Unrest after the World Cup final
“The chess world is officially a joke”
Updated on January 1, 2025 – 12:52 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
There is a historic result in the final of the World Blitz Chess Championship. One player doesn’t like the result at all – he vents his anger.
When world champion Magnus Carlsen hugged the other world champion Ian Nepomnjaschtschi with a smile, Hans Niemann burst his collar somewhere in New York. “The chess world is officially a joke,” the American wrote on The accusation: “I can’t believe that the official chess association is controlled by a single player.”
The Norwegian Carlsen and his Russian opponent had recently caused a novelty in the final of the World Blitz Chess Championship on Wall Street. Because the score was 2-2 after four games and three sudden-death games ended in draws, Carlsen spontaneously offered his counterpart to share the World Cup title. The world association Fide examined the proposal – and gave its approval a short time later.
Two world champions – at least for Carlsen that felt right. “We played for five hours – and I had the feeling that there was no end in sight,” said the 35-year-old. Niemann, who lost to his old rival in the quarterfinals, saw it completely differently. “There can only be one world champion. This is not a title that can easily be shared,” he wrote and followed up with numerous other accusations.
Unlike his long-time friend Nepomnjaschtschi, Carlsen has been in close hostility with the 21-year-old Niemann for some time. In 2022, both had a high-profile argument over allegations of fraud against Niemann. Among other things, he took legal action against Carlsen for defamation – and lost.
Carlsen also caused a stir in New York when he violated the world association’s dress code at the start of the World Cup by wearing jeans. Fide fined him and the Norwegian withdrew from the tournament. Fide then relaxed its regulations – and Carlsen was allowed to play in jeans.
He then did the same in the final, which his rival Niemann watched closely from a distance. At least: The American, who is said to have once trashed his hotel room after a defeat, didn’t lose his sense of humor amid all the trouble. “Don’t worry, guys,” he wrote at the end of his tirade: “I’m not in a hotel right now.”