Chess player Hans Niemann has broken his silence after being accused of widespread cheating – claiming he “won’t back down”.

The 19-year-old was asked about the “elephant in the room” after winning a US Championship game in St Louis on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a Chess.com investigation found it is “likely” Niemann has cheated in more than 100 online games.

It came after the teenager beat 31-year-old world champion Magnus Carlsen – considered the greatest player of all time – sending shockwaves throughout world chess.

Carlsen then accused Niemann of cheating, abandoning a game against him after just one move.

But addressing the cheating scandal for the first time in a month, Niemann told an interviewer in St Louis: “This game is a message to everyone.

“This entire thing started with me saying ‘chess speaks for itself’ and I think this game spoke for itself and showed the chess player I am.

US vice president Kamala Harris involved in car accident which Secret Service initially described as a ‘mechanical failure’

Alec Baldwin Rust settlement has ‘no impact’ on criminal investigation, prosecutors say

Bodies of missing family kidnapped at gunpoint in California found in orchard

“It also showed I’m not going to back down and I’m going to play my best chess here regardless of the pressure.”

Niemann walks out

The 19-year-old then walked out of the interview, adding: “You can leave it to your own interpretation, but thank you, that’s it.”

And when the reporter tried to ask him more questions on the game itself, he said: “That’s all I can say, because it was such a beautiful game I don’t even need to describe it.”

Chess.com, which has banned Niemann, is the world’s most popular chess platform and used detection tools and analysis of a player’s moves against those recommended by computers to put together its report.

The investigation found no evidence of face-to-face cheating by Niemann against Carlsen or in any other in-person games.

But it did suggest widespread cheating online.

Read more:
Famous cheating scandals that have rocked sport

The platform said it wanted to “make clear” the “vast majority” of games do not involve “any cheating”, stating “we estimate that fewer than 0.14% of players on Chess.com ever cheat”.

The International Chess Federation, the sport’s governing body, has said it will convene a three-person panel to look into the cheating allegations.

Cheating scandals have also rocked poker and fishing recently.

Two men in the US has been accused of inserting weights into fish to make them appear heavier, while a Los Angeles poker game was stopped after a player suggested an impressive bluff was the result of a vibrating communication device.

Related posts:

Ukrainian president visits eastern frontline as tensions rise with Russia Maori MP thrown out of NZ parliament for doing haka Israel still in grips of political crisis as violence escalates on both sides Inside the abandoned US detention centre where Afghan terror suspects were ‘tortured’ ‘One of the scariest few minutes of my life’: How tornadoes have ripped apart lives and livelihoods Zelenskyy tells UN Security Council Russia wants to turn Ukrainian people into ‘silent slaves’ Anti-mafia lawyer shot dead in beach ambush during honeymoon – hours after baby announcement ‘Biggest emergency incident’ declared in North Korea after first official COVID infections confirmed Body of ‘hero’ British father found in Italian lake after he jumped from boat to save son Freed POW says his Russian captors ‘punched him on nose’ when they found out he was British North Korea tests missile as US aircraft carrier arrives for military drills Marathon sensation Kipchoge smashes his own world record