Yes, you have read the title correctly! Hans Niemann is not killed, nor is in jail as some speculations suggested. He is alive and ready for action at round 1 of Grenke Freestyle Chess. (see the pairings here / follow the live games)
“Personal reasons” was the official reason given by the organizers for the withdraw of Niemann from Paris Freestyle. Since then he disappeared off the radar, without a single message or explanation. That is until today, when he showed up at R1 of Grenke.
Chessdom.com had early indications this morning that Hans Niemann may be in Grenke. The news got confirmed right before the round.
Ready, steady, go? And guess who is in there? Hans Niemann in the Freestyle section. Maybe you have questions for @HansMokeNiemann ? — Chessdom (@chessdom) April 17, 2025
Follow live at https://t.co/ZVbEkmbWdH
And on the main page of Chessdom for more news from @GRENKEChess https://t.co/6VFPHJ54Ud
A little later a photo confirmation was also received, before videos started to come.
A video cut by @chess24 shows Hans Niemann walking around the playing hall, and yawning — Chessdom (@chessdom) April 17, 2025
The story here https://t.co/FA1E11Tcvs with rolling updates from @GRENKEChess https://t.co/xZ1OcWIw6q pic.twitter.com/2x3HKmrglZ
The story of Hans Niemann disappearance so far
05.04. Norwegian TV reports that Niemann is withdrawing after he was informed about anti-cheating
05.04 Breaking: Hans Niemann withdraws from Freestyle Chess Paris 2025 (rolling updates)
06.04 Reactions to Hans Niemann withdrawing from Paris Freestyle Chess 2025
06.04 Chess Song: Disappearing stars (Hans Niemann & Alireza Firouza) #TweetOftheDay
06.04 The organizer of Freestyle Chess Paris comments on the withdraw of Hans Niemann
17.04 Hans Niemann shows at round 1 of Grenke Chess after 12 days radio silence
More about Grenke Chess 2025
Grenke Chess 2025 is a massive chess event that takes place 17-21 April in Germany. Thirteen days before the start of the event it crossed the 2900 players mark, and eventually collected 3000+ players. The festival contains the Grenke Open and the Grenke Freestyle Chess with Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Arjun Erigaisi, etc. See live games / information and schedule