After Hans Niemann defeated the World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup 2022, Carlsen withdrew from the event giving no detailed explanations. Carlsen’s results got annulled and the event continued with 9 players. Rumors that Magnus Carlsen suspected Niemann was cheating started spreading over social media, and each day brings new theories on the case. New allegations on Niemann – Carlsen case that Hans Niemann performs much better with live DGT boards emerged yesterday, while GM Nigel Davies had another take on the story, asking the FIDE Ethics Commission to act. Alexei Shirov shared his insights on the case saying that Niemann’s case gets worse and worse as his last GM norm looks suspicious.
Hans Niemann played the second half of the event facing huge mental pressure, and in the last Sinquefield Cup 2022 interview, Niemann spoke about how satisfied he is with the overall result considering all the circumstances: “I have mixed feelings about my play obviously. I was so happy with my first four games, and I think that in the first four games I could have even scored 4/4 based on chances, and I was winning every single one of those games. And after that, the pressure of playing my first super-tournament combined with everything, it was a lot to handle and I wasn’t able to manage my nerves. In many critical moments, I just completely choked. So obviously, the second half was very difficult“, adding that “Considering circumstances, the fact that I have survived is a miracle“.
Niemann was satisfied with his result of 50% (including the game against Magnus Carlsen) considering the happenings that distracted him from the tournament: “I think if I could have played with a clear mind and no drama, I’m sure I would have done much better”. Hans explained that after the fourth round (when Carlsen withdrew from the event) his routine got ruined and that it affected his play: “Immediately after round 4, my routine was ruined. I was barely sleeping, I was waking up much later than usual, my preparation suffered. I was much less calm, I was completely nervous and anxious at the board, because when you are playing chess, you need to only be thinking about chess, and you simply can’t afford to think about anything else, especially playing at such a high level“. Niemann spoke also about his future plans, upcoming tournaments, and commented on the fans gathering in front of the Saint Louis Chess Club to support him: “I think that this tournament will go down in history“, concluded Hans. See the complete interview below
See the timetable of happenings related to Niemann – Carlsen case: