Breaking the silence after his abrupt forfeiture in a Julius Baer Generation Cup match against Hans Niemann, world champion Magnus Carlsen has issued a statement, where he has openly accused the American of cheating for the first time.
Carlsen and Niemann crossed paths earlier this year at the Sinquefield Cup, where the latter handed the former a shock defeat. Following his win, the 19-year-old bragged “It must be embarrassing for the World Champion to lose to me — I feel bad for him!”
However, albeit not explicitly, Carlsen hinted that Niemann had resorted to cheating, as he withdrew from the event and then tweeted a clip of football manager Jose Mourinho saying “I prefer not to speak.”
The controversy intensified when the Norwegian recently faced Niemann once again in the Julius Baer Generation Cup, but left the match only on the second move.
Accusing Niemann of cheating for the first time, Carlsen issued a statement on Monday, 26 September, where he wrote “I believe that Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted. His over the board progress has been unusual, and throughout our game in the Sinquefield Cup I had the impression that he wasn’t tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions, while outplaying me as black in a way I think only a handful of players can do. “
The 31-year-old also emphasized the need of eradicating cheating measures, as he added “I believe that cheating in chess is a big deal and an existential threat to the game. I also believe that chess organizers and all those who care about the sanctity of the game we love should seriously consider increasing security measures and methods of cheat detection for over the board chess.”
“We must do something about cheating, and for my part going forward, I don’t want to play against people that have cheated repeatedly in the past, because I don’t know what they are capable of doing in the future,” Carlsen further wrote.
Niemann, however, has not commented on the accusations yet.
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