10/19/2022 – Going into Wednesday’s final round, Fabiano Caruana and Irina Krush are sole leaders in the open and women’s sections of the U.S. Championships, respectively. Ray Robson, Leinier Dominguez and Awonder Liang still have chances of catching Caruana in the open, while Jennifer Yu and Thalia Cervantes stand a half point behind Krush and will face each other in the thirteenth round. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/17/2022 – There are several ways to check a player's performance using an engine. One is to simply ask an engine to analyze every move and highlight every disagreement however small. Another is to use the tool in ChessBase and Fritz known as Let's Check. Here are the results from the recent Sinquefield Cup including a 100% match and the curiously high results by...

10/16/2022 – The one decisive result in round 10 of the U.S. Championship saw Hans Niemann beating Elshan Moradiabadi with the black pieces. Fabiano Caruana continues to be the sole leader going into the second rest day of the 13-round tournament. In the women’s section, Thalia Cervantes and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova both scored with the black pieces. Jennifer Yu is still topping the standings. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/14/2022 – Under the name "C-Squared" Fabiano Caruana and Cristian Chirila recently launched a new chess podcast. Episode five featured Alejandro Ramirez, Costa Rica's first grandmaster, ChessBase author, trainer and popular commentator. The three talked about Ramirez's career, chess in Costa Rica, but above all about the Hans Niemann case. Asked whether he believes Niemann cheated when playing over-the-board, Ramirez said: "It does seem very likely."

10/13/2022 – After Maxim Dlugy's recent statement on the actions that brought him into the spotlight, suggesting a connection with the accusations Magnus Carlsen had initially made against Hans Niemann. In an interview with DER SPIEGEL, Europe's most influential news magazine and portal, Max speaks of those accusations for the first time and discusses whether he will take legal action.

10/11/2022 – While the World Champion made his position on Hans Niemann quite clear, a later Tweet openly suggested that GM Dlugy had had a role in it as Hans Niemann's 'mentor'. Shortly thereafter, Chess.com shared emails with Dlugy with the press. GM Dlugy has now released a very long and detailed statement regarding multiple aspects, including the accusations as well as his role and impressions of Hans Niemann.

10/6/2022 – Hans Niemann and Sam Sevian kicked off the U.S. Championship with wins, as they defeated Christopher Yoo and Elshan Moradiabadi in the first round of the 14-player event. True to his style, Niemann was laconic in the post-game interview, noting that “chess spoke for itself” and that the game was so beautiful he did not even need to describe it. In the women’s event, four players scored full points, including Alice Lee, who is playing her first national championship. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

10/5/2022 – A few hours ago, the Wall Street Journal published a lengthy article sharing the findings emerging from an investigation conducted by chess.com. According to the piece, chess.com asserts that Hans Niemann “likely received illegal assistance in more than 100 online games, as recently as 2020”, including in many tournaments with prize money on the line. Niemann did not respond to requests for comments.

10/4/2022 – There is a sense of frustration at this stage by parties wide and large, and while the quote in the headline will hit closer to home for chess players, the venerable British newspaper 'The Guardian' also took an unprecedented step by declaring their own official position regarding the entire scandal.

10/4/2022 – The cheating accusations against Hans Niemann continue to make waves. To check these accusations, a number of chess players have statistically analysed Niemann's games with the help of computer programmes. The latest research comes from the Brazilian streamer, programmer and data analyst "Rafaelvleite". He comes to the conclusion that Niemann's play "after 2018 shows unexpected" results "not compatible with" a rating of 2700. Here are excerpts from his article about his research.

9/26/2022 – A day after getting a convincing victory at the Generation Cup, as he anticipated, Magnus Carlsen has shared a public statement regarding the polemic surrounding his withdrawal from the Sinquefield Cup and his quick resignation against Hans Niemann. The world champion wrote: “I believe that Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted”. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

9/20/2022 – It is the story that refuses to die, and with the renewed silent protest by World Champion Magnus Carlsen it is little wonder too. Could he be justified in these dramatic gestures? The world's greatest expert on cheating detection in chess, Professor Kenneth Regan, has analyzed all of Hans Niemann's games over the last two years, online and offline, and renders his verdict.

9/20/2022 – The much anticipated direct encounter between Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann, following Carlsen’s sudden withdrawal from the Sinquefield Cup, took place in round 6 of the Generation Cup. The game was indeed played, but it lasted only two moves, as Carlsen resigned with black after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4. It was yet another unfortunate incident, which leaves the chess world wondering when this whole passive-aggressive quarrel will come to an end. Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi climbed to sole first place after grabbing two wins and two draws in rounds 5 to 8.

