Revealing the Truth Behind the 1993 World Open Chess Cheating Mystery

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:14:00 +0200

The article investigates the long-unsolved 1993 “Von Neumann incident” at the World Open chess tournament in Philadelphia, where a disguised player entered under the name of mathematician John von Neumann, who had died decades earlier. The mysterious competitor, characterized by dreadlocks and erratic, unusually slow play, managed to hold a grandmaster to a draw before disappearing, sparking decades of speculation about early computer-assisted cheating in chess.

New reporting reveals that the man behind the disguise was not a lone innovator or academic experimenter, but part of a duo of professional gamblers specializing in high-tech cheating systems. Rob Reitzen and his friend John Wayne (nicknamed “the Duke”) had developed a background in wearable computing devices used for casino advantage play, including modified microprocessors, hidden cameras, and remote communication systems. Their gambling operations often involved real-time data transmission between concealed devices worn on