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Russian Grandmaster Daniil Dubov has said that Hans Niemann's recent strong form doesn't mean the cheating accusations against the American chess player are unfounded. Niemann, who had become an outcast
after being accused of cheating in an over-the-board game in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, has experienced a resurgence in chess fortunes lately.
After accusing world No 1 Carlsen of running his career and failing to find invites to major chess tournaments, the 22-year-old Niemann's chess career got back on track following an invitation to the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour, which is co-owned by Magnus. After withdrawing from the Paris leg, Niemann reached the final of the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour in July.
In September, Niemann finished joint-third at the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament and fourth in the World Rapid Chess Championship 2025. He's also currently leading the standings at the ongoing Tata Steel Chess 2026.
While his recent good form has enhanced his reputation, pushing his critics into a corner, Daniil Dubov, who was once Carlsen's trainer and played a famous 18-game Blitz game against Niemann in 2025 , has said that the American Grandmaster's strong showing doesn't mean he did not cheat in the past.
“Hans plays at his level, he plays around 2725, 2730. He is a very strong grandmaster, a strong 2700+ player. I already thought he plays at his rating. This, however, did not affect my suspicions that he might have done something before," Dubov told Russian-language YouTube channel
Chess-ray.
Dubov added that a strong player can also cheat, and that's possibly what happened in Niemann's case.
"This is a hugely popular misconception for some reason: people think that if a person plays poorly after allegations — they cheated, but if they play well afterwards — they didn’t cheat. In reality, a person can be very strong by themselves and still cheat — there’s no logic there.
"In Hans’s case now, if you ask everyone, it’s clear people still suspect him. It’s clear it looks shady. Nevertheless, I am absolutely sure, and not just me but many others have no doubt, that lately he has clearly been playing by himself and playing strongly. There’s no doubt about that. There is no contradiction between these things either."
Also Read | Carlsen’s former second backs Gukesh’s world title amid growing criticism: ‘Legitimate world champion’
Dubov also recalled cheating allegations against former chess world champion Veselin Topalov, adding that the Bulgarian was a very strong player, but he may have cheated in the past, leading to the accusations.
"People suspected Topalov in his time. Yes, Topalov became very strong initially when there were no proper engines yet. In the nineties, he was already playing very strongly. And all this discussion started later, but it is absolutely obvious that Topalov is a brilliant chess player by himself. But that doesn’t affect whether he cheated or not. Just don’t think that if a person plays well somewhere and definitely played by themselves there, it means they never cheated. No, it doesn’t work that way,” Dubov said.
For the unversed, after Carlsen accused Niemann of cheating, the American GM admitted to cheating during online games but refused using any wrong practices during over-the-board matches. Niemann also filed a court case against five-time world champion Carlsen that was later settled out of court. No evidence of cheating has been found against Niemann yet, but a Chess.com report said that “Niemann has likely cheated in more than 100 online chess games”.
After accusing world No 1 Carlsen of running his career and failing to find invites to major chess tournaments, the 22-year-old Niemann's chess career got back on track following an invitation to the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour, which is co-owned by Magnus. After withdrawing from the Paris leg, Niemann reached the final of the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour in July.
In September, Niemann finished joint-third at the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament and fourth in the World Rapid Chess Championship 2025. He's also currently leading the standings at the ongoing Tata Steel Chess 2026.
'Strong results don’t clear Hans Niemann of cheating doubts'
While his recent good form has enhanced his reputation, pushing his critics into a corner, Daniil Dubov, who was once Carlsen's trainer and played a famous 18-game Blitz game against Niemann in 2025 , has said that the American Grandmaster's strong showing doesn't mean he did not cheat in the past.
“Hans plays at his level, he plays around 2725, 2730. He is a very strong grandmaster, a strong 2700+ player. I already thought he plays at his rating. This, however, did not affect my suspicions that he might have done something before," Dubov told Russian-language YouTube channel
Dubov added that a strong player can also cheat, and that's possibly what happened in Niemann's case.
"This is a hugely popular misconception for some reason: people think that if a person plays poorly after allegations — they cheated, but if they play well afterwards — they didn’t cheat. In reality, a person can be very strong by themselves and still cheat — there’s no logic there.
"In Hans’s case now, if you ask everyone, it’s clear people still suspect him. It’s clear it looks shady. Nevertheless, I am absolutely sure, and not just me but many others have no doubt, that lately he has clearly been playing by himself and playing strongly. There’s no doubt about that. There is no contradiction between these things either."
Also Read | Carlsen’s former second backs Gukesh’s world title amid growing criticism: ‘Legitimate world champion’
Dubov also recalled cheating allegations against former chess world champion Veselin Topalov, adding that the Bulgarian was a very strong player, but he may have cheated in the past, leading to the accusations.
"People suspected Topalov in his time. Yes, Topalov became very strong initially when there were no proper engines yet. In the nineties, he was already playing very strongly. And all this discussion started later, but it is absolutely obvious that Topalov is a brilliant chess player by himself. But that doesn’t affect whether he cheated or not. Just don’t think that if a person plays well somewhere and definitely played by themselves there, it means they never cheated. No, it doesn’t work that way,” Dubov said.
For the unversed, after Carlsen accused Niemann of cheating, the American GM admitted to cheating during online games but refused using any wrong practices during over-the-board matches. Niemann also filed a court case against five-time world champion Carlsen that was later settled out of court. No evidence of cheating has been found against Niemann yet, but a Chess.com report said that “Niemann has likely cheated in more than 100 online chess games”.
