[TheIronMaiden]

Niemann is proving under tremendous scrutiny that he is one of the best chess players in the world. He is currently ranked 21st in classical chess. He gave a tremendous interview about a week ago, pointing out that the allegations have never been proven true and that his play has remained impressive even with extreme surveillance. Really compelling stuff happening in chess now.

To say there is bad blood between Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann would be an understatement.

Nearly two years after the two chess grandmasters played their infamous over-the-board game in St. Louis, the two men will meet in Paris next month in the 2024 Chess.com Speed Chess Championship semifinals.

Niemann, a 21-year-old American, advanced to the semifinals with a convincing win against GM Wesley So on Wednesday. Carlsen faced GM Arjun Erigaisi on Thursday in his effort to make the semifinals. The 33-year-old Norwegian, widely regarded as the best chess player in history, was a -1400 betting odds favorite at Bwin Sportsbook to defeat Erigaisi.

A Carlsen-Niemann matchup in blitz chess marks their first face-to-face meeting since Carlsen accused Niemann of cheating. Following a stunning loss with the white pieces to the much lower-rated Niemann in September 2022, Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup classical chess tournament after just three rounds.

The scandal grabbed international headlines.

It was the first time Carlsen, the megastar of the chess world, had publicly accused an opponent of cheating over the board.

Niemann, who had admitted to cheating while playing online in the past, denied Carlsen’s allegations. A defamation lawsuit from Niemann followed, with the parties involved settling in 2023. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Niemann was reinstated by Chess.com, which had published a report alleging that Niemann had cheated online more than he had admitted.

The report also called Niemann’s over-the-board progress suspicious.

There isn’t evidence that Niemann has cheated in over-the-board games, with Carlsen later admitting that he had nothing to back up his allegation. The St. Louis Chess Club, which hosted the tournament, found no evidence of Niemann using outside help to cheat.

Carlsen never rescinded or backtracked from his cheating allegation against Niemann. His social media post accusing Niemann of suspicious play remains on X (formerly Twitter).

“What I experienced was hell, absolute hell […] I was branded as a cheater in the news—anal beads, all of it, I go outside and live with this insane label that I didn’t do,” Niemann said in a fiery interview after defeating Wesley So on Aug. 7.

Despite Niemann calling Chess.com “evil” and “corrupt,” Chess.com promoted the interview on its YouTube channel. The video had received over 70,000 views within about 12 hours.

Niemann also attacked Carlsen. “I think [Carlsen’s] a sick, deluded person who wanted to destroy my life, and he did this out of pure vendetta,” Niemann said.

“I am very motivated to settle things” in Paris, Niemann added.

https://www.forbes.com/betting/chess...n-paris-match/