World chess champion Magnus Carlsen has spoken at length about his withdrawal in a duel with Hans Niemann and accused the American of cheating. In essence, Carlsen confirms reports over the last few weeks that Niemann allegedly cheated in the game against him.
However, he is not allowed to say more at the moment, even if he would like to go into more detail, the 31-year-old Norwegian wrote on Twitter yesterday. “I hope the truth will come out, whatever it may be.”
According to Carlsen, he believes “that Niemann cheated more often (…) than he publicly admitted”. However, there is no evidence that the 19-year-old grandmaster Niemann cheated.
“Need to do something about cheating in chess”
Carlsen wrote: “We must do something about cheating in chess. I will help by not playing against players who have cheated in the past as I am not sure what such players will do in the future.”
At the beginning of September, the first incident between the counterparties occurred. At the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, the superstar surprisingly lost to Niemann and withdrew from a tournament for the first time in his career. The 31-year-old Norwegian did not give any reasons at the time. The chess scene interpreted Carlsen’s exit as an allegation of fraud against Niemann.
The American admitted in an interview during the Sinquefield Cup that he had cheated twice in online games as a teenager, aged 12 and 16, but never in person at the chessboard.