Magnus Carlsen: In future, cheaters should not be taken lightly

Carlsen refused to comment when asked about the reason for his resignation after one-move during his sixth round match against American Hans Niemann in Julius Baer Generation Cup.

FILE PHOTO: Norwegian chess player Magnus Carlsen. | Photo Credit: B JOTHI RAMALINGAM/The Hindu

World champion Magnus Carlsen on Thursday spoke on the issue of cheating in chess.

In an interview with chess24’s Oslo broadcast host Kaja Snare, Carlsen said, “I think individual people will answer the question differently depending on their own experiences. I think regardless of whether it’s a massive problem or not, it’s I think fairly easy to cheat and, on a general basis, I think that cheaters in the future should not be taken lightly either online or over the board.”

The Norwegian, who topped the Julius Baer Generation Cup’s prelim stage leaderboard with 34 points, had stunned everyone when he resigned after just one-move during his sixth round match against American Hans Niemann. The unexpected drama came after Niemann played his second move with white pieces. Carlsen resigned and switched off his camera. Within moments, a dazed Niemann also switched off his camera and left millions of those watching it live online in disbelief.

Carlsen refused to comment when asked about the reason for his withdrawal but said, “I’m very impressed by Niemann’s play and I think his mentor Maxim Dlugy must be doing a great job.”

Though Carlsen has never named 19-year-old Niemann of cheating, he dramatically withdrew from the premier Sinquefield Cup after losing to the youngster from San Francisco on September 4. That defeat also ended Carlsen’s 53-game unbeaten streak in classical time format.