Magnus Carlsen responds to latest Hans Niemann cheating accusations

The world of chess has turned up all sorts of scandals over recent times, and now there’s another development involving grandmasters Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann.

Carlsen has now responded to the claims that he accused the photographer Lennart Ootes of helping Niemann to cheat when the pair played together.

You have to go back to 2022, when the pair played together at the Sinquefield Cup, to discover the origins of the pair’s feud.

Niemann won that game back then, with the game kickstarting one of the strangest episodes in the history of the sport.

Carlsen alleged that there had been foul play. In fact, shortly afterwards he immediately resigned from a live online game against Niemann after one move.

Soon, there were conspiracies doing the rounds on the internet, including the notorious allegation that Niemann had cheated using vibrating anal beads – which were amplified by Elon Musk on social media.

Niemann (L) and Carlsen (R)Hans Niemann/Getty Images

That was in 2022, and it was only in August 2023 that Niemann was cleared of the bizarre accusations.

Now, a new report is threatening to reignite the whole controversy surrounding the original game.

A report in New York Magclaims that during the original Sinquefield Cup game, Carlsen got up from his seat and accused photographer Lennart Ootes of helping Niemann.

However, Carlsen has denied the claims and called them “misleading”.

Writing on Twitter/X, Carlsen said: “The most egregious of which was that I accused the photographer, Lennart Ootes, of aiding with cheating. I never did such a thing.

“I merely pointed out that someone who may or may not have knowledge of engine evaluations entering the room or going up to a board at certain times, can unknowingly give players tells.”

He went on to say that he wasn’t the only person who took issue with people entering the room, adding: “This is a problem that other people have brought up later as well.”

Niemann hasn’t yet responded to the claims in the report.

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