The chess world continues to be split along battle lines as Norwegian grandmaster and best player in the world Magnus Carlsen’s war against organisational body FIDE roars on. With Carlsen now the face of the rival Freestyle Chess movement as he looks to decentralise top-level chess from FIDE control, a personal element has been added as Carlsen’s rival and young upstart Hans Niemann took an opportunity to take a swipe at the Norwegian on social media.
Posting on X, American GM Niemann did not hold back any words as he attacked 34-year-old Carlsen publicly. Wrote Niemann in response to a post by Carlsen: “Arrogant, Entitled, Unaware, and most importantly: Cowardly. Your childish ego continues to distort reality at the expense of chess.”
Niemann has been involved in a public feud with Carlsen since the five-time world champion accused his American opponent of cheating in the Sinquefield Cup in 2022. Niemann was proven to use illegal means during both over-the-board and online games in the past, and has been mired in controversy ever since.
However, the outspoken Niemann has never hesitated from continuing to do verbal battle with Carlsen, with this latest post indicating a personal dislike of the Norwegian great as well as an overall disagreement with his attempt to secede from FIDE.
“You’ve defeated yourself off the board, only a matter of time until you face the same fate on the board,” concluded Niemann in his post. This is not the first time Niemann has shown a dislike of Carlsen’s behaviour, but his aggressive and personal attack might signal a point of no return regarding their relationship.
‘Will you resign?’: Carlsen accuses FIDE president of ‘misuse of power’
Niemann was responding to a post made by Carlsen in which he accused FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich of “Coercion of players, misuse of power and broken promises,” after reports that players had been asked to sign a waiver if they wished to participate in the Freestyle Tour.
“By forcing players to sign an unacceptable waiver you have reneged on your promise,” added Carlsen, before concluding with a demand: “Will you resign?”
FIDE has since dropped the requirement for the waiver in the wake of backlash from Carlsen as well as Freestyle Tour head Jan Henric Buettner, who laid out the conflict with Dvorkovich in an open letter posted to social media.
The future of the Freestyle Tour remains uncertain as they vie for the rights to crown a world champion, which seems to be the sticking point for FIDE as they look for the right to retain a singular world chess champion.
