Detained Twice on a Stalker's False Claims: Hanna Sayce's Story

Melbourne chess streamer Hanna Sayce has spoken about a stalking case that led to her being detained in Qatar, and again when she tried to enter Iceland, after false claims that she was smuggling drugs. The case, as ChessBase reports it, began in April 2024. The man accused has been charged with 35 offences and remains in custody ahead of a hearing in October.

Sayce took up chess at the start of the pandemic, at 19, playing online to pass the time. She began at about 1000 and reached 2300 in online blitz tournaments on Chess.com. She then moved to classical over-the-board events, where she had to learn that longer time controls mean thinking longer and that endgames matter more.

She began travelling to opens in Europe and Asia and sharing the experience in streams on Twitch, where she gathered tens of thousands of followers, and several companies support her activities. That public, travelling life is the backdrop to what followed.

In April 2024, according to the report, one of her fans began harassing her. He gathered information about her and her family, obtained the contact details of her friends, and threatened her, saying he would use AI to find out more. He also learned her holiday and travel plans. She obtained a restraining order in March 2025, but the harassment did not stop.

The most striking part of the case is how it crossed borders. When Sayce planned to travel to Qatar, the report says, the man told local authorities she would smuggle drugs hidden inside her chess pieces. She was detained on arrival at the airport and held in prison until the matter was cleared up.

The same thing happened when she tried to enter Iceland for the Reykjavík Open: another false tip to the authorities, and another arrest.

The tactic is worth understanding. A false report to border officials costs almost nothing to make, and officials are generally obliged to take it seriously. For anyone who travels for events and shares their schedule as part of the job, it turns an ordinary itinerary into a vulnerability that a restraining order does not reach.

Australian authorities arrested the man on 1 May 2026, and on 23 May the case came before the court with 35 charges. The judge refused bail because, in her view, he posed a threat to Sayce’s safety. He remains in custody until the hearing resumes in October. As with any case still before the courts, the charges are allegations.

Sayce had not spoken to the media herself; the story apparently reached Australian outlets through the court proceedings. Responding on her channels, she wrote: “Although I had not expected to speak about this publicly, I am honestly relieved to be able to get it off my chest.”

She added that “the last couple of years have been very difficult, and the wrongful detention in Qatar was, to put it mildly, a very frightening experience.”

She has kept playing and streaming. Recently she was a guest at Judit Polgar’s Global Chess Festival, took part in a clock simultaneous exhibition given by Polgar, and streamed her game live on Twitch.