Was Carlsen Scared Of Ding Liren And Praggnanandhaa?

The chess juggernaut gave a statement last two years that makes the public wonder whether he has become afraid of some tough contestants he was seeing in the horizon. Among these contestants are Ding Liren, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Hans Niemann.

Here are the reasons:

• Carlsen called Niemann a cheat because the American teen grangmaster did not show enough fear to convince him he was afraid of losing. Before saying this though, he dumped a rated game between him and Niemann in the wake of just a move, as an act of protest.
• Fans also observe the implications of what he said in the following statement while he was talking about his just recent game against Fabiano Caruana: ‘I was not at the top of my game and he was. That made the match very even, which resulted in 12 draws in the slow games and my victory in the rapid tiebreaker. If I had lost that duel, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. But in the other four I considered myself clearly superior at the time.’

That came across to many as lack of respect for his opponents, as he said he was not playing at his full strength during a game that made him sweat. By doing so, he belittled the exploits of the five contestants he played against.

His blatant refusal to play further after saying the following looked like either pride or fear to chess fans, raising serious arguements: ‘It has been clear to me for most of the year that this world championship match should be the last. It does not mean as much anymore as it once did. I have not felt that the positive has outweighed the negative.’

Carlsen won Anand in 2013 to become the world’s king of chess, but it seems he is afraid to lose the title. This is understtandable. Apart from the money and prestige that comes with the position are business opportunities. It is clear he would lose ambassadorial roles and see lesser of his goods (like books and Apps) being sold too. Besides all this are the cyber noises that would echo his fall.

Finally, below is Carlsen’s post in which he defamed Hans Niemann; the teenager has since sued him along with people and platforms that supported the statement.

Dear Chess World,

At the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I made the unprecedented professional decision to withdraw from the tournament after my round three game against Hans Niemann. A week later during the Champions Chess Tour, I resigned against Hans Niemann after playing only one move.

I know that my actions have frustrated many in the chess community. I’m frustrated. I want to play chess. I want to continue to play chess at the highest level in the best events.

I believe that cheating in chess is a big deal and an existential threat to the game. I also believe that chess organizers and all those who care about the sanctity of the game we love should seriously consider increasing security measures and methods of cheat detection for over the board chess. When Niemann was invited last minute to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I strongly considered withdrawing prior to the event. I ultimately chose to play.

I believe that Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted. His over the board progress has been unusual, and throughout our game in the Sinquefield Cup I had the impression that he wasn’t tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions, while outplaying me as black in a way I think only a handful of players can do. This game contributed to changing my perspective.

We must do something about cheating, and for my part going forward, I don’t want to play against people that have cheated repeatedly in the past, because I don’t know what they are capable of doing in the future.

There is more that I would like to say. Unfortunately, at this time I am limited in what I can say without explicit permission from Niemann to speak openly. So far I have only been able to speak with my actions, and those actions have stated clearly that I am not willing to play chess with Niemann. I hope that the truth on this matter comes out, whatever it may be.

Sincerely,
Magnus Carlsen – World Chess Champion

 

Players like Ding Liren and R. Praggnanandhaa have shown dangerous stamina in the past. Was it possible Carlsen dropped out because he was afraid of a walloping?

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