World chess champion Magnus Carlsen appears to have declared a cold war on young US grandmaster Hans Niemann.
On Monday, September 19, during the Julius Baer Generation Cup online tournament, the famous Norwegian allowed himself a shocking trick, simply refusing to fight in a meeting with an American.
Their game on the second day of the competition began unremarkably.
Niemann, playing white, moved the pawn to d4, Carlsen responded with the knight f6.
Hans continued by pushing another pawn to c4, but Magnus immediately hit the surrender button and turned off the camera.
The commentators of the fight did not even immediately understand what had happened, and were shocked by the behavior of the champion.
“Magnus simply refuses to play with Hans.
He will participate in the tournament, but he says: "I will not play with him."
This is a very serious statement,” said Indian chess player Tanya Sachdev.
It is obvious that this demarche was carefully planned.
The athlete understood that he could not completely miss the meeting with Niemann, as this would mean automatic withdrawal from the tournament.
Therefore, the Norwegian made one move, admitted defeat on the second, and then, as if nothing had happened, entered the remaining games of the day and played them brilliantly.
He beat American Levon Aronian in what Sadchev described as the best match of the tournament to that point, and then drew with 17-year-old Indian prodigy Rameshbabu Pragnanandha as black.
Thus, it becomes clear that the refusal to play with Niemann is a kind of statement that Carlsen cannot or does not want to utter aloud.
And it originates at the recent Grand Chess Tour in St. Louis, where the world champion unexpectedly lost to a little-known American and then withdrew from the competition.
Hans defeated Magnus with black and ended his 53 win streak.
Refusing to continue the fight at the tournament in the United States, the Norwegian did not give any intelligible explanation.
He only wrote on social media that he has always enjoyed playing in St. Louis and that he hopes to return there in the future.
But to this post, the player attached a video of a speech by football coach José Mourinho, who says: "If I talk, I will be in big trouble."
And although Carlsen did not say a word out loud, many chess players and experts explained his behavior by the fact that he suspected his opponent of cheating.
The fact is that Niemann had been caught cheating several times before during online tournaments, and was even suspended from playing for six months on the prestigious Chess.com portal.
The 19-year-old grandmaster himself admitted that he used to cheat when playing for money on the Internet as a teenager, but he doesn’t do that anymore.
Hans also emphasized that he never resorted to cheating in the game over the board.
There was an active discussion on the Internet about how the American could cheat in a face-to-face meeting, and someone even suggested that the chess player allegedly used anal beads to get clues, which vibrated in accordance with the necessary moves.
Even Elon Musk took part in the discussion, who commented on Niemann's possible cheating with a quote from Arthur Schopenhauer, adding a remark from himself: “Talent achieves a goal that no one can achieve;
the genius is the one no one can see (because she's in the ass)."
The American chess player denied all accusations of cheating and even stated that he was ready to play naked to prove his honesty.
However, the world champion, apparently, was not impressed with these assurances.
The Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri, commenting on the behavior of the Norwegian during the online tournament, noted that "he is clearly hinting at something."
“But until you catch a person red-handed, nothing can be done.
So far, everything looks very strange.
Of course, if Hans cheated, it would be understandable why Carlsen doesn't want to play with him, but if that's not the case, then everything is very wrong.
So I don't know, we'll see.
Everyone expects something from Magnus, but he just doesn't seem to want to play with Hans.
It is noteworthy that he played the next game very well.
Quite interesting, because I thought he would be worried after that, but he acted as if nothing had happened.
He is definitely an unusual person, ”Giri noted.
He also admitted that it is difficult to play with opponents who confessed to cheating, because they lose confidence in such people.
“This is a very, very serious problem.
In addition, hints of dishonest play are just as big a problem, and they need to be addressed, ”the chess player emphasized.
In turn, Levon Aronian stated that he understands the feeling of annoyance experienced by his colleague, although he cannot be sure that the Norwegian's suspicions are justified.
“Now I am between two fires.
I really think that Hans is not the most fair player when it comes to online tournaments.
But he is a young guy, I hope this will serve as a lesson for him, and henceforth he will not do something bad.
In general, it seems to me that this problem needs to be solved, and there are options for solving it, ”said the American chess player.
The topic of cheating was also touched upon by Ian Nepomniachtchi, who also played in St. Louis.
The Russian admitted that the overall impression of the tournament was overshadowed by the scandal that erupted after the third round and Carlsen's decision to drop out of the fight.
“I will not undertake to make a verdict, since I can rely only on my experience, knowledge, intuition and sensations.
I hope that the negative information noise will subside, the measures taken by the organizers will reduce the likelihood of dishonest play to a minimum, and justice will prevail,” Nepomniachtchi wrote on social networks.
The manager of the Champions Chess Tour online tournaments (which hosts the Julius Baer Generation Cup) Arne Horvey said that Carlsen could face disciplinary action for unsportsmanlike behavior - a warning or a fine - but he will definitely not be suspended from the competition.
As for the suspicions regarding Niemann, the organizers of the series carefully analyzed the games with his participation and did not find any signs of unfair struggle.
According to the specialist, there are a number of rules that players follow during online tournaments.
So, chess players must be alone in the room, they cannot leave the table until the end of the game.
In addition, cameras are installed aimed at the table so that the referees can see the entire playing area.
In some cases, referees may even come to the home of the tournament participants.
All this helps to maintain the reputation of chess as a pure sport, the manager emphasized.