Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen has accused fellow Grandmaster Hans Niemann of cheating “more and more” than what he has already admitted, saying that he will not play against any rival indulging in such wrongdoing.

Carlsen put out a statement late Monday night, a week after he withdrew against the American after just one move at the Julius Baer Generation Cup. Earlier, the 31- year-old Norwegian had quit the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis following his surprise loss to the 19-year-old Niemann.

“I believe that Niemann has cheated more and more recently than he has publicly admitted,” Carlsen wrote.

“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 think only a handful of players can do.“This game contributed to changing my perspective,” he explained.

Hans Niemann. File picture

Carlsen, however, didn’t offer any evidence of how the US Grandmaster could have cheated over the board, which is played face to face. While cheating in online chess is a possibility with the advancement in technology, the same is difficult over the board. Gone are the days when Anatoly Karpov allegedly got advice on moves by the colour of the drink he was served during games. Players nowadays are scanned by electromagnetic devices.

Niemann’s case has worsened as he had previously admitted to having cheated — first as a 12-year-old and then at the age of 16 — in an interview to Chess.com. However, he has denied ever cheating over the board.

In his defence, Niemann, who is yet to react to Carlsen’s allegation, can point out the findings of Professor Kenneth Regan, Fide’s authority on anti-cheating, who analysed more than 200 of the young Grandmaster’s games since 2020 and concluded that he found no evidence of foul play by the American.

Expressing his concerns, Carlsen further wrote: “I believe that cheating in chess is a big deal and an existential threat to the game and chess organisers 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.”

Looks like the world of chess will be busy with this debate for some time.