‘No intention of watching’: World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura on Magnus Carlsen vs Hans Niemann documentary | Chess News – The Times of India
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‘No intention of watching’: World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura on Magnus Carlsen vs Hans Niemann documentary | Chess News – The Times of India


‘No intention of watching’: World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura on Magnus Carlsen vs Hans Niemann documentary | Chess News – The Times of India
Hikaru Nakamura speaks about Magnus Carlsen vs Hans Niemann documentary

NEW DELHI: World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura has made it clear he is not interested in watching Netflix’s latest documentary on the controversial rivalry between Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann, even as the film sparks fresh debate in the chess world.Speaking after a recent game at the FIDE Candidates, Nakamura admitted he hasn’t followed the documentary or the online reaction around it.

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“Well, I mean, I don’t know because I haven’t watched it. also haven’t been on social media, so I have no idea. I mean, I would say what I said before on my stream yesterday after my game, which is from what I’ve heard about it, they don’t really delve too much into the behind the scenes of how everything transpired before the event, which is very disappointing,” he told ChessBase India. The documentary, Untold: Chess Mates, revisits the infamous 2022 Sinquefield Cup clash where Niemann defeated Carlsen, triggering one of the biggest controversies in modern chess. Carlsen’s withdrawal from the tournament and public doubts over Niemann’s play led to widespread speculation and divided opinions across the chess community.Nakamura believes the film may fall short by not fully exploring the background of the incident.“Because without that, I think people are lacking the proper context. But I have no intention of watching it. There’s a saying, I know it’s slightly different, so it’s paraphrasing, but they say you should never sleep where you work or something like that,” he added.Making his stance even clearer, he remarked, “There’s more crafts where they use specifically. But I would say that basically I spend enough time on chess. I’m not going to spend my free time seeing even more chess. That has no interest to me whatsoever.”ALSO READ: Magnus Carlsen vs Hans Niemann documentary: Is ‘Untold: Chess Mates’ worth watching?Meanwhile, Niemann uses the documentary to send a strong message about his ambitions, declaring, “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer. I’m going to become the best player in the world.”


‘Clear and immediate priority’: Praggnanandhaa and other top chess stars issue alert on major scheduling conflict
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‘Clear and immediate priority’: Praggnanandhaa and other top chess stars issue alert on major scheduling conflict


In an open letter addressed to the Esports World Cup and the Grand Chess Tour, R Praggnanandhaa, Fabiano Caruana and other top chess stars have spoken against the conflicting schedules of major events that are set to take place in the month of August.

R Praggnanandhaa is among a group of leading chess players who have spoken out against scheduling conflicts involving two major events that are set to take place later this year. Besides ‘Pragg’, world No 3 Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Vincent Keymer and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are the other chess stars who have put their names in an open letter addressed to the Grand Chess Tour and the organisers of the Esports World Cup.

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The Last Chance Qualifier for the Esports World Cup – in which chess makes its second appearance – takes place from 6 to 8 August with the main event then taking place from the 11th to the 15th.

The 11th season of the Grand Chess Tour, which gets underway in May in Poland, has events scheduled around the same time, with the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz taking place from 2-6 August and the Sinquefield Cup from the 10th to the 20th of that month.

‘Discussions have since stalled completely’

In the open letter addressed to the organisers, Caruana, Praggnanandhaa and the other players made it clear that a solution to the issue was a “clear and immediate priority” for them. The letter added that the issue had been flagged earlier, but changes to the schedule were yet to be made.

“Resolving the situation is now the players’ clear and immediate priority. Players and teams raised this issue with both organizers earlier and received replies, but no scheduling adjustment followed,” read the letter.

“Discussions have since stalled completely, leaving players with no visibility. With qualification paths already underway, the conflict is becoming concrete,” it added.

Here’s the full letter, shared by French Grandmaster Vachier-Lagrave:

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