Magnus Carlsen beat Hans Niemann in the pair’s first match against one another since their infamous cheating scandal which made headlines in 2022.
World No. 1 Carlsen defeated Niemann 17.5-12.5 in their semifinal at the 2024 Speed Chess Championship in Paris on Friday in a match affected by issues with the technology used to play on.
The tournament, which is being played in front of a live crowd for the first time ever, sees players sit across from one another wearing noise-canceling headphones and listening to pre-selected playlists as they play on computers.
And Carlsen raced into an early 7-2 lead in the blitz 5+1 portion of the semifinal, it was a more even affair during the blitz 3+1 format, with the duo splitting the scores 4-4.
In the finale bullet 1+1, Carlsen held a large lead while Niemann could be heard complaining of computer issues. “There’s some resistance on my mouse when I move it … it’s something with the server and the website,” the 21-year-old said.
In the end, the large 10-point lead Carlsen had built was enough as he romped to a comfortable victory.
Carlsen and Niemann have a checkered past together after the Norwegian accused Niemann of cheating following the American’s victory over the five-time world champion at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis.
In an interview with the St. Louis Chess Club shortly after his game against Carlsen in 2022, Niemann said that he had never cheated in over-the-board games, CNN previously reported. However, he did admit to cheating in “random games on Chess.com” as a younger player, which he called “the single biggest mistake of my life.”
A report by FIDE, the sport’s world governing body, released in December last year said that Niemann likely didn’t cheat against Carlsen in their over-the-board match at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, but did cheat in up to 55 online games.
The report also said there was no “statistical evidence to support GM Niemann cheating in over the-board games” in an analysis of 13 tournaments over the past three years.
“Additionally, it was determined that GM Niemann´s overall results in the Sinquefield Cup showed no statistical basis for cheating,” the report said.
In a 72-page report put together by Chess.com earlier in 2022, it was alleged that Niemann “likely cheated” in more than 100 online matches between July 2015 and August 2020, “including several with prize money events.”
”GM Niemann’s performance through the years is characterized by peaks and troughs, consistent with his expected level of play,” according to the FIDE report.
Niemann had filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Chess.com, Carlsen and popular streamer and player Hikaru Nakamura but it was dismissed by a judge in June last year, CNN previously reported.
And that bad blood between the pair appears not to have subsided ahead of their Friday clash, with Carlsen saying he would have preferred to face a different opponent to Niemann and Niemann saying he thought Carlsen looked “broken and mentally destroyed.”
After his victory, Carlsen said he was “going through the motions for a long time. I just wanted the match to be over with.”
He later posted a well-known clip from basketball popular culture on social media suggesting Niemann has been trying to provoke Carlsen. In the clip, Lance Stephenson, then of the Indiana Pacers, is trying to antagonize NBA superstar LeBron James of the Miami Heat by blowing in his ear.
Carlsen will face Alireza Firouzja in Sunday’s final after the 21-year-old old beat Hikaru Nakamura in their semifinal.
“That match [against Firouzja] is a lot more motivating since I’m actually playing somebody who is at, you know, the highest level,” Carlsen said. “And I know I really have to bring it.”
