'Untold: Chess Mates' Recap: Hans Niemann and Magnus Carlsen Clash Once Again

Along with being one of the very best chess players in history, the five-time World Chess Champion, Magnus Carlsen, is also a sometimes erratic character making the headlines for unusual reactions or stunts. Just a few days earlier at the 2026 Grenke Chess Freestyle Open competition, Carlsen allowed his young opponent, Alua Nurman, to take a selfie with him before informing the authorities that she is carrying a phone, which is strictly against the FIDE anti-cheating code. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before Netflix’s Untold came out with a detailed documentary about the 2022 scandal, when Magnus Carlsen accused the American grandmaster, Hans Niemann, of cheating after a shock defeat against him. Chess Mates presents both sides of the story, perhaps wanting us to draw our own conclusions.

How did Hans Niemann bring in American showmanship in chess?

22-year-old American Hans Niemann is an integral part of Chess Mates, and specifically the interviews that are presented in the docufilm, and so the narrative unfolds from his perspective at first. When Hans first told his parents that he wanted to live an independent life at the mere age of 16, and that he wanted to move to New York City to pursue a full-time career as a chess player, they were not very comfortable with the idea. But as he himself states early into the film, the intelligence quotient required to make someone a gifted chess player also often means that they have a very low emotional quotient, and therefore very little concern about their personal relationships. As if bearing testament to the fact, Hans still lives a lonely life, staying in an apartment in NYC all by himself, with a few friends he meets on the weekends. Most of his time is spent in solving chess puzzles and figuring out new chess moves he can use.

Without anyone in his family having played chess professionally, Hans Niemann did not arguably get the support that many of his competitors got from a very young age, and his training in the sport was also not very streamlined. Despite having attended the U.S. Chess School and having trained under international master John Grefe, he did not yet know how to burst onto the scene, until he started receiving invitations to a few youth tournaments. He admits to having gone through interviews of veteran players and studying their moves with a lot of determination, in order to learn new moves and practice them against the computer. Hans realized that he needed to play competitive matches against human opponents, as playing against AI is always limiting, and so he took advantage of the booming world of online chess. The most popular and well-known website for playing online matches against human players, Chess.com, soon came in handy for Hans, and as he realized that he could also develop more than just his skills from this activity, by cultivating some popularity for himself, he started to livestream his matches on Twitch as well.

When the world started to shut down in 2020 due to the global pandemic, and the popularity and active users on Chess.com started to soar, many chess players, like Hans, saw it as an opportunity. Danny Rensch and Eril Allebest, the founders of Chess.com, reveal in the film that the number of daily active users on their site during the pandemic was a few hundred times greater than their monthly users before it. From their perspective, it was the best time to grow, and so they started to conduct tournaments and exhibition matches online, bringing in popular faces from the world of chess, and even many grandmasters. Similar activities were being held in almost every sport at the time, as athletes started to play the esports versions of their respective sport. Around this time, Danny Rensch saw the opportunity in promoting Hans Niemann on his website, in order to bring in more users.

Hans had been trying to build up his personal brand, or at least an online identity, an important part of which was how he reacted to situations, both positive and negative ones. He would shout and curse, often throwing a fit on the livestream after he lost a match, while boasting about his skills and abilities after a win. He would often claim himself to be the very best, the greatest of all time, after defeating someone in a competitive online chess match, somewhat throwing shade at other established grandmasters in the process. Unlike how chess players traditionally present themselves, Hans was loud and expressive, celebrating his victories in a similar manner as basketballers and footballers do after scoring, and many on the internet absolutely loved his streams because of this particular reason. This was noticed by Danny, and it was for this very reason that he reached out to the young man asking him to be a part of the livestreams on Chess.com. 

Hans finally brought the American brand of showmanship, which is always popular among fans, to a sport where everyone was expected to follow etiquette and be extremely polite. It is arguable whether every sport needs to be the same way, since there are definitely differences between fans of chess and those of basketball, for example. But such differences are not good for business, which is why Chess.com was basically making the drive to make chess more popular and global, to make the world of chess seem more inclusive to newer fans. Although there were many chess players and followers who found Niemann’s antics to be rude, unfunny and simply outrageous at times, he did become a popular name on the internet as a chess sensation. Once the world started to open up, Hans Niemann participated in Over the Board chess competitions, which simply mean that the two players are physically present at the table when the game is played, and won many matches that way as well, all of which contributed to his chess ranking points. He was quickly becoming the face of American chess as well, especially after becoming a FIDE grandmaster in 2021. 

What was the controversy that unfolded between Niemann and Carlsen?

The first time Hans Niemann and Magnus Carlsen played each other face-to-face, after a few online matches during the pandemic, was at the 2022 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Cup in Miami. Although it was technically an esports competition, as the players made their moves on a computer, they had to be present at the venue, which counts as Over the Board chess. This match had a very shocking result, as Niemann played solid moves one after another, and defeated Carlsen quite unexpectedly. While there were no alarms raised right away, Carlsen does state that he had suspicions about whether a player of Niemann’s calibre could have played certain moves. But the next time the two faced each other, on the 3rd day of the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, a serious controversy followed.

After the match, Carlsen wanted to confront Niemann directly at his hotel room, for he believed that the American had cheated by somehow, taking help from a chess computer (a specialized computer designed to solve complex chess puzzles), but was talked against doing so by his father and manager, Henrik. Instead, Carlsen quit the competition the next day, shocking the entire world of chess because of this unexplained move, and then also posted a cryptic message on social media. This message suggested that he had a lot of things to say, but saying them would cause problems, for which he was choosing to stay silent. Despite this indirect reaction to the fiasco, people immediately understood what was up, and it had serious ramifications as well, because of the fact that Magnus Carlsen was the reigning World Chess champion at the time. His allegations were naturally taken very seriously, and the world of chess was shaken by them.

