Chess: Niemann plays England No 1 in London this week as he targets Carlsen rematch

The 2022 Sinquefield Cup third-round game, where the then 19-year-old American Hans Niemann defeated the then world champion Magnus Carlsen, remains the most controversial chess encounter of recent years. It led to cheating accusations, a $100mn lawsuit, and a lasting hostility between the participants which has remained unresolved to this day.

Now there is the prospect that Carlsen and Niemann will meet again over the board for the first time since that fateful pairing, albeit in an unusual format. Both have qualified for the semi-finals of the chess.com Speed Championship, whose previous rounds were played online but where the final stages will be live in Paris on September 6-8. It will be a hybrid event, where the opponents will sit opposite each other but play on separate computers. The other semi-final will be Hikaru Nakamura vs Alireza Firouzja.

Carlsen eliminated India’s world No 4 Arjun Erigaisi, while Niemann knocked out France’s No 2 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and the US No 3 Wesley So. In advance of September 6, Niemann said the “chess establishment” had “conspired . . . to ruin my career”, while Carlsen said that he would prefer a different opponent but “if I have a decent day I’ll probably win without too many issues”.

Niemann is currently in the best over-the-board form of his life. Last week he defeated Anish Giri, the Netherlands No 1 and one of Europe’s leading GMs, by 24-18 in a $50,000 match in Utrecht, where the scoring was three points for classical games, two for rapid and one for blitz. Niemann won at classical and blitz, and drew at rapid. 

Next, on Wednesday, Niemann comes to London for a five-day, $20,000 series with the same mixture of time controls against England’s highest-rated grandmaster, the former Russian Nikita Vitiugov. Play is at the Gem Fitzrovia Hotel in Bolsover Street W1 (nearest tube Great Portland Street). The six classical games start at 10am and 4pm, Wednesday to Friday, with the Saturday and Sunday rapid and blitz sections both starting at 6pm.

Tickets were originally a pricey €53, but then Niemann announced in a post on X on Tuesday that entry would be free. Even apart from the prize money, the match will be important for both players. Niemann is now up to 2719 and 23rd place in the live Fide world classical rankings. If he can achieve 2725, he will reach the top 20 and a place among the Freestyle Grand Slam elite with a chance for another shot at Carlsen.

For Vitiugov, the challenge is different. Lacking 12 months’ residence, he was ineligible to compete in the recent British championship. His Fide rating has dropped below 2700, so he could use a good performance before he leads England in next month’s 193-nation Olympiad in Budapest. His solid style could tempt Niemann to over-reach.

Niemann’s European tour will conclude later with a match against France’s No 3 Étienne Bacrot in Paris. His concept — individual matches to offset a lack of top-quality tournament invitations — has a precedent more than a century ago, when José Raúl Capablanca toured multiple cities, also including London and Paris, and in master play scored +19=5-2.

Capablanca’s tour was highly successful, and comparable to the legendary Paul Morphy’s European tour of 1858. It established the Cuban firmly as the pre-eminent challenger to the then reigning world champion, Emanuel Lasker.  

Realistically, Niemann should have more modest ambitions. To reach the world top 20 by the end of his tour, and then to deprive Carlsen of his No 1 blitz rating, would be a maximalist outcome.

Puzzle 2585

Vlad Kramnik vs Vishy Anand, Nice 2008. Black to play. Two world champions met. What was Anand’s winning move?

Click here for solution

This column has been amended since publication to reflect the starting times of games at the Gem Fitzrovia Hotel this week