Magnus Carlsen Walks Out Of the Sinquefield Cup
For the first time in his career, World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen leaves the tournament halfway. Surprised commentators and experts debate whether this unprecedented decision is due to Carlsen’s suspicions of foul play.
A day before, Carlsen lost to Hans Niemann, a much lower-ranked player. According to chess-news, Niemann has been accused of cheating earlier in his career, and Carlsen likely walked out because he felt that the organizers could not ensure fair play procedures.
Carlsen’s cryptic tweet, a video of Maurinho who says “If I speak, I am in big trouble’ is in line with this theory — the World Champion is aware of potential legal issues he might face if he accuses someone of cheating without hard evidence.
However, leading chess commentators like Rustam Kasimdzhanov, believe the game was not suspicious and Carlsen could not have withdrawn based on speculation alone. As quoted by chess24, Kasimdzhanov says: ‘If this is based on the game alone then this sounds like a most frivolous accusation. If there was anything else that was amiss or whatever, then maybe it’s up to the organisers to explain it. We cannot be sitting here guessing, we just have no information’.
Following his win, Hans Niemann published a humble post thanking chess players and fans alike for support and said that he has high hopes for his chess future.
This situation can have huge repercussions around the chess world, affecting the organizers as well as all future players’ propensity to walk out of tournaments.
You can review the game that many commentators and chess fans study now to determine whether it complied with the fair play regulations.
