Since the beginning of September, the normally glamorous world of competitive chess has been mired in bitterness and suspicion. There were allegations and admissions of fraud. There have been (probably erroneous) claims about vibrating anal beads. Extensive lawsuits have been filed. Most of the world’s news agencies got involved. And taking center stage is Hans Moke Niemann, a 19-year-old US chess prodigy.
Niemann’s meteoric rise in world chess was capped by a surprise victory over five-time reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, the highest-ranked chess player in history. Carlsen didn’t like what he saw and indicated he thought something inappropriate was going on before taking it a step further and speaking it out head on.
In an impassioned defense, Niemann hit back at his critics, admitting to cheating twice in online games at ages 12 and 16, calling it “the biggest single mistake of my life” and saying that “that’s the full truth… would like to.” me to see if everyone else can actually tell their truth.”
Shortly thereafter, Chess.com published an extremely sharp report, indicating that Niemann had probably cheated in more than 100 games – including prize money events and live-streamed games, some against the world’s best players.
Now, six weeks later, the 19-year-old is pursuing his truth for $100 million in damages with a lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com and popular chess streamer Hikaru Nakamura. Niemann says he was defamed and blacklisted from the sport. The other parties believe, in the words of Carlsen, that “Niemann has cheated more – and more recently – than he has publicly admitted”.
Hans Niemann in a game in October 2022, the day after a press conference where he said he would “not back down”. (Photo by TIM VIZER/AFP via Getty Images)
At the heart of this whole mess is really this concept of “truth”. Niemann has maintained his version of it, particularly in a Sept. 7 interview — “Much has been speculated and much has been said, and I think I’m the only one who knows the truth,” he said emphatically. Niemann claims he’s never been cheated in over-the-board games (as opposed to online) and independent judges tend to agree, although there’s much smoke about the integrity of his results through 2020.
But is Hans Niemann a reliable narrator? And more importantly, why are we writing about him (again) at CyclingTips?
The answer: Before Niemann was a chess prodigy, he was apparently a top cyclist on the national stage.
Was he as good as he claims? Well – that depends on your version of the truth.
See for yourself in front of Utrecht
When Hans Niemann suddenly became a household name that year, his past records as a chess player were scoured by grandmasters, fans and the media trying to find out where he came from and if his rise was credible.
Niemann’s rise has been rapid and he’s still a teenager, but chess-wise he’s seen as something of a late bloomer. Where this talent germinated was in Utrecht in the Netherlands, where Niemann’s family once lived.
His parents – one Danish, one Hawaiian – were expats working in the IT industry and their son started taking chess lessons at the age of eight. At this point, it wasn’t just chess that had his attention.
(Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
According to newspaper De Volkskrant, “He also liked to get on his racing bike to compete.” Meanwhile, according to Niemann, “He made much faster progress [in cycling]’ than in chess. For the duration of his time living and riding in the Netherlands, Niemann sat in the two youngest age categories and held a license from the Royal Netherlands Cycling Union (KNWU) for two years in 2011 and 2012.
In the Netherlands, “from the age of 8 it’s possible to race and be as competitive as you want,” a KNWU spokesman told me when asked if the focus in the youth ranks was competitive or developmental. “Some riders focus on results from a young age, others need and/or take more time.”
Niemann seems to have fallen into the former category. In a 2020 article he wrote for the US Chess Federation, he said, “I’ve always been a goal-oriented person. I raced bikes in the Netherlands and was one of the top cyclists in the country for my age when I returned to California, so my competitive spirit has always been what motivates me in everything.”
A youth race at Niemann’s old club WV Het Stadion. Photo: wvhetstadion.nl
‘One of the nation’s best cyclists’ is an ambiguous statement and the wording is a bit vague – it’s not clear if he was referring to his results in the Netherlands at the time or his return to the US, and not a numerical one there Ranking. Regardless of whether it’s the Netherlands, we have a problem: De Volkskrant said: “His claim that he is one of the best in his age group in the Netherlands is difficult to verify. There are no results on the internet that suggest this.”
