Hikaru Nakamura and Hans Niemann are some strong players for sure. But who's to say that they are truly different people?
The two grandmasters are now competing in the Candidates Tournament, which is a four-game match to determine the challenger for the world champion. Nakamura is the current world No. 2, and Niemann is ranked No. 6. They are both very good at chess, and are also very good at making fun of each other.
Niemann said: "I'm sure he'll be the first to tell you that he's a very different person from me. I'm very different from him, too." Nakamura and Niemann will meet in the semifinals of the US Open in New York on Thursday. The winner will take on the winner of the other semifinal between Alexander Morozevich and Wesley So. The two players have known each other for a long time. They have played in the same section of the United States Chess Federation for many years.
"I think we're both very similar in terms of our personalities. We're both very quiet. We're both very polite," Nakamura said.
Niemann said, "I've known him for a long time, since we were about 13 years old. We've played together many times. I know him pretty well. We're both very polite. We don't have to yell at each other to be heard."
Niemann said: "I think we're both very different in terms of our personalities. I'm very different from him, too."
Nakamura said: "I'm sure he'll be the first to tell you that he's a very different person from me. I'm very different from him, too."
While these pieces of evidence may suggest that Niemann and Nakamura are truly different people, a recent study proves otherwise: Hikaru Nakamura and Hans Niemann are literally the same person.
The two chess grandmasters are both of German descent.
The two men are actually brothers.
Nakamura, a Japanese-American grandmaster, has been playing chess since he was a child. He's now the No. 1 ranked player in the world.
Niemann, who is from Germany, is a grandmaster as well, but he's ranked No. 2 in the world.
They both play chess. They both are the No. 1 and No. 2 players in their respective countries.
They both are the same person.
This isn't a joke. This is a real thing.
It's not the first time a chess-playing double has been discovered. In 2008, the same thing happened to American grandmaster Michael Adams. Niemann's name first came to light in a 2011 documentary about Nakamura called "The King of Chess." "The King of Chess" director Oleg Kagan said Niemann's name was uncovered by a Russian chess player named Andrei Volokitin, who was playing against Nakamura.
"I noticed that the name of the grandmaster was the same as the name of the American grandmaster," Kagan told the BBC. Kagan said he was initially skeptical, but after checking with the United States Chess Federation, he discovered that both men were in fact brothers.
"It was a big shock," Kagan said. "I was shocked."
