The allegations of cheating against grandmaster Hans Niemann have been making waves in the chess world for weeks. Now there is an unusual offer to get rid of them.
The scandal surrounding the victory of promoted Hans Niemann over Magnus Carlsen, who was seen as unbeatable, is getting bigger and bigger. Because Niemann surprisingly won against Carlsen and had already cheated in the past, there are serious allegations of fraud. Oh Carlsen, who had previously held back, is now speaking openly about it. Ironically, a sex site now wants to bring the solution.
One of the biggest strip sites wrote to Niemann in a letter – and initially congratulated him on his unexpected victory. “It’s a shame that the chess community ridicules alleged cheating. It’s just ridiculous that it’s being claimed that you used vibrating cordless anal beads to gain the upper hand.” This claim is indeed made by some, how serious it is is another question. In any case, the strip site has a suggestion on how Niemann could refute the allegations: he should play a game naked in front of the camera.
Expensive nude event
Of course not for free. The site wants to pay a million dollars for the campaign as long as Niemann plays the match naked in the stream all the time. “After all, you have already announced that you also want to play naked to refute the allegations of fraud,” the letter refers to a statement by Niemann. “Prove their haters wrong.”
Exactly how Niemann is said to have cheated is controversial. In addition to the supposed anal straps, less absurd methods such as a hidden Morse signal via the shoes are also being considered. However, there is no concrete evidence against him. The suspicion arose because Carlsen played an unusual opening, which was countered perfectly by Niemann. Because Niemann couldn’t explain his moves credibly afterwards and Carlsen stopped the tournament with a cryptic justification, the accusation of cheating became louder and louder.
“Biggest mistake of my life”
In fact, Niemann has admitted to cheating twice in online tournaments growing up, calling it “the biggest mistake of my life”. In recent years and at face-to-face events, however, he has never done that. Carlsen obviously doesn’t believe him. He explained that his opponent has cheated more times than he would like to admit, and more recently too. “I hope the truth will come out, whatever it may be,” he said.
Whether Niemann will actually sit down naked in front of a camera – let alone that of the strip portal – is another matter. The chess player ignored a request from Vice magazine. But that may also have been due to the smug tone of the letter. For the site it should have been about PR anyway. The journalist Jeffrey Toobin, who was thrown out by his employer for masturbating during a video call, also received an offer from the portal. And ultimately didn’t accept it.
Those: Vice