"Elon Musk saw it" - Chess legend Magnus Carlsen addresses rival Hans Niemann being dragged through "an*l beads" allegations on Joe Rogan's show

UFC commentator and podcast mogul Joe Rogan recently spoke to chess great Magnus Carlsen and extensively discussed Carlsen's infamous feud with rival Hans Niemann. Well, Carlsen addressed the an*l beads controversy and more about Niemann.

Norway's Carlsen faced America's Niemann in a chess match in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup. Carlsen, who's considered one of the sport's greats, ended up suffering an upset defeat against the then-19-year-old Niemann. Their rematch transpired in the Julius Baer Generation Cup a couple of weeks later, and Carlsen withdrew from the match after merely one move.

Many believed Carlsen was insinuating that Niemann had cheated against him. Carlsen subsequently hurled an explicit cheating accusation at him. Speculation abounded that Niemann utilized an*l beads to cheat, using them to receive codes/signals from someone equipped with a chess engine/technology to illegally guide him.

Per the BBC, the Chess.com platform investigated Niemann and concluded he'd cheated in more than 100 games. Niemann sued Carlsen and a few other parties, including Chess.com. The legal battle was resolved in 2023. Additionally, tech billionaire Elon Musk notably jested about the alleged an*l beads cheating narrative on X in 2024, prompting a response from Niemann.

On episode #2275 of the Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) podcast this month (February 2025), the UFC commentator hosted multi-time chess champion Magnus Carlsen. Upon Rogan inquiring whether the an*l beads theory was a legitimate one, Carlsen responded:

"So, actually, it started in one of my friends' streamer channel. Like, one random guy said, made a comment about an*l beads, and he was like, 'Yeah. Maybe.' And then I think it became -- it started taking the rounds in Reddit. And then Elon [Musk] saw it, tweeted about it, and then obviously it blew up."

He added:

"I think it was Marc Andreessen who said like, 'That would be one way to do it.' But I really, really, really don't believe that that has happened. I think it has no connection to reality. But it just became a thing of its own."

Carlsen appeared to indicate that the supposed an*l beads cheating narrative wasn't backed by concrete evidence. Contrarily, he seemingly also implied that certain patterns in Niemann's performances hinted at potential cheating. Meanwhile, Niemann previously implied he'd cheated only in smaller-level games in his younger years.

Watch Rogan and Carlsen discuss the topic below (3:52):

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Joe Rogan on alleged an*l beads cheating theory in Magnus Carlsen vs. Hans Niemann

Joe Rogan, accompanied by fellow American comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, spoke at length to Magnus Carlsen about the Hans Niemann debacle. Rogan lightheartedly pointed out that he'd attempted to understand the method of utilizing an*l beads as a means of coded communication in high-level chess. The MMA personality stated:

"So the an*l beads thing -- for people who don't know what we're talking about -- the theory was that he had vibrating an*l beads that would somehow or another, through some sort of code, explain to him the moves." [*comments at the podcast episode's 11:54-minute mark]

Furthermore, Carlsen recalled a French chess team orchestrating a cheating scandal in 2010 -- "standing in certain spots around the table" to guide one of their team's players to make pertinent moves on the chess board. For his part, Joe Rogan alluded to the astonishing ability of elite chess savants to recognize alleged cheating patterns/techniques.