Hans Niemann Wins Underwater Chess Event in Cape Town

American Grandmaster Hans Niemann was crowned the first Diving Chess Champion on Thursday after winning a four-player underwater exhibition held in the rooftop pool of Cape Town’s Silo Hotel.

The special event took place in a compact swimming pool, with a Chess960/Freestyle Chess board placed on the pool floor. Players had to dive down, make a move while holding their breath, and surface before the opponent could dive and respond.

Niemann first defeated Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) in the semi-final, then beat world number-two Fabiano Caruana (USA) in the final. Vidit Gujrathi (India) finished fourth, with Sindarov taking third place after winning the bronze-medal match.

Following the main tournament, Niemann also accepted a challenge from reigning World Diving Chess Champion Michal Mazurkiewicz and won that extra match as well. The light-hearted exhibition served as a warm-up event ahead of the serious competition to come. The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour Finals will be played December 8–11 at Grootbos Private Nature Reserve in South Africa. Eight top players, including Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Hans Niemann and Javokhir Sindarov, will first contest a round-robin stage. The top three finishers will choose their quarter-final opponents for a single-elimination knockout. Quarter-finals, semi-finals and final consist of two-game matches at the time control of 30 minutes+15 seconds increment.