After 19-year-old American grandmaster Hans Niemann defeated Magnus Carlsen in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup 2022, the World Chess Champion decided to withdraw from the event . Rumors that Magnus Carlsen suspected Niemann was cheating started spreading over social medias and the topic of cheating in chess is the top news in mass media ever since Hans Niemann confessed he cheated in online random games in the emotional interview at the Sinquefield Cup , stating that he will not let chess.com, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura to slander his reputation. Chess.com explained its decision to remove Hans Niemann from the platform and developed the investigation on the Carlsen – Niemann case. The results were presented in the 72-page report which says that Hans Niemann likely cheated in more than 100 online games in period from 2015-2020. Despite catching Hans red-handed, chess.com invited him to participate in the Chess.com Global Chess Championship , but took the invitation back after Niemann defeated Magnus Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup 2022 who consequently withdrew from the tournament. But what would have happened if Hans Niemann had not defeated Magnus Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup?
Photo from Sinquefield Cup 2022; Crystal Fuller/Saint Louis Chess Club
As GM Georg Meier writes, one possibility if Niemann had not beaten Carlsen in Saint Louis, is that there wouldn’t be Carlsen’s withdrawal, cheating allegations , chess.com would not take back the invitation for Hans to play in the Chess.com Global Chess Championship, Magnus would not refuse to play against Niemann in the Julius Baer Generation Cup , FIDE would not start the investigation … The list could get longer as it is not likely that cheating in chess would have been the top story in mass medias , and chess.com would maybe not publish the 72-page report on the Carlsen – Niemann case .
Geert van der Velde , the CEO of Chessable, has a similar take on the Carlsen – Niemann case with an important emphasis – the Niemann – Chess.com story has been going for 2,5 years without any consequences.
GM Eugene Perelshteyn who earlier defended and criticized Magnus on the Hans Niemann cheating accusations , seems to agree that Carlsen’s loss triggered the chess drama. He writes that he played a nearly perfect OTB game against Carlsen in 2017 IOM International: “Imagine if I didn’t make a mistake and won the game, only to get accused of cheating by the World Champ
And what do you think would have happened if Magnus Carlsen did not lose to Hans Niemann at the Sinquefield Cup?
The timetable of events related to the Carlsen – Niemann case:
5-Sep
BREAKING: Magnus Carlsen withdraws from the Sinquefield Cup 2022 5-Sep
Possible reasons of Magnus Carlsen’s withdrawal from the Sinquefield Cup 2022 5-Sep
Hans Niemann was thoroughly checked before the fourth round of the Sinquefield Cup (VIDEO) 5-Sep
Sinquefield Cup’s players and organizers react to Carlsen’s withdrawal from the tournament 5-Sep
Hans Niemann R4 post-game interview: At least I got to beat Magnus Carlsen before he left 6-Sep
Sinquefield Cup 2022 improves anti-cheating measures after Carlsen’s withdrawal 6-Sep
Fabiano Caruana: Can’t wait to hear more about the Hans effect on The Magnus Effect 6-Sep
Reactions to Magnus Carlsen’s withdrawal from the Sinquefield Cup 2022 6-Sep
Niemann’s emotional confession R5 post-game interview: I cheated in random games on chess.com and this was the biggest mistake in my life 7-Sep
Reactions to Hans Niemann’s interview 7-Sep
Hans Niemann: I’d like to see what Nakamura has to say now 8-Sep
Hans Niemann R6 post-game interview: The silence of my critics speaks for itself 8-Sep
Elon Musk comments on accusations towards Hans Niemann 8-Sep
Garry Kasparov about Carlsen’s withdrawal: It’s an act with no precedent in the past 50 years 9-Sep
