Each era creates its own heroes and antiheroes. From the very start of his career, Niemann consciously chose the role of the "Bad Guy." Conflicts, disputes, and clashes with the strongest players in the chess world have followed him throughout. Whether this will help Hans achieve his goal, and he aims to become the world champion, only time will tell.
Niemann was born on June 20, 2003 in San Francisco, but at the age of 7, he moved to the Netherlands with his parents. Hans attended a school for gifted children where he learned to play chess. His rapid progress allowed him to become an online chess instructor in middle school, gaining financial independence. At 13, after returning to the U.S., he immediately won the national U18 championship, joined the youth team and earned the title of IM. However, his international achievements at this stage were limited to 3rd place at the U16 World Championship in 2018.
At times, the American would deliver phenomenal performances. He won 20 consecutive games in the 2019 ChessKid Games, scored 10/10 in the Foxwoods Open Blitz Tournament and started 7.5/8 at the U20 World Championship. However, Niemann didn't always finish first. Due to his inconsistent results, it wasn't until 2021 that Hans became a grandmaster, though he never missed an opportunity to declare that he would undoubtedly become the world champion!
That summer, "Chess Life" featured Niemann on its cover. Shortly after he won the World Open (7.5/9), the U.S. Junior Championship (6/9) and placed second at the U.S. Open (8/9). He began 2022 in the top 100 and by midyear, after victories at the Capablanca Memorial (7.5/9), TePe Sigeman & Co (5/7) and Prague Challengers (6.5/9), he was already among the top 50! Soon, he shook the internet with a surprise win against Carlsen in the Miami online series, but it was his comments that caused the real stir. He won only the 1st game of the match, with the remaining three going to the world champion, but the American boldly stated: "Chess speaks for itself!" Magnus remained silent, especially as Hans's reputation in online chess was far from spotless – Chess.com had blocked his account several times, and Niemann later admitted to cheating.
Their encounter at the Sinquefield Cup came as an even bigger surprise (Niemann replaced Rapport at the last minute). The game ended with a victory for the American, after which Carlsen immediately withdrew from the tournament! Although Magnus made no accusations, everyone understood that he suspected his opponent of foul play... Niemann finished 6th (4.5/9), but following the event, he faced open ostracism and received no further invitations to elite tournaments. His response was a $100 million lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com and the leadership of the largest chess platform. Two years of "war" brought no resolution and the parties eventually settled (the terms were not disclosed).
Thus, Niemann was forced to become the "king of opens." In 2022 he won the Sitges Festival (8/10). In 2023 he shared victories at the Sharjah Masters (6/9), Menorca Open (7/9), Las Vegas Super Swiss (7/9), Uralsk Open (6.5/8) and dominated the Tournament of Peace (8/9). In 2024 he triumphed at the Grenke Open (8/9). Afterward, he announced his own match series, confidently defeating Vidit, Giri, Vitiugov and Bacrot, which allowed him to break into the top 20 (2733). Hans made every effort to regain Carlsen's respect. He defeated Vachier-Lagrave and So in matches and reached the "final four" of the online Speed Chess series, where he met none other than Magnus in the semifinals.
The champion soundly defeated him but acknowledged that Hans had become much stronger. Magnus then lifted the moral ban he had imposed in refusing to sit across the board from him for two years, and even invited him to his Freestyle Chess series. It seems that, after this, the 21-year-old Niemann may finally be able to shed the "Bad Guy" mask and move toward his goal!
