Chess Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik said in an interview with Dexerto that he believes it’s more likely GM and streamer Hikaru Nakamura has cheated in games than Hans Niemann.
Niemann was accused of cheating in an over-the-board chess match by Magnus Carlsen in 2022 and has since dealt with the fallout of these claims. The International Chess Federation, FIDE, found no evidence that Niemann cheated in his win over Carlsen at the St Louis tournament in a 2023 report.
The incident caused a rash of high-profile cheating accusations from various top players, one of which being Kramnik claiming Hikaru had more than likely cheated while playing Chess online. The Russian veteran based his assumption on Hikaru’s wild win streak that helped him break a blitz rating record.
Chess.com, the platform Hikaru regularly uses said in a statement in 2023 that it “found no incident of cheating.”
Kramnik, however, has stuck to his claims and said in an interview with Dexerto after the Clash of Blames tournament that he thinks it’s more likely Hikaru has cheated online than Niemann.
Niemann faced off against Carlsen at the Speed Chess Championship for the first time since the allegations in September.
“While there are some overperformances in [Niemann’s] stats, they are not extreme and don’t rank among the highest compared to others,” Kramnik said when asked about the allegations against Niemann.
“He’s far from players like Hikaru, whose numbers raise more significant concerns.”
When asked specifically about Nakamura, Kramnik said he is “simply looking at the statistics,” and wants a “thorough, unbiased examination by a group of mathematicians.” He also said the Chess.com statement from 2023 was “inaccurate,” and slammed an upcoming report by the website that has yet to be released.
“Chess.com commissioned a report from a statistician, but it’s clear that the data and conclusions are flawed. The report hasn’t been published yet, and I hope it won’t be, because it’s entirely wrong. I’ve made it clear that I’m ready to publicly defend my position in a live discussion,” he said.
The website released a report back in 2022 saying they found that Niemann “likely cheated in more than 100 online chess games,” between 2015 and 2020.
Kramnik is now a mentor to Niemann as the Russian player helped prepare the American for his Speed Chess Semifinal match against Carlsen. The match was the first time the two had faced off since the allegations in 2022. Carlsen won the match 17.5 – 12.5.
Niemann and Kramnik initially connected after the older player accused the young GM of cheating in an online match. Niemann offered to meet the veteran player in person following the allegations so he could “evaluate” his chess.