Chess Grandmaster Hans Niemann waits in line to be scanned by security as he enters the St. Louis Chess Club

'Anal Beads' Chess Master Defends Himself In 'Most Bizarre' Interview!

Home / Top Stories / 'Anal Beads' Chess Master Defends Himself In 'Most Bizarre' Interview!

By Afouda Bamidele on September 27, 2023 at 8:20 PM EDT
Updated on September 27, 2023 at 8:23 PM EDT

"Did they explore cavities?" is among the many questions asked to Chess Master Hans Niemann in a new awkward interview that has been tagged as "comedy gold."

A year after Niemann's name made headlines for allegedly using "anal beads" to beat Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, 31, at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, Missouri, the 20-year-old is trying to clear his name.

The controversial chess champion, however, chose to have his sit-down with none other than Piers Morgan, and the 20-minute "most hilarious serious" discussion has taken the internet by storm.

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Hans Niemann Floored By Piers Morgan In 'Bizarre' Interview

Niemann appeared on a September 26 episode of "Piers Morgan Uncensored" to tell his side of the story accompanied by his lawyer Terrence A. Oved, prompting an immediate question, "Why have you got your lawyer with you?"

The chess player answered, "Considering the recent case and settlement. Some legal questions my lawyer would be able to better answer. To be honest Terry and his team have been great in helping me resolve this case." Despite his response, Oved barely answered any questions throughout the interview.

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Diving right into the scandal of using "anal beads," Morgan asked Niemann what his first reaction was when the allegations broke, "Obviously, it was disheartening to be accused of cheating after that victory. But you know these things happen and I have learned a lot from that time."

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Chess Grandmaster Hans Niemann (L) makes a move while playing Chess Grandmaster Awonder Liang in Round 13 of the U.S. Championship 2022
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The chess prodigy said the scandal "strengthened his resolve" and as a result, he was starting a scholarship of $10,000 to talented chess players worldwide. Wondering why Niemann spoke about learning from the situation, the British personality asked him directly if he actually cheated.

"Just to be clear you didn't hear?" Morgan asked, to which his guest replied, "of course, not." Not certain of Niemann's answer, Morgan further wondered, "so what did you have to learn if you didn't cheat?"

Next follows an awkward moment of silence while Oved has a weird smile on his face. Piers then reiterates his question asking, "To be clear, on the specific allegation, have you ever used anal beads while playing chess? Not a question I ever thought I'd ask."

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Firing back at the host, Niemman said, "You know your curiosity is a bit concerning you know. Maybe you're personally interested, but I can tell you no. Categorically, no. There’s absolutely no evidence that I’ve ever cheated."

Piers Morgan Refuses To Back Down

Still on the anal beads, Morgan asked the chess prodigy how he disproved the speculations of using the device to cheat. Stunned by the question, Niemman stuttered: "How can I, you know, prove it—just prove a negative? It's like, how do you expect me…Let's first of all discuss that you know that is not a serious theory."

"Okay, that was something that was taken out of context that was never a serious thing. That was something that the media caught up," the San Francisco native continued, noting that the consensus among chess experts proved he had never cheated. Morgan interrupted to stress that he asked how Niemman had disproved his usage of anal beads.

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"I'm just wondering how you disprove it. I mean were you stripped-searched? Did they explore cavities? Where do we go here?" The 58-year-old asked. "Well, through tournaments, there are security checks where they, you know, will do various security checks, metal detectors, different scanners," the chess grandmaster explained.

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"Will that pick up anal beads," Morgan inquired, his incessant questioning causing Niemman's lawyer to intervene. "You should invite them on your show and ask them that. It appears that that's the main topic of your curiosity," Oved fired back, stating the journalist was not interested in his client's cyberbullying case.

"We don't know the answer to that, Piers; maybe you can ask the anal beads people. Have them on your show, and they can explain it to you better," the attorney clapped back. Unfortunately, his quip did not faze Morgan, who remained fascinated by the subject and declared he would invite the anal beads experts.

Serious Interview Turned Comedy Gold

The bizarre interview left numerous fans and celebrities in awe of Morgan's questioning skills. Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk reacted to a snippet of the conversation on X with a laughing emoji. Another platform user dropped the hilarious pun, "Did he drill deep enough..."

"An interview for the ages," a third declared, with a fourth echoing similar sentiments, tweeting, "This is spectacular. I'm dead serious. I don't know if there is some journalist Hall of Fame, but this segment belongs there."

It didn't take long for the YouTube video itself to garner a lot of attention as fans flooded the comment section to express their views on what they had watched. One commenter that first caught the Blast's attention wrote, "This interview is comedy gold."

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Another person who seems to know the interviewer too well penned, " Piers have a tremendous talent for making things completely serious and at the same time absolutely hilarious," while this person who found it extremely hilarious wrote, " How can piers honestly take a meme and make a full interview out of it

?
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."

The echoed sentiments kept coming in with some of the commenters taking jabs at Morgan for how he showed no mercy but this person opined, "They'll study this interview for decades to come. It's truly the most bizarre interview I've seen in a very long time."

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