Hikaru explains why he’s convinced Niemann cheated in chess drama with Magnus Carlsen

Chess Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has responded to Magnus Carlsen’s recent remarks in the Hans Niemann cheating allegations and why he believes the 19-year-old looks guilty.

A series of allegations have rocked the chess world with prodigy Hans Niemann accused of cheating after he bested Magnus Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup leading to all sorts of wild theories such as the use of an adult toy to cheat.

Although Niemann was accused of cheating and even admitted to cheating in games back on Chess.com, the young chess icon has remained adamant that he didn’t break the rules against Carlsen.

On September 26, Carlsen broke his silence by doubling down on the cheating allegations, but also revealed he was not able to say everything he wanted to without Niemann’s permission.

According to Hikaru, Niemamn only looks worse by not letting the world’s top chess star say everything he wants to about the accusations.

Hikaru responds to Carlsen – Niemann chess cheating drama

In a YouTube video taken from a Twitch stream, Hikaru delved into Carlsen’s remarks and the problem that Hans faces by remaining silent.

After reading a comment saying how Hans will just refuse to say anything and hope the drama moves on, the streamer explained why this would be a bad move.

“If Hans doesn’t say anything, the way I see it, it feels like he’s admitting something,” Hikaru said. “That has to be the case. There’s no other actual answer to all of this. I mean, what other answer could there be?”

While Hikaru made it clear that silence is not an admission of guilt, the fact that Hans has said he hasn’t done anything wrong makes his silence on Carlsen all the more suspicious.

So far, Niemann has yet to respond to Carlsen’s latest comments, but until he lets the chess star say everything, it seems like Hikaru has his mind made up about what really happened at the Sinquefield Cup.