Carlsen-Niemann cheating scandal back in spotlight as book reveals mastermind behind of ‘anal beads’ rumour: ‘A guy who just…’

The cheating scandal at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup remains one of the biggest controversies not just in chess but across sport. Magnus Carlsen, who was the reigning world champion at the time, had accused Hans Niemann of cheating after suffering a shock defeat at the hands of the young American Grandmaster in the third round of the tournament in St Louis, USA.

The incident would then blow out of proportion after Carlsen, who has been the world’s top-ranked player since 2011, abruptly withdrew midway during the tournament and hinted at Niemann cheating his way to the biggest victory of his life.

Things would then go from bad to worse, with Niemann retaliating by filing a $100 million lawsuit against Carlsen and several others, including fellow chess great and popular streamer Hikaru Nakamura as well as Chess.com.

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One of defining takeaways from the scandal was a wild rumour on social media that suggested Niemann had used vibrating anal beads to cheat his way to victory against Carlsen.

What began as a rumour on Reddit was quickly picked up by the mainstream media in the UK, the US and other parts of the world, with Tesla and SpaceX chairman Elon Musk among those amplifying it through memes and jokes.

And in his book titled Checkmate, which explores the scandal in detail, New York Times best-selling author Ben Mezrich reveals the origin behind the sex toy rumour that spread like wildfire across the world in no time.

Liverpool native revealed as source of ‘anal beads’ rumour

The culprit – the book reveals – was an anonymous internet troll from Liverpool, UK named Steve ‘Babs’ Smyth who worked in the railways. While he mainly posted on political topics online during his free time, Smyth decided to have a peek into the 'Anarchy Chess' forum on Reddit after the fallout of the Niemann cheating scandal and offered creative takes on how the American GM, just 19 at the time, could have hoodwinked the world’s best.

In an excerpt of the book published on Vanity Fair, “prostate massager” was Smyth’s first suggestion on the topic. That was followed by the anal beads theory, which gained widespread acceptance from other users involved in the discussion before being picked up on other platforms – starting with a live discussion on the ‘Chessbrah’ YouTube channel, hosted by Canadian GMs Eric Hansen and Aman Hambleton.

“This hilarious internet troll in Liverpool just knew that anything involving the rectum could make this story international. Without the anal beads, I believe this story would’ve just disappeared,” Mezrich – author of The Accidental Billionaires that was later adapted into the critically-acclaimed 2010 film The Social Network – tells New York Post.

“This is a guy who just tries to get things to go viral. That’s his hobby,” the 57-year-old told Chess.com in a separate interview. “It’s almost a perfect encapsulation of what’s wrong with everything today.”

Mezrich’s latest book, like his previous works, is expected to adapted for Hollywood next year. The scandal was also the basis for a recent Netflix documentary titled Untold: Chess Mates in which both Carlsen and Niemann were interviewed by the crew along with others such as Nakamura.

While Mezrich had released the ebook on 7 April, the hardcover version releases on Tuesday, 2 June.