After 19-year-old Hans Niemann defeated Magnus Carlsen in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup 2022, World Champion Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the 2022 tournament. Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup 2022 without detailed explanations. Possible reasons of Magnus Carlsen’s withdrawal can be found here. Sinquefield Cup’s players and organizers reacted to Carlsen’s decision with Fabiano Caruana tweeting that he can’t wait to see the Hans effect on The Magnus Effect. Hans Niemann was shocked by Carlsen’s withdrawal and explained that he couldn’t even focus on his fourth round game against Firouzja. In the R4 post-game interview, Hans added: At least I got to beat Magnus Carlsen before he left. Sinquefield Cup improved anti-cheating measures and Carlsen’s results got annulled. Niemann decided to tell his truth after the 5th round. He confessed cheating in random chesscom games. He added that he will not let chesscom, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura slander his reputation and said he would like to see what Nakamura has to say now. After a resting day at the Sinquefield Cup 2022, Hans broke the silence: “The silence of my critics clearly speaks for itself“.
Carlsen’s withdrawal from the tournament and Niemann’s interview caused different reactions on social medias. Even Elon Musk commented on accusations towards Hans Niemann: “Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one can see (cause it’s in ur butt)” tweeted Musk on his official twitter account, adding that “the most entertainment outcome is most likely“. It’s not the first time that Musk tweets about chess, he before posted on computers in chess and explained how would chess look if it was released as a video game.
Read more: Garry Kasparov comments on chess.com’s decision to ban Hans Niemann from the platform / Susan Polgar: The professional reputation of many parties is at stake / Hikaru Nakamura reacts to Hans Niemann’s interview / Chess.com published the official statement explaining its decision to ban Niemann from the platform / Daniel Rensch commented on the chess.com statement
