Once again there is turmoil in the chess scene, once again Hans Niemann is in the middle of it all. After the American spent months in a legal dispute with Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and “chess.com” about possible fraud on his part, Russian chess legend Vladimir Kramnik has now made allegations against the 20-year-old.
Hans Niemann has once again caused great astonishment in the chess scene. Above all, Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik, who agreed a few days ago to play an online game on “chess.com” against the American.
Niemann was banned from the platform for months while the fraud investigation against him was ongoing. His pardon followed just a few weeks ago after he and the company reached an out-of-court settlement.
Niemann’s chess game “very unusual”
“It came as a surprise to me that Hans offered me a game. I wanted to give him a chance because I know that he has had a difficult time, for which he is partly responsible. I thought that maybe he would wants to start a new chapter in his life,” Kramnik explained in a YouTube video why he even agreed to the game against Niemann.
But what Kramnik saw from Niemann during the first game really surprised him. “There were a few moments when I felt uncomfortable,” he suggested, suggesting that perhaps not everything was going well. The Russian said it was “very unusual” how the American played.
Niemann’s time management gives Kramnik a headache
“Some of the moves” seemed strange to him. But Kramnik was even more astonished by the time Niemann needed to think about some moves – and not others.
“When you play against a top player, there are a lot of patterns. It’s noticeable when a decision [in einer Partie] difficult and very important. Then people take their time. And when the move is obvious, you play quickly,” said Kramnik, who did not see this pattern in his game against Niemann. “In this game with Hans, everything went the other way around.”
At the end of the first of two games against Niemann, he had the feeling that he couldn’t be sure whether everything was really going smoothly, the Russian grandmaster explained. “Some strange things happened,” emphasized Kramnik. Niemann’s time management was “absolutely impossible to understand”.
And the general level of the American’s moves surprised him, said Kramnik. He has never seen a player whose form fluctuates so much within a day, said the Russian, who sees Niemann playing at a 2400 ELO level one moment, but shortly afterwards at a 2800 level, which is no less than is a class difference.
Niemann reacts to Kramnik allegations
Kramnik’s video caused a huge stir in the chess scene after it appeared; after all, the Russian is considered one of the best and most respected players of all time – in complete contrast to Hans Niemann. He, in turn, also got wind of Kramnik’s analysis and the associated allegations and published a response video on social media on Tuesday evening.
In it, the 20-year-old explained: “I saw your video and thought it would be a good solution to have a live training camp together where you can assess my chess game on a deeper level. I would like to do anything “Whatever you want, play games and analyze positions so that you can get a better understanding of my interesting playing style. I can do it anytime, anywhere and would also compensate you for your time. I hope this is an interesting suggestion for you.”
Niemann’s answer provoked mixed reactions online, but the majority was positive. It remains to be seen whether Kramnik is willing to accept the youngster’s offer. It is undisputed that with his accusations the Russian has unleashed another avalanche that the chess world could have easily done without.