Magnus Carlsen withdraws from Sinkfield Cup

Monday, GM Magnus Carlsen He surprised the chess world by announcing his withdrawal from 2022 Sinquefield CupAnd he tweeted his decision at the beginning of the fourth round.

I withdrew from the tournament. I have always enjoyed playing in Tweet embedAnd I hope to come back in the future https://t.co/YFSpl8er3u

– Magnus Carlsen (Tweet embed) September 5, 2022

At the start of the tour, Carlsen’s watch against GM started Shakhryar Mamedyarovbut Carlsen never showed up to the board and was confiscated after the 10-minute access window expired.

Round 4 starts from #SinquefieldCup # Eid #chess #Shawky pic.twitter.com/HfSsNulsn8

Saint Louis Chess ClubTweet embed) September 5, 2022

Carlsen was at 1.5/3 after losing the previous round with White against GM Hans Niemann. According to the tournament regulations, since he has not completed 50 percent of his matches, Carlsen’s previous results will be disqualified from the tournament standings; However, the FIDE rating adjustments from these three games stand.

This is the first time Carlsen has withdrawn from a major event, and many have commented that such a withdrawal from a tournament in progress for any reason other than health reasons is almost unprecedented in high-level chess. To find precedent, one can look back as far as 1967 Sousse where Bobby Fisher Withdrew after 10 rounds due to quarrels with the organizers.

Chess fans and online commentators were quick to speculate. GM Hikaru Nakamura Suppose Carlsen pulled out because he suspected Neiman cheated on their game the day before, saying, “I think Magnus thinks Hans might be cheating.”

In a post-match interview, Niemann stated that he warmed up based on Carlsen’s use of the g3 game Nimzo-Indian against the GM. Wesley Su In London 2018. However, this game does not exist. It is possible that Neiman was referring to the Carlsen-Sue fast match that was played in Kolkata, 2019.

In his post-match interview, GM Ian Nepomnyashchi He shared his thoughts on the Carlsen-Nemann game, calling it “more than great”.

Ian Nepomnyakhchi in his match today against Wesley Sue, as well as his reaction to the news of Carlsen’s withdrawal: # Sinkfield pic.twitter.com/a3Sp75Df6g

– Grand Chess Tour (Tweet embed) September 5, 2022

After the start of the round, Grand Chess Tour announced that it was taking additional anti-fraud precautions, including 15-minute broadcast delays and increased radio frequency identification (RFID) checks.

At the request of anti-fraud arbiter David Sedgwick, broadcasts were delayed by 15 minutes for today’s tour, as well as increased RFID checks. #SinquefieldCup

– Grand Chess Tour (Tweet embed) September 5, 2022

Comment request, Chess Head Chess.com Daniel Rench He stated: “Chess.com does not discuss fair play matters publicly, and as such, we decline to comment on events at the Sinquefield Cup and/or any speculation made by the community.”

Carlsen’s team declined to comment.

Update: An earlier version of this article stated that Chess.com was unable to locate any other recent game by Carlsen in the Nimzo-Indian g3 line. However, by diversion, there was the quick Carlsen-So played in Kolkata, 2019.

Covering the 2022 Sinquefield Cup