9/8/2022 – In the last few days the chess world has been in enormous upheaval after the World Champion Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup in protest after three rounds, with an unspoken accusation of cheating of the player who had defeated him, US rising star Hans Niemann. Lines were drawn, accusations made and defenses stated. Here is a full overview of both sides of this explosive controversy.

9/7/2022 – Following Magnus Carlsen’s intriguing withdrawal, the Sinquefield Cup continued in Saint Louis, now as a 9-player single round-robin. All four games finished drawn in round 5, with Wesley So keeping the sole lead after splitting the point with Levon Aronian. Wendesday is a much-needed rest day, as we look forward to impressive chess games regaining centre stage as soon as possible. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

9/6/2022 – For the first time in his career, world champion Magnus Carlsen has withdrawn from a professional tournament. Before the start of the Sinquefield Cup’s fourth round, the Norwegian shared his decision on Twitter, adding a short clip in which football coach José Mourinho says, “If I speak I’m in big trouble”. Since the withdrawal came before the halfway point, Carlsen’s results will not be considered. As for the chess, round 4 saw Fabiano Caruana beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, while Wesley So is now the sole leader with 2½/4 points. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

9/5/2022 – In a shocking development, Hans Niemann, the tournament underdog, defeated Magnus Carlsen with the black pieces to take the sole lead at the Sinquefield Cup. Niemann’s victory prompted him to cross the 2700-rating barrier. Alireza Firouzja and Wesley So also won in round 3, with Firouzja set to face the in-form Niemann in Monday’s fourth round. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

9/4/2022 – Hans Niemann joined Magnus Carlsen in the lead of the Sinquefield Cup by beating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov with the white pieces in Saturday’s second round. The tournament underdog kicked off the event with two whites and is set to face Carlsen with black in round 3. Meanwhile, Ian Nepomniachtchi bounced back from his first-round loss against the world champion by beating the winner of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament, Alireza Firouzja. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

6/17/2022 – Pentala Harikrishna beat Saleh Salem in the penultimate round of the Masters tournament in Prague, thus climbing to the shared lead going into the final day of action. Similarly, in the Challengers, Hans Niemann collected a second win in a row to catch Vincent Keymer and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the lead. Friday’s final round kicks off four hours earlier than usual, at 11.00 CEST. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

6/16/2022 – Le Quang Liem continues to lead the Masters tournament at the Prague Chess Festival, as wins for Saleh Salem and Sam Shankland in round 7 did not affect the status of the fight at the top of the standings table. Meanwhile, in the Challengers, co-leaders Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Vincent Keymer drew their direct encounter. Top seed Hans Niemann scored a full point, and is now in sole third place, a half point behind the leaders. | Pictured: Kamil Warchol, co-leader in the Futures tournament. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

6/14/2022 – All five games finished drawn in round 5 of the Masters section at the Prague Chess Festival, which left Le Quang Liem and Pentala Harikrishna sharing the lead on 3½ points. Meanwhile, in the Challengers, Vincent Keymer kept the sole lead after beating Peter Michalik with the black pieces. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (pictured) also won and is now in sole second place, a half point back. | Photo: Vladimír Jagr

6/2/2022 – Anatoly Karpov and Tigran Petrosian are two Gemini world champions with outstanding positional and defensive skills. Alireza Firouzja and Hans Moke Niemann are also Gemini but will they be able to follow the path of Karpov and Petrosian and become world champion? Gemini are sometimes the fastest thinkers of all the signs of the zodiac, but they sometimes also have to deal with lapses of concentration. | Photo: Pixabay

5/9/2022 – Less than two weeks after winning the Capablanca Memorial, Hans Niemann claimed outright victory at the TePe Sigeman & Co tournament in Malmö. Niemann scored 5/7 points to finish a full point ahead of a three-player chasing pack, which consisted of Michael Adams, Nils Grandelius and Arjun Erigaisi. | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

4/30/2022 – The 55th edition of the Capablanca Memorial took place on April 19-28 at the historic Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana. Hans Niemann from the United States dominated the Elite group, scoring 7½ points in the 10-player single round-robin. The Premier group, a women’s tournament, was similarly dominated by Romanian IM Irina Bulmaga, who also collected 7½ points to finish two points clear of her closest chaser. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club