taste of his own medicine. And after 37 minutes, Hans beats Magnus. Magnus doesn't stop for a post-game interview, but Hans does. And the interview is, well, it's weird. Instead of celebrating after achieving a life goal of beating the world champion, Hans says this to the Chess24 interviewer. Hans, yesterday was a terrible day for you and today you start out with a masterpiece.

How would you summarize it? Chess speaks for itself. Is it something special doing this against Magnus Hans?" So, you know, this reporter is doing his job and asking Hans a very normal question, and Hans looks at him with dead eyes and walks away mid-interview. To me, it shows that, you know, as arrogant as he is, it is kind of a mask for being a bit scared, you know what I mean? Like, the more he talks about strategy or how he won, the easier it is to poke holes in whatever he says, you know? Yeah. Well, Magnus rallies and he goes on to beat Hans in the next three games and he wins

the entire tournament. A few days later, Chess.com announces that it's buying PlayMagnus for almost 83 million dollars. The two biggest online chess sites are about to become one. This is a huge deal for Magnus. He's 31 and he's starting to think about his legacy. He's been the number one player in the world for more than a decade now. And on his podcast, The Magnus Effect, he announces that he isn't going to compete in the next world championship. He's relinquishing the title,

and he pretty much says that it's because he's tired of winning. He wants a new challenge. So he's gonna focus on breaking his own record of playing 125 consecutive FIDE sanctioned games without losing. But this new goal is put in jeopardy when Hans and Magnus face off again,

just days later in the FIDE sanctioned Singfield Cup in St. Louis. Sarah, this is the scene where Hans is staring really intensely at Magnus. Do you remember that photo? Oh, I remember that photo. While losing this game ends Magnus's 53game unbeaten streak in FIDE sanctioned games. And he is not happy about it. To make matters worse, in a post-game interview with St. Louis Chess Club, Hans talks major trash. I think he's just so demoralized because he's losing to such an idiot like me, you know?

It must be embarrassing for the world champion to lose to me. I feel bad for him. In the same interview, Hans claims that he, luckily, studied Magnus's opening moves that morning. But Magnus isn't buying it. He's only played those moves twice before in his long career. And plus, he's been hearing rumors about Hans' attitude problems and possible cheating. So Magnus, allegedly, goes to the event organizers and asks that Hans be disqualified for cheating. They have zero concrete evidence, so their hands are tied.

They decide to add a 15-minute delay to game broadcasts, so that potential accomplices can't help players cheat by watching in real time. Still, Magnus is unsatisfied. So the next day he rocks the chess world. Here's a clip from the St. Louis Chess Club's live coverage of the tournament. I'm told we have breaking news. It would appear that a certain world champion, Magnus Carlsen, has decided to not play today's game. To me, this is what the game's all about.

It's these moments where you don't know what's gonna happen and suddenly Magnus doesn't show up. You know, like what more could you want out of the game? Great question. I can tell you what more you would want. You would want some tweets because that's what Magnus does. He tweets, I've withdrawn from the tournament. I've always enjoyed playing in the Sinkfield Cup

and hope to be back in the future. He doesn't say why he's quitting, but he includes a clip of a big time football manager who at a press conference said he couldn't speak his mind for fear of getting in big trouble. To those who follow chess closely, the implication is clear. Magnus thinks Hans is a cheater. And when Magnus speaks, the chess world listens. Immediately after Magnus' surprise withdrawal from the tournament, chess streamers and influencers

report the news. And they start speculating about it. Among them is Hikaru Nakamura, an American grandmaster and the chess world's top streamer. His Twitch channel, where he live streams his online games and adds commentary, has more than half a million followers. Right after Magnus quits, Hikaru weighs in on a live YouTube broadcast. I mean, I think of the game, Magnus played poorly, but I've never seen Magnus just lose like that, where it seemed like he never had a chance in the game.

Within hours, there are tons of theories about whether or not Hans cheated. And if so, how? And before I tell you about one of the more scandalous theories, I have to give you some context. Back in 2006, there was this huge chess cheating scandal involving a chess engine, and it was called, I swear to God, Toilet Gate. Basically, a grandmaster was accused of looking up moves

on his phone during his bathroom breaks. So now, bathroom breaks are heavily restricted and monitored. To cheat at in-person chess today, you need an accomplice who can get you the chess engine suggestions, either through hand signals, an earpiece, or even a buzzer placed strategically on your body. And the internet thinks that Hans used a buzzer to cheat, and there are many theories about where he placed it.

