The new/old chess drama hit the chess world last week when the Saint Louis Chess Club announced that Hans Niemann will no longer be invited to their tournaments due to alleged inappropriate behavior (including private property damage, rude comments, and an uncooperative attitude). Niemann immediately responded, calling Saint Louis Chess Club’s claims ridiculous and saying that the statement is just ‘an excuse to blacklist one of America’s brightest talents’.
After multiple responses to the Saint Louis Chess Club, Hans Niemann today sent a public formal letter stating that the club consistently refused to answer his emails, calls and texts regarding his potential participation in events organized by Saint Louis Chess Club. “As I’ve outlined in my video explanation, in 2023, I reached out numerous times via email, phone and text regarding the American Cup and Spring Chess Classic. Only to be ignored entirely by Joy Bray and Tony Rich.“.
Addressing the claim that he failed to fulfill contractual obligations at the Saint Louis Chess Club tournaments, Niemann calls for the publicization of all players who refused to take part in the post-game interviews: “I would like them (Saint Louis Chess Club) to publicize every player who denied an interview after a disappointing game. Let’s see if everyone is being treated equally“.
Hans also clarified that he learned about the imposed ban only after the Saint Louis Chess Club went public with the decision and that the club didn’t inform him earlier about “rude comments or contractual obligations”.
“After almost a year of ignored emails and calls, I have reached out to STLCC in an attempt to speak openly and honestly. I hope that this situation is resolved and that I can return to regularly competing at the STLCC and other major tournaments throughout the world. I have reached out to the club again, and hope we can discuss everything openly and honestly”, concludes Niemann. The complete letter can be found below.
In the new video explanation, Hans Niemann called the Saint Louis Chess Club to provide a reason for not inviting him to any tournaments in 2023. He also asked the club to publicize all of their communication with the hotel to see what influence the club had over the fine. Niemann claims that Saint Louis Chess Club earlier paid the fine for players who damaged the hotel while playing in a tournament, mentioning a case when a player punched a hole in the hotel wall. The complete video can be seen below.
After Saint Louis Chess Club published the decision that Hans Niemann would no longer be invited to their tournaments, the “Reddit insider” confirmed the Club’s allegations and said that Niemann completely destroyed his room in Saint Louis during the US Championship. Hans published a video confirming that he damaged some of the stuff in his room but that he paid the fine and apologized, and said that damage in the hotel is not a real reason why Saint Louis Chess Club blacklisted him from their events.
Niemann later spoke again, referring to Sinquefield Cup 2022: “I remember when one player didn’t fulfill their contractual obligations and then accused a player of cheating and proceeded to attempt to ruin their entire chess career based on vendetta“. He continued asking if the player was ever punished for the damage they caused and concluded: “See you at the US Championships. […] It is time to let the chess speak for itself and rise above all the noise”.
Social media is overwhelmed with reactions to the issue, and IM Levy Rozman published a video and shared his thoughts about it, while Hikaru Nakamura spoke about the new drama during his live stream.
