2 weeks ago
Hans Niemann, nan arguable US grandmaster whose crippled pinch Magnus Carlsen astatine nan 2022 Sinquefield Cup led to cheating allegations, a $100m lawsuit, an retired of tribunal settlement, nan Netflix documentary Untold: Chess Mates, and a forthcoming book, scored nan astir important occurrence of his profession past weekend.
Niemann, competing arsenic a wildcard, won nan $50,000 first prize astatine nan Warsaw Rapid & Blitz successful Poland, up of nan US champion and nan world No 3, Fabiano Caruana, India’s reigning world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, and nan Candidates winner, Javokhir Sindarov. The arena was portion of nan St Louis-backed Grand Chess Tour, which ends successful August and includes nan prestigious Sinquefield Cup.
The 22-year-old world No 12 scored 22.5/36, finishing half a constituent up of Caruana, pinch Wesley So connected 21 successful 3rd connected an all-American podium. Niemann dominated nan accelerated section, wherever he was unbeaten, truthful was capable to past a tally of 3 successive defeats successful nan blitz.
Niemann’s champion crippled featured an imaginative rook for knight sacrifice at move 27 against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, which led to nan Polish No 1’s resignation 8 moves later.
Niemann is absent from nan adjacent event, nan Super Chess Classic astatine Bucharest, starting connected Thursday, wherever nan only wildcard will beryllium a Romanian. The mobility now is whether he will person a wildcard for nan 2026 Sinquefield Cup, which takes spot successful mid-August.
Three years ago, Niemann damaged his edifice room aft a conclusion successful nan US Championship, and was banned by nan St Louis Club, but he competed successful nan 2024 and 2025 US title contests astatine nan club, for which he qualified by rating, without incident.
Warsaw was nan first clip that Niemann had been invited to a Grand Chess Tour arena since nan 2022 Sinquefield Cup. He called it “a awesome honour and privilege” to triumph nan tournament.
He is besides a beardown campaigner for nan US Olympiad team, who will compete astatine Samarkand successful September, wherever they will beryllium expected to contend for nan golden medals against India, China and their Uzbekistan hosts. For Niemann personally, nan contiguous target is simply a spot successful nan classical world apical 10, from which he is only 12 points distant successful nan unrecorded ratings.
The writer Ben Mezrich’s June publication book Checkmate: Genius, Lies, Ambition, and nan Biggest Scandal successful Chess, is already disposable arsenic a Kindle e-book, but only successful North America. It includes galore interviews pinch nan cardinal personalities involved. A Hollywood movie adjustment is planned for 2027.
Mezrich says he spent galore hours pinch Niemann, whom he described arsenic “both fascinating and polarising, a brilliant laced pinch paranoia and this emotion that nan world is against him”. The writer besides noted that Niemann believed from an early property that he was destined for greatness: Niemann said to different interviewer: “If things spell my way, I will go world champion astatine immoderate point.” His chess leader and domiciled exemplary is Bobby Fischer.
Four years aft their St Louis confrontation, Mezrich says Carlsen has not changed his mind astir what happened: “I deliberation he afloat believes that Hans cheated. I don’t deliberation that he accepts that he could person been beaten successful that way.” However, successful his Netflix question and reply Carlsen insisted that his standpoint was only based connected what he knew astatine nan clip and, successful a connection pursuing nan retired of tribunal settlement, acknowledged “there is nary determinative evidence” of wrongdoing successful nan crippled against Niemann.
The reality is that galore analyses of nan St Louis 2022 crippled person shown that Niemann made respective imprecisions successful nan endgame, while Carlsen played good beneath his normal standard. No 1 has demonstrated immoderate Niemann moves pinch suspicions of machine involvement.
Carlsen’s reasons for making nan complaint against Niemann person ne'er been made afloat clear, but it seems imaginable that he was persuaded by Niemann’s casual stance astatine nan committee and by his hesitant answers erstwhile questioned by interviewers astir his play. Although nan crippled lasted 57 moves, from move 21 onwards Carlsen was a pawn down pinch small aliases nary compensation.
What now for Niemann? His profession is advancing, but not astatine nan complaint wherever world No 1 is simply a realistic possibility. However, nan roadworthy is opening up for him to purpose to go nan US No 1 and possibly a world title campaigner earlier 2030.
Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and So are classed up of him, but each of them are a decade aliases much older. Caruana whitethorn effort again to triumph nan Candidates successful 2028, but Nakamura and So look to beryllium winding down their classical careers. There are besides 2 younger US contenders than Niemann, but Abhimanyu Mishra and Andy Woodward are some rated much than 100 points lower.
If Niemann tin execute powerfully successful nan US Championship and nan Sinquefield Cup this summer, that would beryllium his springboard for a spot successful nan world apical 10, aliases moreover higher.
4024: 1…c5! 2 Rxc5 (other moves suffer astatine slightest a piece) 2…Rxc5 3 Qxc5 Qf3! 4 Nxf3 Rxd1+ 5 Ne1 Rxe1 mate. A trap for nan incautious is 1…Qf3?? 2 Nxf3 Rxd1+ 3 Ne1! and White wins.
