Hans Niemann, the controversial US star, surprised organisers by withdrawing from the $750,000 Paris leg of the $3.75mn Freestyle Grand Slam just two days before today’s opening round.
The 21-year-old’s appearance, and renewal of his rivalry with world No1 Magnus Carlsen, had been eagerly awaited. The Carlsen vs Niemann lawsuit from their 2022 Sinquefield Cup game was settled privately out of court, but, in a recent interview on the Joe Rogan podcast, the Norwegian continued to express concerns: “It didn’t smell good to me. It still doesn’t. I don’t trust him, and a lot of top players still don’t trust him.”
Niemann’s decision was made for “personal reasons”. It was a strange contrast to statements on his X account, where he announced that he would have the former world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, as his second in Paris and would also stream his games there on Twitch. In a recent interview with the FT, he vehemently denied ever cheating in an in-person chess match.
As a result of Niemann’s withdrawal and his replacement by the current world No 6, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the Paris tournament will include eight of the world’s top nine grandmasters, making it one of the strongest events in chess history, and arguably second only to the famous Avro 1938 contest in the Netherlands, which included all the top eight.
Earlier, the Freestyle organiser Jan Henric Buettner announced that he had invested in “the most serious anti-cheating methods that have ever been applied to any chess tournament”.
Meanwhile, Carlsen has made his first move 1 e2-e4 in another notable event, a game against The World in which the decision on replies will be made by popular vote.
There are two famous precedents. Garry Kasparov vs The World in 1999 attracted 50,000 opponents, while Vishy Anand vs The World last year attracted nearly 69,000. The Indian ex-world champion won that game in only 24 moves.
Carlsen’s number of opponents has already been closed out at 100,000, the most that chess.com‘s system can accommodate.
The Carlsen vs World event and the Paris tournament are both played under Freestyle rules, where the back rank pieces have randomised starting positions. Top experts like it because traditional chess has become a test of opening memory, requiring hours of preparation. However, most tournament and social players have so far not been persuaded, and believe that normal chess is already sufficiently complex. The tournament can be followed live at freestyle-chess.com.
The all-Chinese women’s world championship match in Shanghai between Ju Wenjun, the holder, and Tan Zhongyi, the challenger, ended in a 2-2 draw in the best of 12 games series.
Live commentary by Judit Polgár and England’s Jovanka Houska starts at 7am BST on YouTube. Game five is on Wednesday.
Puzzle 2619
Robert Wade vs Ronald Boxall, Bognor Regis 1953. White to move and win. This week’s diagram is from Intermediate Chess Puzzles by Martin Bennedik (Simon and Schuster), £10.99, a collection of 500 positions, almost all from tournament play, with useful hints on improvement.
Click here for solution
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