Everyone was waiting for his first words.
Magnus Carlsen has now spoken of the big fuss he made himself in the chess world.
People can come to their own conclusions, and they certainly do, says Carlsen Chess Tour at Meltwater Championship.
The world of chess has been swaying since the world champion Magnus Carlsen Withdrew from the Sinquefield Super Cup in early September.
The Norwegian had just lost to American Hans Niemann (who is ranked 49th in the world) and when Carlsen left the Sincofield Cup, experts assumed he did so because he thought Niemann was cheating.
On Monday evening, Carlsen and Neiman faced each other again in the group stage of the Julius Baer Generation Cup online tournament. Carlsen then chose to give up after making one (!) move—something that didn’t directly reduce speculation that Carlsen didn’t think Neiman had clean flour in the bag.
“easy to cheat”
Magnus Carlsen hasn’t said a word about his actions, yet.
– I can’t really talk about it but people can draw their own conclusions, and they certainly did. But I must say that I am very impressed with playing Neiman. I think his mentor Maxim Dluji did a great job, says Carlsen in an interview Chess Tour at Meltwater Championship Under the Julius Baer Generation Cup.
Carlsen does not want to answer the direct question if he thinks Hans Niemann is cheating.
– I hope to say more after the tournament, he says.
The world champion also agrees to talk about the widespread problem of cheating with chess computers.
– Regardless of whether it’s a big problem or not, I think it’s very easy to cheat. Overall, I don’t think you can underestimate cheaters in the future, neither online nor in all-out tournaments, says Carlsen.
Denies the new cheat
Hans Niemann admitted cheating while playing chess online at chess.com on two occasions. At the time, the 19-year-old American was 12 and 16 years old.
After that, I have never cheated in a board game or in an online tournament. I speak my truth. I am proud of myself because I learned from mistakes and gave everything for chess. “I sacrificed everything for chess,” he said in a long interview with the St. Louis Chess Club during the Sinquefield Cup.
Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann reached the quarter-finals of the Julius Baer Generation Cup and could face each other later in the playoffs.
