Dhe wordless feud between world champion Magnus Carlsen (31) and US teenager Hans Niemann continues to excite the chess world and has now entered the next round. The Norwegian Carlsen, who has been a star of the scene for years, met the 19-year-old again on Monday as part of a top-class online tournament – after just one move he ended the game without comment.
Carlsen had already withdrawn from a face-to-face tournament at the beginning of September after a surprising defeat against Niemann. He apparently accuses the American of fraud, but has not yet formulated this. There is no evidence, but speculation about Niemann is fueled by Carlsen’s behavior.
“A Witch Hunt”
At the edge of the online tournament, the reactions of the experts were now clear. Hungarian Grandmaster Peter Leko was “speechless” while US Grandmaster Maurice Ashley tweeted: “This is shocking and disturbing. Nobody can be happy that this is happening in the chess world. Unbelievable!”
According to International Champion Jovanka Houska, commentator at the tournament, Carlsen “put more fuel on the fire. He can’t just say, ‘I think you cheated’ and provoke a witch hunt. He has to say, ‘Here’s my proof’.”
However, Carlsen has not even mentioned the word fraud. After his defeat against Niemann in St. Louis in early September, he simply said via Twitter: “I withdrew from the tournament.” to say. If I say anything, I’ll get in big trouble, and I don’t want to get in big trouble.”
The current online tournament runs until the end of the week, Carlsen and Niemann both continue to participate.
