One of the world’s leading chess journalists believes Magnus Carlsen (32) will be put to the test should he meet Hans Niemann (19) during the World Championship for Rapid and Blitz Chess in Space Christmas.
Both Carlsen and the American are entered, and participants will play a total of 34 games during the five days spanning the two championships.
Whether the two will play against each other is impossible to know in advance.
– We are talking about a total of 34 rounds, and Niemann is at the level that Carlsen often meets in the so-called Swiss system. It will be a bit of a guess, but I imagine the probability that they meet is around 10-15 percent, says Tarjei J. Svensen, a well-known chess expert, also from Chirping.
The Hans Niemann dispute began when Magnus Carlsen in early September withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup tournament after losing to Niemann.
Carlsen indicated through a cryptic social media message that the motive was cheating. Carlsen then clarified that he doesn’t want to play against Niemann. At a later tournament, Carlsen withdrew after seconds in protest.
At the same time, Niemann sued Carlsen and others for just over a billion Norwegian kroner for libel. Carlsen’s attorneys he answered harshly and states, among other things, that the American has “a dubious reputation”.
Leontxo García, who writes about chess for the main newspaper El Pais, tells VG:
– Carlsen told me after his World Cup win against Sergej Karjakin in December 2016 that “my weakness is controlling my emotions”.
– I think this is the key to understanding how he could accuse Niemann without evidence. In Almaty she will undergo an important test of his emotional balance.
What does Magnus Carlsen do if the two join a party? We leave the question to Tarjei J. Svensen:
– It will be a bit of a dilemma for Magnus! I still don’t think he could risk refusing to play. Both because he could cost him a world title and because I think he could be punished with such a boycott. So he can always argue that he has already expressed his view of him having cheated on the agenda, if he chooses to play against Niemann.
Here’s what the conflict looked like in September:
– Do you think this case will affect Carlsen’s game in the WC?
– Magnus isn’t known for letting these things affect him too much, he’s good at shutting things out and thinking for himself. But if they were to meet during the championships, and if he were to lose, it could be a bit of a nightmare.
Magnus Carlsen has a total of eight WC titles in rapid and blitz chess. In 2019 he won both titles, in 2020 there was a corona stop, while he remained winless in the 2021 championships.
– I think Magnus is very eager to regain the world titles in blitz and rapid chess, especially now that he is losing his classical title and failed to win in Fischer chess, says Tarjei J. Svensen.
– The fact that there are players like Nakamura, Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave, Grischuk, Nepo and Duda, I think makes it even harder. But it won’t be easy.
Of the Norwegians, in addition to Carlsen, Aryan Tari, Johan-Sebastian Christiansen and Benjamin Haldorsen are also entered in the so-called “open class”, while Monika Machlik will be in the female class.
The reigning champions are:
Hurtigsjack: Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Uzbekistan.
Blitz: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, France.
As usual, NRK has full broadcasts from the World Cup in rapid and blitz all Christmas long. Ole Rolfsrud is the presenter and has experts Torstein Bae and Atle Grønn. Due to the time difference, broadcasts already start at 09.40 (December 26-29). The last day (December 30) starts at 08:40.
PS: The prize pool is close to NOK 10 million. 70 percent go to the “open class,” where both genders can participate, and 30 percent to the girls’ class.
