 "Hans Niemann celebrated in the commentary booth as Levon Aronian defeated Magnus Carlsen in the group-stage tie-breaker, denying the latter a place in the Las Vegas Grand Slam quarter-finals. Image credit: Screengrab of Freestyle Chess's live stream of Las Vegas Grand Slam")
The opening day of the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will have left everyone in attendance as well as chess fans around the world with their jaws hanging. After all, world No 1 Magnus Carlsen – who is firmly in the lead in the overall standings – getting knocked out in the group stage.
Freestyle Chess co-founder Carlsen finished at the fifth spot in the White Group with four points after suffering three defeats, including against India’s R Praggnanandhaa as well as in the fourth-spot tie-breaker against American Grandmaster Levon Aronian.
Unlike the previous events in the Grand Slam Tour, the Las Vegas leg has 16 players divided into two groups, with the top four from each group qualifying for the quarter-finals which marks the beginning of the knockouts.
And for Carlsen to not even make it to the quarter-finals after back-to-back wins in Paris and Kalrsruhe – registering a percent 9/9 in the latter – comes as a shock bigger than his semi-final loss against German GM Vincent Keymer in the tour opener in Weissenhaus.
Niemann reacts to Carlsen’s early exit from Las Vegas Grand Slam
American Grandmaster Hans Niemann, who is playing in the Black Group alongside compatriots Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana as well as India’s Arjun Erigaisi, couldn’t help but take a big swipe at the world No 1 after he got relegated to the ‘Losers’ bracket. Niemann was commentating on the Carlsen vs Aronian tie-breaker in the commentary booth alongside GM David Howell and IM Tania Sachdev and did not hide his emotions during the course of the battle.
“There are very few pleasures in life that compare to this feeling,” Niemann had said in the commentary booth after Aronian defeated Carlsen in Game 1 of their fourth-spot tie-breaker on Wednesday after both players finished level on four points.
“You know what they say, karma is a…. I don’t want to finish the sentence. Levon, I’m taking you to dinner tonight,” the 22-year-old added.
Watch Niemann’s reactions here:
Impact Shorts
View AllNiemann’s reaction is understandable to say the least if one is aware of his history with Carlsen. The controversial GM, after all, had filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Norwegian chess icon after the latter had accused him of cheating in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup.
And even though both parties reached an out-of-court settlement with his lawsuit ultimately getting dismissed by a federal judge a year later, Niemann and Carlsen have been hostile towards each other ever since, trading barbs from time to time.
Niemann was scheduled to participate in the Paris Grand Slam but pulled out of the event in the last minute without offering an explanation.