Chess.com explains its decision to remove Hans Niemann from the platform in the official statement 9-Sep
Daniel Rensch about chess.com’s statement: This tweet speaks for itself 9-Sep
Hikaru Nakamura reacts to Hans Niemann’s interview 9-Sep
Susan Polgar about Niemann – Carlsen case: The professional reputation of many parties is at stake 9-Sep
Garry Kasparov: Unless the chess world is to be dragged down into endless pathetic rumors, clear statements must be made 9-Sep
Niemann keeps analyzing his game with MVL while getting checked with the anti-cheating device (VIDEO) 9-Sep
Hans Niemann R7 post-game interview: It is absolutely ridiculous to play chess under these conditions 10-Sep
Hikaru Nakamura and Daniel Naroditsky speak about cheating in chess 10-Sep
Hans Niemann’s fans gather in front of the Saint Louis Chess Club 10-Sep
Sinquefield Cup Chief Arbiter’s statement: We have no indication that any player has been playing unfairly in the Sinquefield Cup 2022 11-Sep
New allegations within Niemann – Carlsen case: Hans Niemann performs much better with live DGT boards 11-Sep
Nigel Davies, “If Carlsen does not speak soon, the FIDE Ethics Commission should act” 11-Sep
Alexander Grischuk about Niemann – Carlsen case: Magnus freaked out for a reason 11-Sep
Richard Rapport suggests a polygraph test to manage cheating in chess and protect players who are falsely accused 11-Sep
Alexei Shirov: Hans Niemann’s last GM norm looks suspicious 12-Sep
Hans Niemann after the end of the Sinquefield Cup 2022: It was a lot to handle and I wasn’t able to manage my nerves 13-Sep
S.L. Narayanan: I believe FIDE has to take more stringent measures for both online as well as OTB 13-Sep
Hans Niemann and Magnus Carlsen to meet at the Julius Baer Generation Cup 14-Sep
Hans Niemann to be back at the Saint Louis Chess Club for the 2022 Fall Chess Classic 15-Sep
Fabiano Caruana on Carlsen’s withdrawal: I do not think Niemann cheated in this tournament 16-Sep
Leonard Barden for Guardian on Niemann – Carlsen case: It is time for FIDE to step in 16-Sep
Stephen Colbert jokes about the latest accusations against Hans Niemann in his late night talk show 18-Sep
Alejandro Ramirez shares his insights on Carlsen’s withdrawal: I don’t think Hans cheated 19-Sep
Magnus Carlsen resignes against Hans Niemann in the second move 19-Sep
Susan Polgar on Carlsen’s resignation against Niemann: Definitely a protest move! 19-Sep
Hammer says Carlsen should be sanctioned in live Norwegian TV program 19-Sep
Fair-Play specialist Kenneth Regan: Niemann played well, but not too well 19-Sep
Levon Aronian: I believe Niemann hasn’t been the cleanest person when it comes to online chess 19-Sep
Magnus Carlsen applauds Pragg for the fantastic game 19-Sep
Reactions to Magnus Carlsen’s resignation 19-Sep
Niemann’s and Carlsen’s facial expressions during their 2-move game 20-Sep
Carlsen will not give any interviews during the tournament 20-Sep
Anish Giri: we know about online cheating by multiple other chess players 20-Sep
Nakamura on Carlsen – Nieman Julius Baer game 20-Sep
Martin B. Justesen: Carlsen is handling the Chess.com merger like Elon Musk did with the purchase of Twitter 20-Sep
Carlsen’s resignation is the top story in Norwegian newspapers 20-Sep
Why was Hans Niemann invited to the Julius Baer Generation Cup? 20-Sep
Naroditsky: I am pretty confident that Magnus believes Niemann has cheated over the board before Saint Louis 20-Sep
The Carlsen – Niemann conflict is more recent than everyone thinks? 20-Sep
What if Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann meet in the Julius Baer Generation Cup Knockout phase? 21-Sep
Levon Aronian on 21-move loss to Niemann: Hans played very strange moves 21-Sep
FIDE closely follows Carlsen – Niemann case, a statement to come 21-Sep
Emil Sutovsky: FIDE is concerned about recent developments of Carlsen – Niemann case 21-Sep
