American GM Niemann accuses Carlsen of 'power play' amid jeans controversy: 'Magnus was very happy that he was kicked out...'

American Grandmaster Hans Niemann has accused Magnus Carlsen of “power play” after the Norwegian was disqualified from the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships last week for refusing to change his jeans , which is against the sport’s governing body’s dress code.

Carlsen, however, announced on Sunday that he would return to play the Blitz Championships after the rules were relaxed. “This is just sort of a power play, right?," Niemann said on the Take Take Take app. “This is, you know, it’s a bit weird that people think that this is about jeans. This is a, you know… How do I word this? Let’s just say that I think that Magnus was very happy that he was kicked out of the tournament, because now he has the perfect excuse to completely challenge FIDE in a way he’s wanted to do for a very long time."

Also Read | Magnus Carlsen slams FIDE deputy president Viswanathan Anand amid jeans row

Niemann claimed that the jeans controversy in New York helped Carlsen in his Freestyle Chess Tour project. “And with his, obviously, financial, you know, when it comes to the freestyle chess tour, which I was invited to, I guess because they had to by rating, and honestly, Jan Buettner, I have nothing negative to say about him.

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‘He’s doing this to discredit FIDE’: Niemann on Carlsen 

“I even met him. Great things to say. I have nothing against the tour. I’m playing in a qualifier. But, you know, the reason why he’s doing this is just to discredit FIDE, so that his tour can be labelled as the official world championship, and they just raised 12 million dollars, right?,” he questioned.

“It’s a big sort of investment, and how can you… I presume Magnus might be a shareholder in the company, just like he might be as a shareholder in Chess.com. Well, there was a merger, so I would, you know, I’ve gone on a bit, but this, in my opinion, was a coordinated and planned thing. It’s not some random thing that happened.

“And this is the perfect way for them to discredit FIDE, and once they discredit FIDE, then they can call whatever they want their world championship, right? Because there’s this sort of battle," explained the 21-year-old.

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Carlsen and Niemann were also involved in a controversy in September 2022. Carlsen had lost to Niemann in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup. Carlsen withdrew from the tournament after he accused the American of cheating. When the two faced off in the next tournament, which was an online game, Carlsen withdrew from the match after making just one move.

While Niemann had admitted to cheating in online chess during an interview, he said he did not do so whenever he played against Carlsen on the chess board. This was wen Carlsen released a statement, saying that Niemann had cheated “more and more” and that he was not willing to play Niemann anymore.