World Chess Champion Magnus Carlson quit an online match against Hans Niemann after making only one move which reignites the controversial feud between the two players and the ‘cheating’ furor.
These two players came in front in the Julius Baer Generation Cup on Monday, and it was their first meeting since the American’s victory over Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup earlier this month.
During the live broadcast on Chess24, both players were visible on the video link. Niemann had made two moves with White – following suit soon after. Carlson made his first move with the black pieces and promptly disconnected from the game.
The Chess24 commentator said, “Magnus Carlsen just resigned. He got up and left, Switched off his camera, and that’s all we know right now, and we’re trying to get an update on this.”
In St. Louis $500,000 Chess event, Niemann stunned Carlsen by beating him, but Carlsen dramatically withdrew from the tournament after this win by Niemann. Carlson announced his withdrawal decision in a video tweet, alongside a video of the football manager José Mourinho saying: “If I speak, I am in big trouble.”
There were no further comments by Norwegian, but Hikaru Nakamura, the world’s best blitz player, claimed that was because Carlsen doubted Niemann had probably cheated. Hikaru also revealed the American had been previously banned by the most popular website for playing chess, Chess.com.
Niemann had denied allegations of cheating at the Sinquefield Cup, but he admitted that he had cheated in the past chess matches. He admitted that he first cheated in an online tournament at 12 and the second time at old playing unrated games while streaming at 16.
After the allegations of cheating at the Sinquefield Cup, Niemann had said, “I have never cheated in an over-the-board game, adding that he was now “clean” and was even prepared to play in a closed box with zero electronic transmission to prove his innocence.
