The world chess champion accused the opponent: I doubt Niemann is cheating
The world champion and one of the best chess players in history, Magnus Carlsen, has been at the center of a big scandal in recent weeks after he withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup tournament after the game he played against the American Hans Niemann, and a week later he played again against the same opponent. on the Champions Honor Tour.
Carlsen surrendered the match after only one move, after which speculations began that the reason for the withdrawal of the world champion was the alleged cheating, that is, that Niemann did not play according to the rules and publicly admitted it.
Hans Niemann has admitted that he cheated on the chess specialist website chess.com between the ages of 12 and 16 and that he regrets it.
But Carlsen believes that Niemann's cheating is on a larger scale, and is now for the first time publicly saying so.
– I know that some of my actions frustrated the chess community, but I am also frustrated, I want to play chess, to continue playing chess in the biggest world tournaments. Cheating in chess is an existential threat to our sport, and I believe that the organizers of chess competitions should strengthen security measures and cheat detection methods. When I saw that Niemann was invited to the Sinkefield Cup 2022, I thought that I should withdraw before the start of the tournament - says Carlsen's official statement.
Carlsen is suspicious of Niemann's extraordinary progress over the past few years.
– I believe Niemann used illegal means much more and much later than he publicly admitted. When he plays chess at the board, his progress is unusual. During our game in the said tournament I got the impression that he was not at all tense or focused on the game as he outplayed me with black pieces, which few chess players can do. We have to do something to stop cheating. As for me, I don't want to play against those who cheated in the past because I don't know what they are capable of in the future. There are other things I would like to say, but I cannot do so were Niemann's permission to speak openly. Until now I could only speak with deeds, and they made it clear that I did not want to play against Niemann. I hope that the truth will come out, whatever it is - the world chess champion said in the announcement.
Niemann reacted in public immediately after the surrender of Carlsen's game and said that he was not cheating and accused the world champion and other chess players of trying to destroy his career.
– If they want me to strip completely naked, I will do it. I don't care, because I know I'm clean. If they want me to play in a closed box without any electronic transmission, no problem, I'll do it. I am here to win and that is my goal - Nieman said.
It is not yet clear whether Carlsen has hard evidence that the 19-year-old chess player cheated.
Magnus Carlsen is a five-time world champion, the title is currently still in his possession, although he has publicly announced that he will no longer defend it due to lack of motivation. According to the current situation, the winner of the "Tournament of Candidates", the Russian Jan Nepomniaschi, will play against the Chinese Ding Liren for the title of world champion. The winner of that tournament traditionally gains the status of challenger for the world title.
At the end of 2021, Carlsen convincingly defeated Nepomniašči, and earlier in the matches for the world champion title he was better than Viswanathan Anand, Fabio Caruana and Segey Karjakin.