What is Carlsen’s argument?

Magnus Carlsen never came out and talked about how exactly Niemann might have pulled off the illegal act, but he stated that his opponent must have taken help from a supercomputer, as his moves simply did not make sense otherwise. It is important to remember that Carlsen has been a five-time World Champion, making him one of the most experienced chess players in the world, along with one of the most skilled ones. Therefore, he is possibly the most equipped person in making certain assessments about how a player would react and make counter-moves, although doing so requires a certain degree of trust in him as well. But Carlsen’s argument was not supported simply by his accomplishments and accolades, but also by the significant institution of chess that is Chess.com. Following Carlsen’s allegations, Chess.com immediately dropped Hans Niemann from their roster and banned his account permanently, before Danny Rensch and Eril Allebest revealed some shocking truths as well. 

Niemann had been found to have cheated in numerous online chess matches on the Chess.com platform, both before the pandemic and also during the online competitions held in 2020. The founders state that they had initially known about his antics of taking help from a chess computer, but had chosen to give him a chance and support him because he was still very young and deserved another chance. But by their assessment, Niemann had continued to cheat later on, and had taken the help from an external source illegally in at least 80 to 90 matches. During the Sinquefield Cup controversy, the theory that became most popular, which was created by some random fan in the first place, was that Niemann could have rectally inserted an adult toy, which then signalled him about his next move through coded vibrations. Firstly, the theory was shocking and scandalous enough to gain media attention, and secondly, it was deemed as the most plausible way for a player to sneak in a device with them, since other parts of the body are usually checked with metal detectors.

What is Niemann’s defense?

Hans Niemann had his defense ready, and he talks about it in the documentary at present as well, for he was irked by how his hard work and talent had simply been waved off as cheating, questioning his morals and tarnishing his reputation in the process. To many, Carlsen’s allegations reeked of ego and jealousy, as he felt something was wrong with Niemann’s moves only because he had been defeated by this 19-year-old American whom people hardly knew. His assumptions about the kind of player Niemann was, and specifically how he wasn’t intelligent enough to make certain moves and comebacks, also felt like snobbish attempts to counter the narrative around his defeat. In interviews that took place in the weeks following the incident, Niemann talked about how the world of chess, and particularly Chess.com, was busy supporting Carlsen’s lies only because of his market value. 

As was revealed by him, Chess.com had been trying very hard to acquire Play Magnus, a group of chess companies that had the sole right to use Carlsen’s name for online promotions and bring him to tournaments and events. Play Magnus was not only the biggest rival to Chess.com, but also the only obstacle in their plan of having Magnus Carlsen represent them and participate in their events. At the time when the controversy took place, Chess.com was still in advanced talks with the Carlsen father and son, which is exactly why (according to Niemann) they immediately picked sides and moved against him. It is also worth questioning how the youngster was indirectly ostracized and humiliated only based on allegations which were nowhere close to being substantiated.

Could any proof be found against Niemann?

Following Chess.com’s support towards Carlsen and their step of banning Niemann from their platform, they were asked by Carlsen whether they could carry out a formal investigation into the matter and come up with conclusive proof against the American. Danny and Eril agreed to do so, although there is a slight difference in opinions at the moment. While Henrik Carlsen states in the documentary that Danny and Eril were confident about finding proof, the duo claim that they were only hopeful about it, and had told them that finding solid proof was theoretically possible using their system. Ultimately, they could find no evidence of Niemann having cheated during the Sinquefield Cup clash, and they published this finding in the official report. This once again brings us back to the question of whether Niemann had been villainized and humiliated only because he was a youngster, and his attitude was different from the erudite high-brow chess players and the association. As a result, Hans Niemann also filed a lawsuit of 100 million dollars against Carlsen, Chess.com and a few others who had supported the allegations of him having cheated, which was later resolved through an out-of-court settlement. 

What happened when the rivals clashed once again?

Niemann and Carlsen once again had to play each other in 2024, at the quarterfinals of the Speed Chess Championship in Paris, and there was naturally a lot of hype around the matchup. Perhaps as everyone had expected, Carlsen defeated Niemann quite easily in the match, eliminating him from the competition and going on to win it as well. In the documentary, Carlsen proudly states that while Niemann had always talked about settling things on the chessboard and about proving who was better through their performance, he had been able to establish his dominance over the American, even though Niemann had indeed improved his game in the meantime. 

At the end of Chess Mates, Hans Niemann remains as unfazed and boastful as before, claiming that he will surely become the World Chess Champion some day in the future and dominate the sport, while also claiming that Carlsen is jealous of his youth, and is frustrated by the fact that he has only a few years left in the sport. Ultimately, the whole matter does come off as confusing, as it demands personal assessment on part of the viewer or any fan, with slight suggestions that Niemann might not have cheated after all. It is true that the American youngster’s antics and statements can be seen as very demeaning and disrespectful if compared to the usual standards of chess players, but it cannot be conclusively used to question his intelligence or aptitude. Carlsen’s complaints seemed to be egoistic and classist because of this very reason, for he too has been quite expressive (in a negative sense) after defeats, which means that he could have very well thrown a fit only because he had lost. The theory of anal beads having been used by Niemann to receive signals through vibrations from a super computer is simply bizarre and unbelievable, but it still remains the most plausible way in which Niemann might have sought help from external sources. Despite having cheated extensively in online chess, Niemann could have very well won against Carlsen on merit, but that’s often the problem with having broken the law once—you lose credibility, especially when clashing against the very best athlete in your sport.

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