Chess: Hans Niemann hits back over ‘cheating’ controversy in St Louis

Magnus Carlsen’s shock withdrawal from the $350,000 Sinquefield Cup in St Louis following his third-round defeat to the newcomer Hans Niemann has triggered a variety of “cheating” claims. It is potentially the most serious such case for international chess since the 2005 Toiletgate world championship match, when Veselin Topalov accused Vlad Kramnik of analysing games in the lavatory.

Carlsen’s loss to Niemann, 19, was his first for several years with White to a much lower rated opponent, and it was the first withdrawal of the Norwegian’s entire career. His only explanation was a cryptic video clip of the football manager José Morinho saying “If I speak I am in big trouble,” during a press conference about referees.

This was widely interpreted as raising suspicions of cheating. Security was stepped up, the round-four broadcast was delayed by 15 minutes, and Niemann was thoroughly frisked before the start of his game, but nothing was found.

The leading chess streamer, GM Hikaru Nakamura, weighed in with the revelation that, many years earlier, Niemann had been temporarily banned by Chess.com for computer use in an online tournament. Carlsen’s opening 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 g3, had been prepared by Niemann in detail.

The Californian teenager, who does not have a coach but whose rating has jumped 250 points in three years, had already beaten the world champion a month earlier in an online tournament in Miami, when he made headlines for a one-sentence victory interview where he said: “ Chess speaks for itself,” before walking off. For a while at St Louis, he became an outcast.

Then a reaction set in. The position out of the opening was almost level, a minimal 0.3 plus for Black, but the world champion seemed to try too