So what do we know about Hans Niemann’s cycling in the Netherlands? Well, he rode for WV Het Stadion Club to start with – a club that bills itself as “the nicest* cycling club in Utrecht”. [* and also the sportiest, most beautiful, most versatile and nicest cycling association in the Domstad]“.
The only results from Niemann that CyclingTips were able to locate were from the 2012 National Championships – five laps of a short circuit totaling 7km, where Niemann went in a minute behind the winner in 25th in a 12.5 minute race Target came 35 participants.
He was soon gone, leaving behind a string of chess teachers in Utrecht who remember him as “very fanatical” in his drive, coupled with a “very angry” streak when he lost. A request to WV Het Stadion for information about his time at the cycling club went unanswered.
Hans Niemann, October 2022. (Photo by TIM VIZER/AFP via Getty Images)
California dreams
At the end of 2012, the Niemanns had left the Netherlands and returned to California, where he continued cycling until 2013. He was not affiliated with any club or team for most of his races, however until June and July this year – his last competitions – more than half a year after leaving the country he will be driving for WV Het Stadion, his old Dutch association, listed.
There is evidence of young Niemann’s technological interest in the sport. He was an extremely early adopter of Strava, logging a ride for the first time in February 2012 (he only followed one rider, Joe Dombrowski, and Niemann’s account has long been dormant). But there is much more recent evidence that Niemann is using his cycling background to build his mythology.
In April 2021, Niemann shared his life story with Chess Life Magazine, a long monologue with a very specific claim – both numerically and geographically – at the beginning. “After my first return to the States, I continued to cycle and found myself in third place nationally for my age,” says Niemann. Aside from the oddly passive sentence construction, this statement is sharper than what he said a year earlier and easier to refute.
Hans Niemann was the cover star of Chess Life magazine, where he spoke about his cycling experience.
So was he the third best cyclist of his age in the US?
Nothing in the USA Cycling database results appears to support this statement. At the Northern California Nevada Cycling Association District Track Championships, he finished fifth out of five riders in all six races. At the Valley of the Sun Road Race, he finished sixth out of eight overall. In 24 races that he started through the 2013 season, Niemann did not claim a win. Of his eight podium finishes, only two races had more than three riders.
USA Cycling’s rankings are constantly being calculated and evolving, but based on that evidence, it’s difficult to see Niemann as one of the top-ranked riders his age in his state, let alone the nation. No appearances at national championships, few departures from the California cycling bubble, no sign of the anointing of a future cycling star.
Which, to be clear, really doesn’t matter – forensic analysis of a child’s race results is not what youth competitions should be about. “While USA Cycling offers competitive opportunities for juniors under the age of 12,” a spokesperson told me, “we believe at that age it’s all about developing skills and making sure they’re having fun on the bike.”
And in July 2013, Hans Niemann seems to have stopped enjoying the bike, or found something in chess that drives him more – “I quit cycling and really focused on chess,” he said of a 10 -year-old version of themselves who already saw the game as a “career”.
The world’s best chess star Magnus Carlsen from Norway at a tournament in 2022. He is now facing a $100 million lawsuit from Hans Niemann, who believes he has been defamed. (Photo by OLAF KRAAK/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
The end of the street
That brings us to the end of Hans Niemann’s foray into cycling – his dalliance with the sport, which is remarkable for its inconspicuousness. And that’s okay. Kids start driving and kids stop. Children win races and children don’t. Children make up cheeky stories in the playground. Sometimes children are told that they are special and some of them probably internalize it, blurring the lines between truth and fiction.
But if you look at things a certain way – when a kid grows up to be the most controversial chess player in the world, betting his reputation and millions of dollars on the absolute truth of his words and actions – an inflated string of cycling results from a decade ago is something to behold less banal and a little more instructive.