One in particular grips the cultural imagination, and the theory is that Hans cheated using wireless anal beads. Yeah, that makes total sense to me. I do remember seeing this when this story got picked up in mainstream news. And I remember thinking, yeah, I mean, that's where people hide stuff all the time. That's true. Like, it's a classic hiding spot in your body. It's notorious, yes. Well, later that day, chess.com emails Hans to say they're suspending his account and rescinding his invitation to their global championship.

He no longer has a shot at the $1 million prize fund. Hans is shocked. He knows he has to get ahead of the scandal before he's blacklisted from even more events and his whole career goes up in flames. So he tries to defend himself in a long, rambling interview with the St. Louis Chess Club. He swears repeatedly that he didn't cheat against Magnus. And he says he's devastated that Magnus, of all people, has put him in this position.

To see my absolute hero try to ruin my reputation, ruin my chess career, and to do it in such a frivolous way is really, really disappointing. Han says that he'll do anything to prove his innocence. He even offers to play in a zero electric transmission box or stripped naked. He also admits that he cheated twice,

online, at ages 12 and 16. But he swears that he never cheated while streaming or in tournaments with prize money. Hahn says that he would never cheat an in-person chess. It's the worst thing he could ever do. He must be hoping that his honesty will win people over and allow him to get back to playing chess. But Magnus isn't going to let this go. The men of professional chess are messy, and the drama is just the beginning. I'm Dan Tbersky. In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York.

I was like at my locker and she came up to me and she was like stuttering super bad. I'm like, stop f***ing around. She's like I can't. A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms and spreading fast. It's like doubling and tripling and it's all these girls. With a diagnosis the state tried to keep on the down low. Everybody thought I was holding something back. Well you were holding something back. And tension eye.

Yeah, yeah, well, yeah. No, it's hysteria. It's all in your head. It's not physical. Oh my gosh, you're exaggerating. Is this the largest mass hysteria since the witches of Salem? Or is it something else entirely? Something's wrong here. Something's not right. Leroy was the new dateline and everyone was trying to solve the murder.

A new limited series from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios. Hysterical. Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus. And I feel like a legend Less than two weeks after Hans beat Magnus in the Singfield Cup, the rivals are scheduled

to play each other again in an online tournament. Hans hopes he'll be able to put the cheating speculation behind him. But that's not what happens. Sarah, take a look at this clip of Chess24's commentators as the game begins. I don't think he cheated in the Singfield Cup, but everything else is still up in the air. Oh, sorry Alejandro. Sorry Alejandro, I just have to interrupt you because the game started and Magnus has logged off. What's happened? Magnus has resigned.

After making one move, Magnus stages a protest. He just logs off. Hans is left stunned and disappointed, blinking at the screen. Magnus goes on to win the whole tournament, even after forfeiting the game with Hans. It's not only humiliating for Hans, it's also furthering speculation that he is a cheater, which is now threatening his entire career. But then things get even worse for Hans. Magnus releases a lengthy statement on Twitter clarifying his protest, saying explicitly that he thinks Hans is a cheater.

Sarah, can you read this excerpt from his tweet? Yes, he goes, "'I believe that Neiman has cheated more "'and more recently than he has publicly admitted. "'His over-the-board progress has been unusual "'and throughout our game in the Sinkfield Cup, "'I had the impression that he wasn't tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions while outplaying me as Black in a way I think only a handful of players

can do. He goes on to write, We must do something about cheating. And for my part going forward, I don't want to play against people who have cheated repeatedly in the past because I don't know what they are capable of doing in the future. Wow, I mean this guy, he is the pro of the world. I guess if you know you really are the best you can pull shit like that, you know? Yeah. Well, Magnus wields a lot of influence and Hans is worried now that he won't get invited to tournaments where Magnus is competing,

which is basically every worthwhile tournament. There goes his potential prize money, the sponsors and the clout. And if chess.com bans him, he'll lose his main ability to stream and connect with fans. PlayMagnus and chess.com are the two biggest online sites in chess, and now they're merging and they're shutting Hans out.

