Hans Niemann is back. The American grandmaster drew worldwide attention last year when he was alleged to have cheated by Magnus Carlsen. Niemann responded with a $100 million defamation lawsuit against various parties. That was dismissed by a federal judge in June, though Niemann could still have pursued some of his claims in a state court.

But in late August, the website Chess.com (one of the defendants) released a joint statement with Hans Niemann and Magnus Carlsen to move on from the issue. What a delicate compromise it was! Chess.com reinstated Niemann to their platform, but stood by their October 2022 report, which set out the case that Niemann had cheated extensively online. Carlsen acknowledged the report, ‘including the statement that there is no determinative evidence that Niemann cheated in his game against me at the Sinquefield Cup’. He also stated that he is willing to play Niemann in future events. Niemann made it clear that the issue was resolved. And they all lived happily ever after.

Or perhaps not. One need hardly read between the lines to see the phrase ‘no determinative evidence’ as a sign that Carlsen does not wish to retract his allegation. Just days after the statement, he made an oblique comment which appeared to hint that he still regards Niemann as a bad influence (while avoiding naming him directly).

The partial rapprochement must be welcome to Niemann, but the controversy will linger. While streaming on Twitch, he challenged Vladimir Kramnik to a casual blitz game on Chess.com. Niemann expressed great admiration for the former world champion, before outplaying him in a Ruy Lopez Berlin endgame (see below).

In the second game, Kramnik displayed his disgust by inviting Fool’s Mate (1 e4 f6 2 d4 g5), whereupon Niemann resigned instead of executing the mate with 3 Qh5#. Not long after, Kramnik released a video about the first game, explaining that it had made a puzzling impression on him, with an insinuation that something might be amiss. The gist of his argument was that Niemann’s play was oddly inconsistent – some phases of the game were executed flawlessly, while at other moments he failed to follow up in ways that Kramnik would regard as obvious, or spent more time than would be expected on decisions which an elite player would regard as trivial.

I didn’t buy it at all – Kramnik’s account suggested confirmation bias more than analytical rigour. Nevertheless, given the amount of online cheating alleged in Chess.com’s report, even from some years ago, Niemann should not expect his opponents to treat him as a clean slate. But this game was no smoking gun. It wasn’t even a water pistol.

VladimirKramnik-HansOnTwitch

Chess.com Blitz, 2 Sep 2023

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nf6 4 O-O Nxe4 5 d4 Nd6 6 Bxc6 dxc6 7 dxe5 Nf5 8 Qxd8+ Kxd8 9 h3 Be7 10 Nc3 Nh4 11 Nxh4 Bxh4 12 Be3 h5 13 Rad1+ Ke8 14 Ne2 Bf5 15 Nd4 Bd7 16 f4 c5 17 Nf3 Be7 18 Rfe1 Bf5 19 c4 Rd8 20 b3 b6 21 Bf2 h4 22 Rxd8+ Kxd8 23 Rd1+ Kc8 24 Kf1 a5 25 Ke2 Kb7 26 Rd2 Kc6 27 a4 Kb7 28 Ke3 Rh5 29 Re2 Kc8 30 Ng5 f6 31 exf6 Bxf6 32 Ne4 Bd4+ 33 Kf3 Rh8 34 Ng5 Bf6 35 Rd2 Bd7 36 Be3 Re8 37 Kf2 Bf5 38 Nf3 Bc3 39 Rd1 Bf6 40 Rd2 Kb8 41 Re2 Rd8 42 Rd2 Rxd2+ 43 Nxd2 Bc2 44 Ke2 Kc8 45 Bf2 Kd7 46 Nf3 Bxb3 47 Kd3 Bxa4 48 Bxh4 Bc6 49 Bxf6 gxf6 50 Nh4 a4 51 g4 Be4+ 52 Kc3 c6 53 g5 fxg5 54 fxg5 Ke6 55 g6 Kf6 White resigns