Investigation suggests cheating in over 100 online chess games, but mystery remains

An investigation by Chess.com, the world’s largest chess website, concluded that American Hans Niemann, 19, has likely cheated in more than 100 online games through at least 2020.

The site’s 72-page report adds a new chapter to a month-long controversy that has even involved accusations of using an anal device to communicate the best plays in face-to-face matches.

The case came to light when Magnus Carlsen, 31, lost to Niemann in a tournament held in the US in early September. After the match, Carlsen, who is the world champion, hinted that his opponent had cheated. Three weeks later, he made explicit accusations to that effect.

Niemann, the few times he spoke on the subject, denied any fraud against Carlsen or in face-to-face matches. The young man admitted to cheating in online games until he was 16, but only a few times and never in serious tournaments, except for a cash competition when he was 12.

The document released by Chess.com contradicts part of this story, as it says that the American is likely to have cheated in several tournaments with prize money and that he was 17 years old in his most recent suspicious games – not to mention that more than 100 games are not “few times”.

Niemann has not yet commented on these statements, but two years ago, in conversation with the site, he would have recognized some of the frauds and pledged not to repeat them.

To conclude that Niemann likely received illegal help, the site used a variety of techniques to detect cheating.

One of the ways is to analyze the player’s performance when he is switching windows on the computer. If his plays are better when he does this, it is considered an indication that he is accessing software to find out what the best move is.

It is also possible to identify evidence of fraud by comparing the moves made by a player and those suggested by chess software – nowadays, computers are able to point out the ideal, or almost ideal, move at every moment of the game.

While it is possible for a human being to make a long string of ideal plays, or even for an entire game to do so, it is almost impossible for them to maintain that performance for long.

In addition, there is a certain correlation between the chess player’s level and the quality of his moves: the better he is, the more often he can approach the move recommended by the computer.

Thus, if a chess player makes a number of moves considered perfect above what would be expected for his level, there is a sign that something is wrong.

According to the investigation by Chess.com, the two methodologies indicate suspicious behavior on the part of Niemann – in these cases, the player can be banned from the site, and that’s what happened to the American in the past.

Despite this, the report always uses words like “suspect” and “probably” before talking about cheating because the analysis is based on evidence. That is, Niemann was never caught red-handed.

For that same reason, the mystery of Niemann’s performance in face-to-face games has yet to be solved. He had the fastest rise in history in the ranking that measures the level of chess players and achieved suspicious results, such as the victory over Carlsen, but he never identified where the cheat was.

Known cases of fraud in face-to-face games have involved a player receiving guidance through a headset, or looking at his cell phone in the bathroom to consult the best bid on a computer.

None of this happened with Niemann. And since he’s been subjected to searches and metal detectors before matches, he needs to have a device well hidden in his body to be able to cheat.