The young American chess badboy didn’t take it well when the Saint Louis Chess Club publicly denied him invitations to their prestigious events in a Feb. 2 statement. Along the way, he confirmed several of the swirling allegations on social media—no, not about the cheating thing, but about wrecking a fancy hotel room after a series of poor results.
It all began with a statement on X, formerly Twitter, posted by the Saint Louis Chess Club, one of the most notable and prestigious chess organizers in North America. Among other important functions, they host the Grand Chess Tour and two of its best-known events, the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz and the Sinquefield Cup—and they made it clear that Hans Niemann would not be welcome this year.
“After consideration of recent events, the Saint Louis Chess Club has made the difficult decision not to extend an invitation to GM Hans Niemann to participate in any invitational tournaments organized by the club in 2024. This decision was made based on GM Hans Niemann’s demonstrated inappropriate behavior including damaging property, rude comments, and an uncooperative attitude resulting in a failure to fulfill contractual obligations,” reads the key part of the statement.
Niemann, who continues to make headlines in the chess world for explosive statements and similar behavior, blasted the statement on X, recording a 21-minute video addressing the claims. He states that he never received invitations for STL events and has apologized for causing property damage in the hotel.
Later, Niemann highlighted a Reddit post from a since-deleted account that claimed he’s banned for life from the hotel in question, writing “I did break TV remotes, a lamp, an ironing board. Additionally, the glass frame of a painting was shattered which according to the hotel pierced the couch and caused damage,” but he has apologized many times since, and had reason to believe this would be the end of it.
Niemann, currently ranked 53rd in the world, recently finished in a disappointing seventh place at the Tata Steel Challengers tournament as the top-rated participant in the field. He was also implicated in a cheating scandal, setting off a firestorm that still consumes the chess world. While no foul play was proven in over-the-board play—including his infamous victory over Magnus Carlsen with the Black pieces at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup—he has admitted to two occasions of online cheating, with chess.com’s report claiming significantly more incidents over the years.
While invitations won’t be forthcoming, Niemann will likely still make it to the U.S. Championship, just like last year, which is also set to take place in the Saint Louis Chess Club as usual. What his accommodation will be like remains to be seen.
