The world of chess is shaken up from what happened in Monday’s match between two grandmasters — world chess champion Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann.
During the Julius Baer Generation Cup on Monday, Niemann opened with 1.D4. Carlsen responded by bringing out his King’s side knight. The former then played 2.C4.
This is when Carlsen switched off his webcam during the live broadcast on Chess 24 and resigned, according to Defector.
“Magnus Carlsen just resigned. Got up and left,” said the Chess24 commentator and chess grandmaster Tania Sachdev. “Switched off his camera, and that’s all we know right now. We’re going to try to get an update on this.”
Another shocker as @MagnusCarlsen simply resigns on move 2 vs. @HansMokeNiemann! https://t.co/2fpx8lplTI#ChessChamps #JuliusBaerGenerationCup pic.twitter.com/5PO7kdZFOZ
— chess24.com (@chess24com) September 19, 2022
“Definitely a big statement and now he’s proved with his actions that he’s confirming all of the rumors and allegations and now he needs to make a statement, I’m gonna say, he can’t just do this,” one of the hosts said.
According to Kotaku, Neimann had previously cheated when he was younger in at least one match on Chess.com.
He used a computer program to advise him on the next move, forcing the platform to ban him for life, but he isn’t banned from Chess24.com since the evidence of his cheating was never discovered. When Niemann beat Carlsen earlier this year, rumors of cheating started flying again.
The world champion did issue a statement, except it didn’t say much: “I’ve withdrawn from the tournament. I’ve always enjoyed playing in the (Saint Louis Chess Club), and hope to be back in the future.”
With the tweet, he attached a video of José Mourinho, a football manager, saying, “If I speak, I am in big trouble.”
I've withdrawn from the tournament. I've always enjoyed playing in the @STLChessClub, and hope to be back in the future https://t.co/YFSpl8er3u
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) September 5, 2022