A new Netflix documentary, Chess Mates, revisits the bizarre cheating scandal that rocked the chess world in 2022, centring on a rumour involving anal beads. The film opens with Piers Morgan asking grandmaster Hans Niemann, then 19, if he had used the sex toy to receive moves via vibration during a match. Niemann retorts, 'Your curiosity is concerning. Maybe you're personally interested?'
The scandal erupted after Niemann defeated world No 1 Magnus Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup. Carlsen withdrew from the tournament, suspecting foul play. Online sleuths proposed various theories, including that Niemann could have concealed a vibrating device internally to receive computer-generated moves. Niemann denies ever cheating over the board, but the rumour has stuck.
The documentary contrasts the two players: Carlsen, the aristocratic Norwegian champion who 'sometimes feels he doesn't deserve' his talent, and Niemann, a Twitch streamer who boasts, 'I'm a god, sit down.' Carlsen accuses his rival of 'cosplaying at being a chess master,' while Niemann claims he was bullied by a 'chess mafia' led by Carlsen to protect commercial interests. He later sued Carlsen and chess.com, but the case was settled.
Niemann admits to cheating online as a teenager but insists he is now clean. His personality—insolent, insecure, grandiose—fuels the drama. He has walked out of interviews, trashed a hotel room, and declared, 'I'm gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life.' The film presents the feud as a classic rivalry, akin to Borg v McEnroe or Prost v Senna, driven as much by personality as by skill.
Chess Mates captures a cultural clash between traditionalists and digital disruptors. Niemann laments, 'I'll always be associated with anal beads,' but the documentary suggests that such controversies are part of a cycle: today's bad boys often become tomorrow's establishment. As one observer notes, 'They're selling hippy wigs in Woolworths.'
