The war between Carlsen and Niemann grows in the world of chess

Magnus Carlsen fuels the war against Hans Niemann after his two retirements: “He has cheated more than he admits.” Shakedown in world chess

Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, current world chess championstated this Monday, through a statement on his Twitter space, that the American Hans Niemann “He has cheated more – and more recently – than he has publicly admitted”.

In a letter to his “beloved chess world”, Carlsen writes: “At the Sinquefield Cup 2022 I made the unprecedented professional decision to withdraw from the tournament after my third round game against Hans Niemann. A week later, during the Champions Chess Tour, I quit against Hans Niemann after playing only one move“.

“I know that my actions have frustrated many in the chess community. I’m frustrated. I want to play chess. I want to continue playing chess at the highest level in the best events”, he adds.

Carlsen believes that “cheating in chess is a huge problem and an existential threat to the game“. “I also believe that chess organizers and everyone who cares about the sanctity of the game we love should seriously consider increasing security measures and cheat detection methods on the chessboard,” he stresses.

The world champion adds: “When Niemann was invited at the last minute to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup I strongly considered withdrawing before the tournament. In the end I chose to play“.

“I think Niemann has cheated more – and more recently – than he has publicly admitted. His progress on the board has been unusual, and throughout our game in the Sinquefield Cup I got the impression that he was not tense or even fully focused on the game in critical positions as he outplayed me with Black. in a way that I think only a handful of players can do. That game helped change my perspective,” he narrates.

“We need to do something about cheating, and for my part, I don’t want to play against people who have repeatedly cheated in the past because I don’t know what they are capable of in the future“, it affects.

“There are more things I would like to say. Unfortunately, at this point I am limited in what I can say without Niemann’s explicit permission to speak openly. Until now I have only been able to speak with my actions, and those actions have clearly said that I am not ready to play chess with Niemann. I hope the truth about this matter comes outwhatever it is”, concludes the Norwegian.

On September 19, Magnus Carlsen left as soon as he started his game in the Julius Baer Generation Cup tournament against Hans Niemann, the same rival against whom, two weeks before, he lost in the Sinquefield Cup in San Luis (United States) in a game to Classic rhythm that induced the Norwegian to withdraw from the tournament insinuating that the North American had cheated.

The reunion of both players in this seventh tournament of the Champions Tour, which is played online, aroused great expectation among fans.

The Norwegian did not give clear explanations after his withdrawal from the Sinquefield Cup, but everyone understood that he obeyed their suspicions when realizing that his rival was playing at full speed against a rare variation of the nimzo-Indian that he had prepared expressly for that game.

“I have withdrawn from the tournament. I have always enjoyed playing at the St. Louis Chess Club and hope to be back in the future,” Carlsen then wrote on his Twitter account, on which he has 715,000 followers.

The message hinted at something else behind his abandonment since it was accompanied by an old video of José Mourinho in which the Portuguese football coach commented: “If I speak, I get into a big problem.”

Niemann, number 49 in the world chess ranking, had defeated Carlsen with black and ended the streak of games without losing that the world champion had extended to 53. The American claimed that, by chance, he had reviewed that line a few hours before departure. “By some kind of miracle, I checked that line today. I do not know why. It’s ridiculous, but it was. I don’t understand why I looked at it, it’s ridiculous,” he said.

That was the first time they had met in classical chess and the two players shared first place in the tournament tied on 1.5 points after getting a win and a draw. That victory also allowed Niemann to overcome the 2,700-point barrier in the world ranking for the first time.

“It must be embarrassing for the world champion to lose against an idiot like me,” the American commented then.

The new clash between Carlsen and Niemann, now online, lent itself to all kinds of options: from a normal game to a refusal of the world champion to play against Niemann. What hardly anyone expected is that the world champion agreed to play but gave up on the second play, giving away the point to his rival.

The 19-year-old American, who was involved in cheating episodes in chess games when he was 12 and 16, opened that September 19 with a queen’s pawn (1.d4), Carlsen responded by taking his knight to f3, and when White continued with 2.c4, the world champion resigned.

Carlsen’s initial insinuations have gone on Monday to a direct accusation that Niemann cheats, “more than he has publicly admitted.”