And meanwhile, Hikaru keeps analyzing Hans' past games and insinuating that Hans is a cheater in front of his millions of fans. Is Hans the greatest Chess World of all time? Someone who did not really show glimpses of brilliance in the high 2400s suddenly becoming the absolute best player of all time? Something just clicked randomly at the age of 17, or is something going on? Hans is getting Chess World cancelled, even though there's no concrete evidence that he cheated, as he says in an interview with the St. Louis Chess Club. The question is, why are you going to remove me from Chess.com right after I beat Magnus? Just what's with the timing? And FIDE seems to share Hans's concerns. It issues a statement calling Magnus out, saying

it strongly believes that there were better ways to handle this situation. And they announced that they're starting their own official investigation into the matter. Chess players and fans hope that their investigation will come down definitively on either Hans' or Magnus' side and settle the controversy for good. But things are about to get much worse, because Chess.com isn't going to sit back and let Hans accuse them of colluding to wipe him from the Chess world map. They're sitting on some shocking information

that might undermine Hans' claim that he is the victim. A month after Hans' fall from grace, Chess.com releases a report is the victim. A month after Hans' fall from grace, chess.com releases a report detailing his past behavior on the site. The report alleges that he cheated on over 100 games, which is way, way more than what Hans copped to. And contrary to what Hans claimed, they say that he actually did cheat while live streaming

and in games for prize money. They say he didn't do anything super smart or sophisticated. He just kept second screening. But all those instances of cheating are from before Hans was briefly banned from the site when he was 17. So they don't contradict what Hans has always claimed. That he never cheated in person and he never cheated once he earned the title of Grandmaster. This is such an unnecessary shit show. But I do think at the end of the day, it should have been known earlier, like even if he was very young, like it's a part of someone's history that they cheated, even if he never

cheats again, I think people playing with him should know. Well, that's true. I agree. But Hans' claims are also sort of supported by a guy named Ken Regan. He's a computer science professor from the University of Buffalo. He developed the only system approved by FIDE to find cheaters in in-person play. He analyzed all of Hans' in-person games after August 2020 and says there's no concrete evidence that Hans cheated.

But others, like Magnus and Chess.com, believe that the proof is circumstantial. In its report, Chess.com pointed to Hansa's shockingly rapid rise in the FIDE ratings. Plus, the report says that Hansa's strength scores went down significantly after the Sinkfield Cup enacted the 50-minute broadcast delay. A strength score basically determines how strong of a game you played compared to the best moves determined by a chess engine. So this could mean that Hans was weaker because cheating got harder, or it could just mean that he cracked under the pressure of the chess world calling him a cheater.

As the speculation continues, the pieces on Hans' metaphorical chessboard just keep could just mean that he cracked under the pressure of the chess world calling him a cheater. As the speculation continues, the pieces on Hans' metaphorical chessboard just keep falling. A teenage grandmaster cancels a highly anticipated game with Hans in Germany. The Tata Steel Tournament, often referred to as the Wimbledon of chess, totally ghosts Hans and stops responding to him about their 2023 event. Things are so bad that Hans can't even land a teaching gig at a school. His passion and his livelihood is all vanishing in front of his eyes.

He's sick of being a pawn in the chess establishment's game. So he fights back and files a defamation suit against Magnus, Chess.com, and Hikaru, and he demands $100 million in damages. $100 million in damages? That's insane. It's a lot of money. It's too much money. Well, Magnus, Chess.com, and Hikaru

all quickly file motions to dismiss the lawsuit. All of them declined to comment for this episode, citing the ongoing lawsuit. A representative from Ch chess.com wrote to us, saying, We hope to have that dismissed soon and will then be able to talk about it more openly. And because our legal system is even slower than a chess game, they're all still waiting for a court date.

Since the lawsuit's filing, Hans has gone uncharacteristically silent. He's been quiet on social media and he hasn't played a FIDE sanctioned chess game in months. And meanwhile, Magnus is still the number one ranked player in the world. Puma even sent him custom shoes to help promote their brand partnership. At the same time, Hikaru creeps closer and closer to 2 million followers on Twitch and YouTube every day. And Chess.com recently passed a new benchmark of having over 10 million active players in a single day. And chess.com recently passed a new benchmark of having over 10 million active players in a single day. As the court date looms and the FIDE investigation drags on, the chess world is left in limbo, watching grown men

bickering over a game that the app on their phone could beat them at every time. This story is far from a clear checkmate, Sarah. I think maybe it's just a draw. Sarah, should I assume that you'll be buying a chess board and boring me with the details of how chess works? No, I don't think it's for me. My chess journey's over. It started and ended with this episode. Well, I'm curious, I mean, do you think Hans was a cheater or was he like an underdog that

