Hans Niemann slams 'usual suspects within chess mafia' for rumours over exit from Freestyle Paris Grand Slam

Controversial American Grandmaster Niemann added that he intended to fulfill his obligation of undergoing a polygraph test after losing to Russian Grandmaster Daniil Dubov recently, adding that it was cancelled for “logistical reasons”.

American Grandmaster Hans Niemann had staged a last-minute withdrawal from the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, where his face-off against world No 1 Magnus Carlsen was among the biggest talking points in the build-up to the event. Niemann, however, did not provide any explanation for his sudden withdrawal on the even of the tournament and his silence only served to fuel rumours.

Norwegian broadcaster TV 2 claiming he was spooked by the heightened anti-cheating measures that were introduced for the second leg of the inaugural Grand Slam Tour. Freestyle Chess co-founder Jan Henric Buettner chose not to speculate over Niemann’s withdrawal but confirmed the introduction of new anti-cheating measures.

Niemann, who had been accused of cheating by Carlsen in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup that led to a $100 million lawsuit and fractured relations with the Norwegian Grandmaster among others ever since, finally broke his silence on his Paris withdrawal on Monday.

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