Resurgence of the “Bad Guy”
Hans Niemann, the young American chess prodigy who fell victim to cheating accusations or insinuations of the same two years ago, has been silently climbing up the rankings.
Not only on paper but Hans has shown impressive prowess in all formats, having defeated blitz giants like Wesley So and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in online speed chess matches.
It should, however, be noted that Hans did fall into a slump last year, trying to farm rating by playing a lot of Open Tournaments. However, he recovered his elo back to 2700+ and now even shot up to 2733, putting him in the top 20, ahead of Anish Giri, Vincent Keymer and even the World Champion Ding Liren.
Hans is leaving no stone unturned in seeking or even curating opportunities for himself, by organizing self-funded matches with the help of sponsors.
Hans Niemann Against the World was a series of events organized by Hans in August 2024 where he took on Anish Giri, Nikita Vitiugov, and Étienne Bacrot – three extremely strong players, in a triathlon format (Classical – Rapid – Blitz). Niemann managed to win all the matches convincingly!
Hans finished joint #2 at the US Chess Championship with a score of 5.5/10, calling it a disappointing event which highlights his thirst and ambition for glory. Niemann also opened up about how he is still facing issues with the organizers of invitational tournaments after his invitation to Gashimov Memorial and Chennai GM was allegedly rescinded. Despite such hurdles, Hans seems to never back down and as he says, lets his chess speak for itself!