got crushed by the big guy? I think Hans was absolutely a cheater. I think there's only a debate as to whether or not he cheated because like even though everything is pointing towards that direction, you cannot really accuse someone of cheating unless there's concrete evidence, you cannot really accuse someone of cheating unless there's concrete evidence, you know? But also, everything he did was so out of the ordinary. Like, it doesn't match anything that's ever happened. It's not even like an underdog who came from nothing and was always good at chess. It's kind of like, yeah, all those points that Hikaru was making

are extremely valid. Like, this isn't how it would happen if someone was like that, like some sort of prodigy, you know? To me, the most compelling piece of evidence is them saying that when they put in the 50 minute delay, he got worse. I do think, you know, he probably really does love chess and is probably better than most people on earth at chess. I don't think he could cheat that well and just be totally bad at it or average at it

even. But also, he's kind of like a cartoon villain, you know? I think he got really obsessed with what he perceived to be the coolest thing he could do, which is be very good at chess and go against his idol. This story to me feels like a testament to wanting everything immediately. Hans was so young. He had so much time to beat Magnus. He had so much time to become really good.

If he had just stayed focused on the actual work and the actual... the skill of chess, frankly, he probably would have gotten to a point where he would have beat Magnus, but instead, he's known as the guy who may or may not have put, like, a butt plug in his anus so that he could cheat in a live match. What a grisly legacy to leave behind.

It is a very grisly legacy, but at the end of the day, what Hans wanted was a legacy. And, you know, I love rooting for an underdog. But again, even if he's not cheating, which I think is highly unlikely, he just he has bad energy. I don't like the way he talks. Like, you know, being someone who's pleasant to a degree and able to balance that kind of arrogance that people think Magnus Carlsen has. He just doesn't have the alchemy of it right.

And I think that's his biggest failure is that he like created this character that's very unlikable. And I think if you want to scam properly, you have to play the likability game a bit, you know? Yeah, correct. Absolutely. It really expedites the sunlight that gets shown on your scam.

The worse you are, the faster people will figure out that you are lying. Absolutely. And that is why no one has ever figured out that you and I have been pulling scams this whole time. Oh, because you're so nice to people. Because I'm such a sweetie. Everybody's always talking about it. Like behind my back, I was like, oh my gosh, she's so notoriously genteel.

Sure, yeah. That's the that's the world we live in. Is it not? That's the reality I'm in, baby. If you like Scamplincerz, you can listen to every episode early and ad-free right now by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondry.com slash survey. This is the Chess Cheater. I'm Saatchi Cole.

And I'm Sarah Hegge. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at scamfluencers at Wondery.com. We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were, he's the bad Boy of Chess, but did he cheat?

by David Seagal and Dylan Loeb McLean for the New York Times. And the question behind the Magnus Carlsen, Hans Nieman drama, How to Cheat at Chess? by Joshua Robinson and Andrew Beaton for the Wall Street Journal. Rachel Borders wrote this episode.

Additional writing by us, Saatchi Cole and Sarah Hagge. Our senior producer is Jen Swan. Journal. Fact Checking by Will Tavlin. Additional audio assistance provided by Adrian Tapia. Our music supervisor is Scott Velazquez for Freeze On Sync. Our senior managing producer is Tanja Thigpen. Our managing producer is Matt Gant. Our coordinating producer is Desi Blaylock. Kate Young and Olivia Richard are our series producers. Our senior story editor is Rachel B. Doyle.

Our senior producer is Ginny Bloom. Our executive producers are Janine Cornelow, Stephanie Jens, Jenny Lauer Beckman, and Marshall Louie. Go Wondry. ["Wonder"] My name is Georgia King and I am thrilled to be the host of And Away We Go, a brand new travel podcast on Wondry+, where we'll be whisked away on immersive adventures all around the world.

Where we go, what we do, what we eat, drink, and listen to will all be up to my very special guests. We've got Ben Schwartz taking us on a whirlwind trip around Disneyland. We'll eat a bowl of life-changing pasta with Jimmy Oh Yang in Tuscany, Italy. And how do you feel about a spot of sugaring off with Emily Hampshire in Montreal?

And away we go, we'll immerse you in some of the wonders of the world. We're gonna be seeing some yellows and vibrant oranges. And the shoes clicking against the cobblestone. If you're looking to get somebody in the mood, have them look at the Chicago skyline. You can listen to And Away We Go exclusively with Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

Georgia, do you know what joy sounds like? I think I'm hearing it right now.