Hans Niemann

Hans Moke Niemann (born 2003) is an American chess Grandmaster who achieved his title in 2021. He won the World Open chess tournament in Philadelphia in July 2021 and reached a peak global ranking of No. 16 in September 2024. Niemann has also been a prominent Twitch streamer, sharing his chess expertise with a broad online audience.

Let Books Be

Chess-Themed Book Deemed Inappropriate by Texas Politician

Mid-term elections are on November 3, 2026. In Texas, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is running for re-election. He doesn’t want taxpayer dollars, allocated to school libraries, to be spent on certain books. This article is about a chess-themed book that Patrick does not want in school libraries. More 🡢
Ben Mezrich

The Chess World of Ben Mezrich

Mezrich invented a world championship match and gave a well-known arbiter a new last name. His book is not an accurate portrayal of the chess world. But it is a rollicking read which is slated to become a Hollywood motion picture. More 🡢
Dark Squares Book Cover

Dark Squares: How Chess Saved My Life (book review)

IM Danny Rensch’s memoir Dark Squares: How Chess Saved My Life is, as suggested by its title, dark. He suffered from hunger, parental abandonment, and lack of health care, with the last almost costing him his hearing. Playing chess as one of the top young masters in the United States gave him opportunities to travel and to see families living normal lives. More 🡢
GM Hans Niemann

To be determined: Chess in London, Paris, and Budapest

After winning his August 7–11 match against GM Anish Giri in the Netherlands, GM Hans Niemann plays against GM Nikita Vitiugov August 14–18 in London. The matches are part of “GM Hans Niemann against the World” series. The third and final match in the series is in Paris, August 20–24, against Étienne Bacrot. GM Hans Niemann against the World has a total prize pool of $100,000. More 🡢
books

Full-ride College Chess Scholarships

Full-ride scholarships cover four years of college expenses, including tuition, fees, books, housing, and meals. Several U.S. universities offer full-ride college chess scholarships. While players with FIDE titles are most likely to be awarded full-ride college chess scholarships, players with ratings as low as 2300 US Chess have been awarded these scholarships. More 🡢
Hans Niemann

Is Hans Niemann the second-best classical chess player of 2022?

Imagine a ranking system in which defeating the World Chess Champion trumps other considerations. In this system, Hans Niemann would be #2 for 2022. Niemann is the only player with a classical chess win over World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. This imaginary system is more like sports rankings than chess rankings and is loosely based on the Morphy number. More 🡢
Hans Niemann

Interviewing Chess Grandmasters Hans Niemann and Vasyl Ivanchuk

At the FIDE World Team Championship 2022, in 43 one- or two-minute-long videos, I interviewed players, captains, organizers, and FIDE officials. Two of the most famous players I interviewed were Grandmasters Hans Moke Niemann and Vasyl Ivanchuk. The winning team was China,  followed by Uzbekistan, Spain, and India. More 🡢