The chess world has been rocked by shocking claims of cheating as the world champion withdrew for the first time ever.
World chess champ Magnus Carlsen shocked the sport when he withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup in St Louise following a third-round shock defeat to newcomer Hans Niemann.
This was Carlsen’s first loss with white for several years to the much lower ranked Niemann and has triggered accusations of cheating after the Norwegian shared a cryptic message.
It is potentially the most serious case of alleged cheating for international chess since 2005’s memorable Toiletgate championship match.
Veselin Topalov pointed the finger at Vlad Kramnik, accusing him of analysing games in the lavatory.
Following Carlsen’s shock loss he took to social media to share a cryptic message.
He posted a viral meme that was a video of football manager Jose Mourinho saying “If I speak I am in big trouble”.
The football boss had been speaking about a controversial refereeing performance but Carlsen’s use of it has set the chess world alight with rumours.
It was widely interpreted by many as him raising suspicions of cheating.
But security had been stepped up for the game and Niemann was thoroughly frisked before the game, with nothing found.
Chess streamer grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura made the shocking revelation that many years earlier Niemann was temporarily banned by Chess.com for using a computer in an online tournament but has been accused by some of whipping up a furor aimed at the young American.
Carlsen's cryptic message remains unexplained
Carlsen’s opening gambit of 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 g3, had been prepared by Niemann in detail.
The Californian teen doesn’t have a coach but has had a notable rise in the chess world having dispatched one world champ a month earlier in an online tournament in Miami.
He made headlines for himself with a one-sentence victory interview saying: “Chess speaks for itself."
Leonard Barden, chess master, wrote for The Guardian that the game was almost level in opening stages and whilst the world champ seemed to make mistakes, Niemann did too - so there were none of the tell-tale signs of computer aid.
In the backlash from the shock win many pointed fingers at Niemann but Jacob Aagaard, the Danish-Scottish grandmaster who was British champion in 2007 and is a popular author, and France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, leapt to his defence.
The Frenchman said: “The scandal has become a witch hunt.”
Niemann also spoke out defiantly in his own defence following a fifth-round draw with Leninier Dominguez in which he got left off the hook in the last position.
The teen said: “I’m not going to let Chess.com, I’m not going to let Magnus Carlsen, I’m not going to let Hikaru Nakamura, the three arguably biggest entities in chess, simply slander my reputation because the question is – why are they going to remove me from Chess.com right after I beat Magnus?”
But Niemann has been booted from the largest chess site and uninvited from the chess.com Global Championship - a $1million event.
Following this there are growing calls for Carlsen to issue a fuller statement but he has remained silent, not producing a shred of evidence for the alleged claims and refusing to explain his cryptic message.
Niemann has fought back against the claims levelled at him
Barden said that the central issue appears to be whether Carlsen believes his pre-game analysis of his intended surprise (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 g3) was leaked - eiter by a mole in his camp or a computer hack.
But he also pointed to a more innocent explanation - that the relevant pawn structure had already occurred in one of Carslen’s well known games against Michael Adams in 2006.
Another recent game of Niemann’s against Le Quang Liem in Miami could also be transposed into the controversial clash of black and white that sparked all of this.
Carlsen had begun well in St Louis and dispatched his 2021 title challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi in the first round.
But his withdrawal from the tournament means he will lose his tournament score and seven rating points which sets him even further from his dream of a record rating of 2900.
