ShareHans Niemann, a chess grandmaster recently accused of cheating, has fired shots at the Botez sisters, accusing them of the “immoral promotion of gambling”.
Last week, the controversial character stirred up a storm on X/Twitter after saying that Alexandra and Andrea Botez were profiteering by promoting “degeneracy and helping people to get addicted to gambling”.
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After all of the abuse that Hans Niemann has received over the last year, it’s surprising to see him dishing it out.
For those who don’t follow chess, Niemann found himself embroiled in a cheating controversy after defeating the then World Champion Magnus Carlsen in a tournament game. The mainstream media picked up on the story, including Elon Musk’s comment that “anal beads” might have been used to receive information.
Carlsen withdrew from the event and weeks later resigned on move two during an online tournament game, refusing to play Niemann.
After much legal shenanigans where the only winners were the lawyers, Niemann still protests his innocence and he is back into the fold of international chess. Even Chess.com restored his account after he admitted that he had cheated online in the past.
No sooner had Niemann posted his provocative tweet, the deluge of criticism flooded in his direction.
Niemann said the following in a short video clip, aimed at Alexandra Botez talking about her responsibilities as her brand grows:
"Yeah, I think that as soon as you get 1 million subscribers, that's when you should start promoting gambling, poker, making money off of that. I think that's a very responsible thing to do for your brand is to promote degeneracy and help people get addicted to gambling."
Daniel Negreanu was quick to post his response.
Hustler Casino Live co-founder Ryan Feldman joined in.
Botez then accused Niemann of just engagement farming with clickbait.
“I get that you’re upset at the world for how everyone responded to the cheating accusations. Always down to discuss any issues you might have with poker or otherwise if you want to actually chat. If it’s just for clickbait and views, then you’re no better than everyone you criticized for piling on you”
Niemann responded:
“Profiting off of gambling of any kind is highly immoral. You are paid by these poker sites to get your viewers addicted and lose their hard-earned money. For every player that you sign up, YOU MAKE MONEY. How do you think they recoup the ridiculous amount of money that they pay you”
Chess streamer and poker fan Qiyu Zhou, akaNemsko, had her say, claiming that learning poker is just as beneficial as chess. Both disciplines teach the player logical reasoning which can help in life.
Alex “Thallo” Epstein was quite forthright with his opinion:
“Can you just stop blasting your ignorance all over the internet for 5 seconds and educate yourself? Poker is not the same as other forms of gambling. More people play poker for a living than chess. Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t make it terrible.”
