On the second day of the Julius Baer Generation Cup, Magnus Carlsen dramatically resigned after making just one move against his fellow Grandmaster Hans Niemann. Carlsen had sparked controversy earlier this month after quitting the $500,000 Sinquefield Cup following a defeat against Niemann.
World champion Magnus Carlsen resigned from an online chess match against Hans Niemann after making his first move. The game was hosted by chess24.com for the Julius Baer Generation Cup and took place virtually on Microsoft Teams.
The incident occurred just after Niemann made his second move with white pieces. Magnus Carlsen switched off his camera and left the match without any explanation. A few moments later, Niemann also switched off his camera.
“We’re going to try and get an update on this,” commentator Tania Sachdev exclaimed. “Magnus Carlsen just resigned — got up and left, switched off his camera, and that’s all we know right now.”
Millions of fans watching the live broadcast of the match were left in utter shock. The reactions were not in favor of Carlsen this time. Fans pointed out that he was affecting the performance of other players in the tournament. Some also demanded Carlsen issue a formal statement.
However, the Norwegian star has already been clear about not appearing for any interviews during this tournament.
About an hour later, Magnus Carlsen was back online for his game against Levon Aronian and won quite comfortably. However, in his second match, he had to come up with some brilliant defense to push for a draw against Praggnanandhaa. He now shares the second spot with the 17-year-old Praggnanandhaa.
The world champion applauded the Indian for his fantastic play at the end of the match. On the other hand, Arjun Erigaisi has continued his remarkable run. The Indian Grandmaster holds the top spot with 17 points.
Magnus Carlsen also withdrew from an event earlier this month
The Norwegian withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup earlier this month following a defeat against American star Niemann. This marks the first instance in his career that he withdrew from a tournament. His latest withdrawal marks another twist in an apparent feud between the two players.
Magnus Carlsen turned to Twitter to confirm his withdrawal, posting: “I’ve withdrawn from the tournament. I’ve always enjoyed playing in the @STLChessClub, and hope to be back in the future.” His tweet also included a video of football manager Jose Mourinho saying: “If I speak, I am in big trouble.”
Hans Neimann publicly accepted cheating claims
Just days after their Sinquefield Cup match, Neimann publicly accepted that he had cheated earlier in his chess career. The 19-year-old admitted to having cheated at the ages of 12 and 16 but denied cheating in over-the-board games.
“I’m telling my truth because I do not want any misrepresentation,” said Niemann. “I am proud of myself that I have learned from that mistake, and now I have given everything to chess. I have sacrificed everything for chess.”
He went on to say: “To see my absolute hero (Carlsen) try to target, try to ruin my reputation, ruin my chess career and to do it in such a frivolous way is really, really disappointing.”
Reactions from other Grandmasters
American Grandmaster and famous streamer Hikaru Nakamura had claimed that it’s very much possible that Niemann cheated in their round. He said he sees no other reason why Carlsen would take such a step.
Neimann responded at the Sinquefield Cup by saying that he was willing to play naked to prove he wasn’t cheating. He also went on to publicly address Nakamura for his comments on his Twitter account.
Grandmaster Levon Aronian, who previously supported Niemann in St. Louis, had a completely different take on the matter this time in the official broadcast: “I understand the frustration of Magnus. I really didn’t know much about a lot of things, and now I’m somewhere in the middle.”
“I do believe that Hans has not been the cleanest person when it comes to online chess, but he’s a young guy, and hopefully, this will be a lesson to him.”
Aronian added: “Since we had a chat with some online server people and we found out a lot of things about Hans, the multiple instances of him cheating, I think that creates a problem for Magnus. At this moment, he’s just saying: ‘OK, I will not play against this person, and that’s it.’”
The world’s leading platform, chess.com, has already banned Niemann following the controversy with Magnus Carlsen. However, chess24, the second biggest platform in the world, is still allowing him to play.
