Hans Niemann

American chess grandmaster and Twitch streamer who was awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE on 22 January 2021. In July 2021, he won the World Open chess tournament in Philadelphia. He first entered the Top 100 Junior players list at position 88 on 1 March 2019. As of February 2023, he is the fourth-highest-rated Junior in the world and 35th overall.

Niemann has been embroiled in a cheating controversy that began after he defeated then reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen in the third round of the 2022 Sinquefield Cup. Carlsen initially made no direct accusation, but did post a cryptic tweet, which together with ramped-up security measures in the fourth round implied an accusation of cheating.

Niemann admitted to cheating in "multiple" online chess during two periods, when he was 12 and 16 years old, but denied cheating over the board. Carlsen eventually accused Niemann of cheating in a statement on 26 September 2022. Later, Chess.com published an article called "The Hans Niemann Report" which stated that Niemann had likely cheated in more than 100 games on the website, of which some were prized events.

In response, Niemann filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Magnus Carlsen, Chess.com, and Hikaru Nakamura. On 27 June 2023, the case was dismissed by a federal judge.