Magnus Carlsen caused a veritable quake in the chess world when he accused the American Hans Niemann of systematically cheating. Apparently, the Norwegian also knew of another, quite explosive case. However, this time he decided not to go public.
Magnus Carlsen has admitted that he had at least vague knowledge of former Norwegian chess president Joachim Birger Nielsen’s cheating. Nilsen publicly admitted last October that he had used unauthorized aids in a rated tournament game.
Nilsen, who admitted the “mistake”, subsequently resigned as president of the Norwegian Chess Federation.
When asked by broadcaster NRK if he knew anything about the crime, Carlsen said: “I didn’t know firsthand, but I knew he… I think a lot of people knew something was going on. “
Why didn’t Carlsen go public?
But unlike Hans Niemann, Magnus Carlsen did not go public. “It was a different scope and it was also a case that was considered fairly closed, at least at the time,” justified the 31-year-old.
The misconduct of the now ex-association president followed those explosive revelations about the “Hans Niemann case”, with which Magnus Carlsen had caused a sensation in the chess scene. According to an analysis by the online portal “chess.com”, which was based on Carlsen’s allegations, Niemann is said to have cheated in more than 100 online games.
To date, the 19-year-old has admitted to having cheated in only two unrated games. Niemann also did not want to let the allegations sit and has been suing for 100 million US dollars in damages ever since.