Carlsen v Niemann debate rages on after world champion resigns after one move

It took less than a minute to reignite the feud. Hans Niemann v Magnus Carlsen at the Julius Baer Generation Cup opened conventionally with 1 d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2 c2-c4, but then Carlsen disappeared from the screen, the commentators were aghast, while Niemann shrugged and then also disconnected. The world champion’s father Henrik Carlsen had already announced that his normally media-friendly son would give no press interviews during the tournament. The action was captured live on the chess24 broadcast.

Monday’s cameo was the sequel to the controversial incident earlier this month at the $350,000 Sinquefield Cup across the board in St Louis. Carlsen was outplayed by Niemann, suffered a rare defeat as White, and withdrew from the tournament. He then published a cryptic tweet alongside a video of the Roma football manager José Mourinho saying: “If I speak, I am in big trouble.”

Niemann admitted to being banned twice by chess.com for cheating online, but denied ever cheating over the board. The St Louis organisers explained all their many anti-cheating procedures and emphasised that there had been no wrongdoing at their event.

A third round of Carlsen v Niemann is possible this weekend. The format of the Julius Baer Generation Cup is an all-play-all of 16 from Monday to Thursday, followed by a knockout among the top eight from Friday to Sunday. Despite his self-inflicted zero, Carlsen is expected to qualify for the quarter-finals, and Niemann may also do so. Play starts at 5pm BST each day.

Monday’s bizarre occurrence is almost without precedent in international chess. Bobby Fischer and Vlad Kramnik both defaulted games in world championship matches, but their protests were against organisational decisions. The nearest precedent