Hans Moke Niemann is an American Chess Grandmaster with Elo ratings exceeding 2600 from FIDE, making him one of the best American chess players of all time.
Full Name: Hans Moke Niemann
Title: Grandmaster (2021)
International Master (2018)
FIDE Master (2016)
Born: June 20, 2003
Place of Birth: San Francisco, California, United States
Ratings
World Ranking: 49
Rapid: 2529
Blitz: 2632
Classical: 2699
Profiles
Biography
Hans Moke Niemann is one of the youngest chess grandmasters and has also climbed the FIDE rating ladder faster than most other grandmasters in history. He first discovered his interest in playing chess when he was eight years old, attending Leonardo School in the Netherlands.
Aside from being a grandmaster, he is also a well-known chess streamer online. As of May 2021, he has the 25th spot among the top junior chess players around the globe.
During his two-year stay in California, he has seen a massive improvement in his rating from 1000 to 2000. Because of that, he has declared the first youngest chess player who got the title of the oldest chess club in the United States that was established in 1855, the Mechanic’s Institute Chess Club Tuesday Night Marathon.
Currently, Hans Niemann is spending his life in Connecticut with his whole family. In early 2016, he was rewarded his FIDE Master title. Aside from that, he also won the title for Super Nationals 2017 under the K-8 category. More than that, he received his International Master title in 2018 and his most recent Grand Master title earlier in 2021.
Aside from playing chess, Hans is also a swim team member in his high school. Moreover, he also joined debate teams and claimed to be fond of outdoor sports, such as tennis, soccer, and basketball.
With his excellent skills in playing chess, he immediately became one of the leading 100 chess players in the world from being a scholastic champion in the United States. Aside from that, he also experienced a significant steep in his ascent last year as he accumulated more than 150 rating points in over a year.
Hans also has massive Twitch followers. Despite earning huge profits from playing chess, he devoted most of his time and energy to studying and honing his chess skills. In fact, his goal as a chess player is to participate in at least 150 tournaments every year.
The Beginning
Everyone would love to know how Hans Niemann started his chess career. Well, this is how Nieman entered chess tournaments:
Hans Niemann is the youngest chess player who acquired his first FIDE Master title when he was 12 years old. Despite being the youngest player, he used it as an inspiration to excel in the industry he chose.
Niemann was born in California, but his parents were from the Netherlands, where he spent eight years of his life before he moved to the United States. Hans mastered how to play chess without any coaches. In fact, he managed to increase his ELO rating alone for more than three years.
Hans is known for his speed in playing chess. No one could deny how he quickly rose his blitz ranking. After more than three years of playing as a self-taught chess player, Hans increased his overall rating from 1000 to 2400.
Aside from his interest in chess, Hans is also a well-known cyclist, swimmer, and soccer player. But currently, he is more focused on his study and his primary hobby, chess. He also claimed to complete at least 150 chess tournaments every year. Well, that is possible considering his talent and excellent chess tactics.
Achievements
Some tournaments Hans competed in include:
- St Louis Spring A
- Vergani Cup Jan 2022
- World Blitz Championships 2021
- World Rapid Championships 2021
When Hans was nine years old, he was qualified to join the Dutch National Youth Chess Championship. One fun fact about Niemann is that he doesn’t have a chess coach. Despite that, this did not restrict him from rising in this industry. In fact, his ELO rating has increased from 2450 to 2650 after three years of living in the United States.
His first US chess tournament was held in December 2012 and was followed by the SuperNationals V in 2013. During that time, his world ranking was 1486.
Later that year, Niemann’s world ranking was under 2000. This made him qualified to join his initial US Chess School camp. At this time, he already has two coaches: John Bartholomew and Greg Shahade. With the help of his coaches and his innate talent, he won the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Tuesday Night Marathon.
As his rating constantly increases, many chess tournaments have sent him an invitation. One of these is the World Youth Chess Championships in South Africa, which he joined in 2014. In the first quarter of 2014, he lost his battle with Annie Wang at the National Junior Chess Congress, which replaced his title for the youngest FIDE Master.
In 2016, Hans Niemann gained his FIDE Master title and joined the Saint Louis Invitational IM Norm. Aside from Carissa Yip, Niemann is the youngest chess player who entered the tournament. In that same year, he also played in the North American Youth Championship, where he had a tie for the first place in the U18 category. And that was also the time he acquired his initial International Master’s norm.
With his intellect in playing chess, he became one of the US Chess Federation All-America Chess Team members. In 2018, Niemann joined the US Masters Championship, where he won his second International Master norm and Grand Master norm. In the same month, he acquired his final International Master Norm provided by the Cambridge IM Norm Invitational.
In June 2019, he was declared the winner of ChessKid games. He had 20 consecutive victories during that time, which made him qualify for the Junior Speed Chess Championship in 2020. Later that year, he also won the Foxwoods Open Blitz tournament and the US Junior Championships in 6th place.
Nieman got sixth place in the American Continental Selection Open, his first tournament in 2020. Niemann got his third Grand Master Norm at the CCCSA (Charlotte Chess Center and Scholastic Academy) GM Norm Invitational in October of the same year. He was supposed to acquire his final GM norm at the GM Berger Tournament. Unfortunately, the event was canceled because of the pandemic.
Hans did achieve the Chess Grandmaster title after winning a beautiful 22-move game. Eric Rosen even made a video going over the game.
Since then, Hans gained an unbelievable increase in his FIDE ratings, with a current classical rating of 2699. For more information on FIDE and ratings, see the step-by-step guide on how to get a FIDE rating.
Did you enjoy reading about Hans Neimann? If you did, you might be interesting in reading other player profiles such as Hikaru Nakamura, Emanuel Lasker, and Paul Morphy.