Chess: Hans Niemann playing in London this week amid new controversy
Puzzle: find Black’s hidden win
Hans Niemann, the most controversial player in international chess, is competing in England at the London Classic, this week. The US 20-year-old made headlines last year when the world No1 Magnus Carlsen refused to play him. He later launched a $100mn lawsuit against Carlsen and others. Niemann has been in constant action since their out-of-court settlement three months ago.
Last week in Zagreb, the American scored a career-best result, winning first prize by a three-point margin over his nearest rival. His 8/9 total was assessed as a performance rating of 2946, the highest of 2023 and not far off the top three in modern tournaments: Fabiano Caruana at St Louis 2014, Magnus Carlsen at Pearl Springs 2008, and Anatoly Karpov at Linares 1994.
The magnitude of his achievement was not lost on Niemann, who posted a message on X comparing himself to Bobby Fischer (who also won at Zagreb, in 1970) and quoting Friedrich Nietzsche.
There were sceptics. Ivan Sokolov, a former Yugoslav and Netherlands champion, who coached the young Uzbek team to gold at the 2022 Chennai Olympiad, took to X after his defeat and posted: “It is hard to fight 98 accuracy. There are (apart from delay) no anti-cheating measures. Not even a scan.”
A more balanced view came from the former British champion and chess author, Jacob Aagaard, who wrote that Niemann had made some errors but “no gross blunders. These are the types of mistakes that get you into trouble at 2750. He is a 2700 player, facing 2600 average and having a good run”.
One day after Zagreb, Niemann began play at the London Classic, which continues all this week (2.15pm start, live coverage and commentary on the website). Fatigue was an obvious danger, and the American drew his first three games. The Classic has full anti-cheating measures in place, including body scans and checks on the toilet area.
The four English players have had mixed results. At 52, Michael Adams is the oldest in the field, but the eight-time British and reigning World Over-50 champion has been in fine form, sharing the lead with India’s Dommaraju Gukesh.
Shreyas Royal, at 14 by far the youngest player, is aiming for his second grandmaster norm (of three needed for the title) and scored in mature style in the third round against Iran’s No2, Amin Tabatabaei.