Chess Grandmaster Hans Niemann Denies Claim He Used Vibrating Anal Beads to Beat World Champ

Chess grandmaster Hans Niemann publicly denied accusations that he has ever used a vibrating sex toy to receive coded messages during chess matches after a top competitor implied that he had cheated during a major tournament last fall.

Niemann defeated 31-year-old Magnus Carlen, considered one of the greatest players to have ever lived, in the third round of the prestigious Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis.

The following week, when the pair were scheduled to face off in an online game, Carlen, who hails from Norway, unexpectedly resigned and suggested that Niemann had been cheating.

As the chess community speculated about how Niemann could have carried out the supposed sham, some suggested that he might have used vibrating anal beads to receive signals about how to move his pieces.

But in an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored, the 20-year-old unequivocally denied those claims.

"The allegation was that your coach had basically instructed you to insert anal beads inside yourself, which he would then send remote signals to," Morgan said. He then asked whether those accusations had any merit.

"Maybe you're personally interested, but I can tell you no," Niemann responded.

When Morgan asked him again, he replied: "Categorically, no."

"I learned a lot from that time, and it really has taught me a lot of very, very important lessons about life and chess — and I think it's only strengthened my resolve," he added.

After the allegations of cheating began to spread, Chess.com conducted its own investigation into the incident, which was more than 50 pages in length.

It determined that Neimann had "likely" cheated in more than 100 games using its platform, although the site said it found no evidence that he had ever cheated during an in-person match.

The prodigy refuted that, claiming the website had greatly exaggerated how many times he had cheated. He said that he'd only cheated twice in online games — once when he was 12 and another time when he was 16.

Neimann said he was convinced that Chess.com released the report in order to tarnish his reputation within the chess community — at least in part because the platform had plans to merge with Carlsen's online chess company.

"And the timing that they decided to ban me only during this merger and only after this accusation, you know, it's absolutely ridiculous — and that report should not be taken seriously," he said.

A judge dismissed an initial $100 million defamation lawsuit filed by Niemann against Chess.com and Carlsen. The parties settled out of court last month.

Chess.com had dropped Niemann after the incident but has since reinstated him. The platform purports to host 10 million matches every day.

Carlsen is considered by Chess.com to be the best player in the world, while Niemann currently sits in 77th place.