American GM Hans Moke Niemann shared a snippet from the Netflix documentary “UNTOLD: Chess Mates” in his X account on April 1. In the clip, Niemann states that freely speaking your mind in sports is normal, and discusses the concept of a ‘nice guy.’

Hans Moke Niemann

Hans Moke Niemann

American GM

“You know, why not? Why not speak my mind?

I know a lot of players would talk about it. They’d say: ‘Why does he do this? Why does he do that?’ And they would all think it’s so crazy.

But in the world of sports, it’s really not that crazy. It’s normal.

Why do I have to be held to the standard of being so polite at nice? Nice guys, you know… they finish last, as they say.

And I’m not a nice guy. Can’t be a nice guy and be a champion, unfortunately.”

“UNTOLD: Chess Mates” is a Netflix documentary about the 2022 cheating scandal involving Magnus Carlsen and Hans Moke Niemann. The documentary centers on Niemann’s victory over Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup and the cheating allegations that followed. The film will premiere on Netflix on April 7.

Credit: Netflix