BREAKING! Magnus Carlsen: cheaters should not be taken lightly either online or OTB 21-Sep
Niemann’s mentor whom Carlsen mentions in the interview was banned from chess.com for cheating?! 22-Sep
Susan Polgar: Sadly, the performances of other young talents are overshadowed 22-Sep
Anish Giri about the recent chess drama: It’s moving in circles a little bit 22-Sep
Fabiano Caruana: I would take Regan’s analysis with a large grain of salt 22-Sep
Magnus Carlsen: Some people were more supportive privately than publicly 23-Sep
Ian Nepomniachtchi: I was unhappy to hear Hans Niemann will replace Rapport in Sinquefield Cup 23-Sep
FIDE publishes the official statement on the Carlsen – Niemann case 24-Sep
Top grandmasters take Carlsen’s side in the Carlsen – Niemann case?! 24-Sep
Hans Niemann is innocent until proven guilty 25-Sep
Susan Polgar: DON’T CHEAT! It is simply NOT worth it! 25-Sep
Magnus Carlsen announces his statement(s) for the coming days: I want cheating in chess to be dealt with seriously 26-Sep
Kenneth Regan for Al Jazeera: I was in daily communication with the Sinquefield Cup organizers 26-Sep
BREAKING! Magnus Carlsen publishes the official statement: I believe that Niemann has cheated more 26-Sep
Chris Bird – Chief Arbiter of the Sinquefield Cup 2022 reacts to Carlsen’s statement 26-Sep
Nakamura on Carlsen’s statement: It seems to me that Carlsen thinks Hans was cheating in the game they played at the Sinquefield Cup 26-Sep
Reactions to Magnus Carlsen’s official statement 26-Sep
Is Carlsen’s statement the end, the beginning of the end, or only the end of the beginning? 26-Sep
Fabiano Caruana and Maurice Ashley comment on Carlsen’s statement (C-Squared podcast) 26-Sep
GM Nigel Davies on Carlsen’s statement: This is a very clear accusation of cheating, but without actual evidence 27-Sep
Susan Polgar suggests a lifetime ban for second cheating offense 27-Sep
Ramesh RB: FIDE should have devised a good practical solution to the cheating problem years ago 27-Sep
Anish Giri reveals moves of the “Beach Game” between Niemann and Carlsen 27-Sep
GM Raymond Keene: Niemann could now raise stakes by consulting M’Learned Friends 27-Sep
Sergey Karjakin on Carlsen’s statement: Niemann’s guilt has not been proven, but there is no smoke without fire 27-Sep
The Carlsen – Niemann controversy is top news in mass media 28-Sep
GM Daniel King: “It seems to have been forgotten that a 19-year-old has been thrown to the lions” 28-Sep
Hikaru Nakamura comments on Yosha Iglesias’s “the most incriminating evidence against Hans Niemann” 28-Sep
Motherboard reviews e-mails in which Maxim Dlugy confesses cheating on chess.com 29-Sep
Eugene Perelshteyn defends and criticizes Carlsen on the Hans Niemann cheating accusations 29-Sep
Garry Kasparov: Carlsen’s behavior was unacceptable 30-Sep
FIDE’s Fair-Play Commission forms the investigatory panel for the Carlsen – Niemann controversy 1-Oct
Ian Nepomniachtchi explains what could be considered evidence of cheating in chess 2-Oct
Hikaru Nakamura on the recent Carlsen – Niemann case developments: I don’t see a happy ending to this 4-Oct
The Wall Street Journal publishes chess.com’s findings on the Carlsen – Niemann case 4-Oct
Hikaru Nakamura on chess.com’s findings about Hans Niemann: This is the big drama 4-Oct
Reactions to chess.com’s findings about Hans Niemann 4-Oct
Chess.com publishes 72-page report on Carlsen – Niemann case 5-Oct
GM Noel Studer: It’s insane that chess.com knew Hans likely cheated over 100 times and would have let him play in CGC 5-Oct
“The report speaks for itself” #TweetOftheDay 5-Oct
Emil Sutovsky: Magnus didn’t follow FIDE’s procedures and may face some consequences 5-Oct
Hans Niemann goes through strict anti-cheating control at the US Chess Championship 5-Oct
Hans Niemann leaves the US Chess Championship studio after saying that chess speaks for itself (VIDEO) 6-Oct
Tony Rich: We have to assume Hans Niemann is innocent until he is proven guilty
