 "Hans Niemann had filed a lawsuit against Magnus Carlsen in 2022 after the Norwegian Grandmaster had accused him of cheating. Reuters")
American Grandmaster Hans Niemann has been at loggerheads with Magnus Carlsen for quite some time now, and launched a fresh attack on the world No 1 for bending one FIDE rule after another in the recent World Rapid and Blitz Championship in New York City. Carlsen not only got FIDE to relax their rule on a dress code for him to be able to continue competing in the tournament wearing jeans, he also ended up sharing the Blitz world title with Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi – a first in the tournament’s history.
Carlsen was accused of fixing the Blitz final with Nepomniachtchi after the two were seen having a backstage chat during the final, in which he finished level on 3.5 points with Nepomniachtchi before his request for a shared title was accepted by FIDE officials.
The Norwegian Grandmaster later clarified he had “never prearranged a draw” in his career while adding that the whole thing was a “bad joke”.
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Responding to Carlsen’s clarification, Niemann hoped FIDE would eventually hold him accountable while accusing him of trying to “ruin his life”.
“You broke the rules on camera, you only thought they would agree to your proposal because you dropped out of the blitz and made ridiculous demands,” Niemann wrote on X.
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More Shorts“FIDE will hopefully take a stand and remind us all that no player is above the game.
“They failed to hold you accountable when you tried to ruin my life, I hope they’ve learned their lesson," added Niemann.
Niemann and Carlsen have shared quite the rocky past. The five-time world champion had accused Niemann of cheating after losing to him in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup. A week after the defeat, Carlsen refused to play an online game against the American GM, opting instead of resign.
Niemann, who had admitted to cheating in the past but never over the board, responded by filing a US$ 100 million lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com as well as fellow American GM Hikaru Nakamura. The matter, however, was settled the following year with both parties stating they had moved on from the dispute.