– Carlsen has easily thrown Niemann under the bus, and everyone else has thrown himself over him, says the English grandmaster Daniel King to The Guardian. He is one of several international chess personalities who react to how Magnus Carlsen has behaved in connection with the storm surrounding 19-year-old Hans Niemann in the last month. Swiss Richard Forster is an international chess master and expert for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. He is crystal clear that Hans Niemann’s credibility has been weakened as a result of online cheating, but is critical of Carlsen’s behaviour. – It in no way justifies the boycott and the self-righteousness with Magnus Carlsen at the head, the most powerful man in chess, supported by his fan base and driven forward by the media, writes Forster in a comment. Magnus Carlsen told VG on Thursday that he is responsible for his actions. news has asked via father and manager Henrik Carlsen if they wish to comment on the criticism, but has so far not received a reply. Lack of evidence of board cheating Forster claims the media contributed to illegitimate harassment of Niemann in the wake of the 20-page report from Chess.com, which also contained 52 pages of appendices. The website believes that Niemann probably cheated in more than 100 games, but also indicates that there is a far more extensive problem. Now Niemann is on the receiving end of massive ridicule about how he has cheated on social media. But Forster believes that there is little new that is revealed in the report, and points out that there is currently little to indicate that Niemann has cheated in games above the board. – There is no evidence that Hans cheated on 4 September 2022 against Magnus, or that he has cheated in games over the board in the past, writes Forster in his comment. Carlsen lost to Niemann in the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis on that very day in September. The Norwegian then withdrew from the tournament without explanation, which caused several chess profiles to react. Garry Kasparov called for an explanation from Carlsen. It marked the start of the chess controversies, which now receive great international attention. The American denied that he had cheated and blamed Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Chess.com for ruining his career. Niemann also admitted that he had cheated in online chess when he was 12 and 16 years old. Carlsen once again shook the chessboard when, a couple of weeks later, he signed off after one move in a net game against Niemann. Shortly afterwards, Carlsen tweeted that he thought his rival had cheated more than he had admitted. The Chess.com report shows that Niemann has most likely cheated on several occasions in online games, but find no indications that this also applies to the board. – The report points out that Niemann’s development is in some ways unusual and criticizes his allegedly bizarre behavior in some interviews. But it is clear that the facts are far too uncertain to draw a conclusion, writes Forster. Meiner Niemann becomes the scapegoat Scottish grandmaster Jonathan Rowson has thrown himself into the debate and says to The Guardian that this has the potential to become a process where Niemann has to take the brunt of what has proven to be a systematic problem within chess. – People have the right to be angry with Hans for cheating online, but I do not agree that you will always be a cheater if you cheat once. In addition to Niemann, news was able to reveal that the Norwegian chess president, Joachim Birger Nilsen, is among the players who have cheated in online chess. He resigned from his post on Friday. We have probably only seen the tip of the iceberg, believes news expert Torstein Bae. He believes that it is a fairly common opinion internationally that Carlsen’s behavior was not exemplary. – How can it be certain that someone else is cheating? Should one just be able to spit out the debt publicly? It won’t be so pleasant in chess then, he says. EXPERT: Torstein Bae. Photo: Erik Johansen / NTB – Until the doping test is due, one just has to grit one’s teeth and hope that the person is caught. It is not considered very sporting to speculate on that, says Bae. Bae: – Then it’s “game over”. The chess expert believes that the report weakens Niemann’s credibility because he shows that the cheating has probably been far more extensive than what the 19-year-old has committed. – But one must keep in mind that chess in physical form and over the net are two different things. The reality in chess has been that people buzz online and things have not necessarily been a “big deal”. Cheating face-to-face has always been much worse. Then it’s “game over”. Then you can no longer play tournaments. The chess website Chess.com and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) have started their own investigations. The investigation from Chess.com concluded with the Hans Niemann report, which found it likely that the American had engaged in far more extensive online cheating than had been thought. Fide has not yet reached its conclusion. Bae thinks Carlsen can also be punished: – They mostly look at Niemann, but also what Magnus has done. They have been critical, and it will be very interesting when they come up with the report and present the sanctions they think are right for Magnus.
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– He threw Hans Niemann under the bus – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
