After yesterday’s draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hans Niemann spoke in the R7 post-game interview about the mental pressure he is facing over the past few days. He concluded that it is ridiculous t play chess under those conditions. The eighth penultimate round of the Sinquefield Cup 2022 features the encounter between 19-year-old Niemann and Fabiano Caruana.
Carlsen – Niemann case so far: After Hans Niemann defeated the World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup 2022, Carlsen withdrew from the tournament without detailed explanations. Rumors that Magnus Carlsen suspected Niemann was cheating started spreading over social medias and Hikaru Nakamura confirmed in his live stream that Niemann has done “unallowed things” during the online chess tournaments. Sinquefield Cup improved anti-cheating measures and Carlsen’s results got annulled. Niemann told his truth after the fifth round and confessed cheating in random chesscom games, adding that he will not let chesscom, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura slander his reputation. Nakamura reacted to Niemann’s interview, while chess.com posted the official statement to explain why they removed Hans Niemann from the platform. Garry Kasparov called Carlsen’s withdrawal as an act with no precedent in the past 50 years, adding that chess.com’s ban of Hans Niemann prompted Carlsen’s withdrawal and the cheating allegations against the American. Even Elon Musk commented on accusations towards Hans Niemann, while former Women’s World Chess Champion Susan Polgar explained that the professional reputation of many parties is at stake. Hikaru Nakamura and Daniel Naroditsky discussed on the topic of cheating in chess during the live stream and concluded that it’s very tricky that online chess platforms for playing don’t have any agreements with FIDE, and that there should be clear communication between the main online servers and FIDE on the matter of cheating.
Sinquefield Cup 2022 live games / Sinquefield Cup 2022 – Day 8 LIVE video coverage / Pairings & Timetable
