Magnus Carlsen defeated Hans Niemann at World Rapid Championship. (PHOTO: FIDE/Lennart Ootes)
18-time World Chess Champion across all formats, Magnus Carlsen is in line to win his 19th World title as he leads the 247-player field in Doha at the World Rapid and Blitz Championship 2025. On Sunday, he defeated American GM Hans Niemann, with whom he shares a controversial past.
Heading into the 11th round of the Rapid portion, both Niemann and Carlsen were jointly leading the pack with 8 points from 10 rounds. Niemann was unbeaten in the competition with six wins and four draws until he faced Carlsen. The Norwegian, meanwhile, was handed his only loss by Russia’s Vladislav Artemiev in the seventh round on Saturday.
Playing Whites, Carlsen ventured into the Italian game against Niemann. After the piece development in the opening, the first exchange took place on the 10th move when Carlsen chopped off Black’s knight with his dark-squared bishop. Carlsen was able to go a pawn up in the middle game and was playing with better accuracy than his opponent.
With a double rook and queen endgame with an extra pawn, Carlsen ground out Niemann for a win, his eighth victory of the event, which helped him break into a sole lead position with two rounds to go.
Niemann and Carlsen have a long history together. Carlsen had accused Niemann of cheating, after which the American accepted he had cheated in online chess in the past but never on over-the-board (OTB) games. Neimann then slammed Carlsen and his team with a $100 million lawsuit for maligning his name.
Later, Chess.com announced that Carlsen and Niemann settled their dispute out of court.
“Since June, both sides have negotiated privately in a good-faith effort to resolve their issues and allow the chess world to move forward without further litigation. We are happy to share that all sides have reached an agreement,” Chess.com said in a statement in August 2023.
The incident occurred after Carlsen was outplayed by Artemiev in the seventh round of the Rapid section, marking Carlsen’s first loss of the event. Following the defeat, the Norwegian shook hands to concede, grabbed his blazer, and began storming off. As he walked away, a FIDE photographer approached for a close-up shot. Just as the photographer neared him, Carlsen angrily shoved the camera aside and exited the playing hall.