Julius Baer Generation Cup gathers 16 world-class players spanning the age spectrum and set the chess world on fire as it featured the encounter between Hans Niemann and Magnus Carlsen. It was their first game to be played after the Sinquefield Cup 2022 when Carlsen withdrew from the event after losing to Niemann in the third round. Rumors that Magnus Carlsen suspected Niemann was cheating started spreading over social medias and Hikaru Nakamura claimed 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 – Carlsen R6 game of Julius Baer Generation Cup started with all eyes on it, and finished after a couple of seconds as Carlsen decided to resign his game in the second move shocking the chess world. The Director of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour explained why was Hans Niemann invited in the event.
With a victory over Carlsen, Niemann ties for the fourth place and seems to have very good chances to qualify for the Julius Baer Generation Cup finals, which will possibly bring the Niemann – Carlsen encounter again. On the road to the final stage, Niemann meets Levon Aronian in the 11th round.
After Carlsen resigned against Niemann, Levon Aronian joined the live studio of the Julius Baer Generation Cup saying that he understands Magnus’s frustration and that he believes Niemann hasn’t been the cleanest person when it comes to online chess. See the interview here
