According to director Jeroen van den Berg, the extra measures at the chess tournament, which will start its 85th edition next Friday, are necessary after allegations made by world champion Magnus Carlsen against the American Hans Niemann. “Cheating is a threat to the sport. We had to do something. The top players are happy that we are taking this seriously,” explains Van den Berg. Carlsen takes part in the event he has already won eight times, Niemann is not invited.
Last September, the chess world was shaken when the world champion left a tournament in Saint Louis after losing to the American and then abandoned a match online against the same opponent after one move. He later issued a statement openly accusing Niemann of cheating. The American filed a lawsuit, accusing the Norwegian of libel and slander and demanding $ 100 million in damages.
The riot also has consequences for the organization of the prestigious tournament in Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands. From now on, the moves of the grandmasters in the village hall will appear on the internet with a delay of fifteen minutes, so that possible advice from outside will get through too late. “We understood from experts that this is a very effective remedy,” says Van den Berg.
Again with an audience
The participants will be scanned with scanners before the competitions for the presence of equipment that emits radiation, such as mobile phones. Metal detection gates are missing, purchasing them was too expensive.
In addition, the referees will receive assistance next week from a fair play arbitrator, who is specially charged with preventing fraud in the playing room. Spectators, admitted to the competitions for the first time since the corona period, are not allowed to take photos with their phones. More adjustments have been made to the protocol, but the organization does not want to reveal everything.
According to Van den Berg, the tournament has always been alert to fraud in the past, including by using many arbitrators. Carrying telephones and advanced watches, on which computer-advised moves can be consulted, has not been allowed for several years. Chess players are not allowed to use their own pen to write down their moves, but they receive writing utensils from the competition management.
Telephone in toilet
Apart from a speculative allegation in the amateur group that an opponent consulted his phone in the toilet, the organization has never encountered any foul play. Van den Berg only knows examples from low-level competitions elsewhere in the Netherlands, where cash prizes were played: a telephone hidden in the toilet, an extra pocket sewn into the clothing to hide the mobile phone.
Although no watertight evidence has been provided in the row between Carlsen and Niemann, Van den Berg is convinced that the policy needs to be tightened. “A lot is technically possible, we don’t want to be naive. We have to keep up with the times.” He considers it unlikely that players from the chess top would risk being discovered. “I still assume a certain ethics among the grandmasters. You don’t want to become world champion that way. Moreover: if you are caught, it is immediately the end of your career.”
Even before he was accused, nineteen-year-old Niemann, who played for Dutch clubs in his youth, has tried several times to penetrate the Tata Steel field. He caught bone.
Van den Berg preferred five even younger chess players, from India, Germany and Uzbekistan, who also had a higher rating. The fact that Carlsen has announced that he will never play against the American again has hardly played a role, according to the director. “It just made the decision a bit easier.”