The Generation game.

The latest flashpoint in the Carlsen-Niemann saga took place in the sixth round of the preliminaries at the Julius Baer Generation Cup, one of the online events in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. Ten days earlier, 19-year-old Hans Niemann had beaten Magnus Carlsen over the board at the Sinquefield Cup. Carlsen’s shock withdrawal from that event got the rumour mill spinning, which only accelerated after Niemann’s admission that he had cheated online at ages 12 and 16, although he insisted that those incidents are behind him.

In the Generation Cup, Carlsen made just one move against Niemann before resigning, clearly in protest. After the event Carlsen released a statement, making it clear that he suspects Niemann of more extensive cheating and that he won’t be playing any more games against him.

Carlsen’s cold-blooded conviction in this matter is remarkable. Anish Giri, another elite player, drew attention to the Norwegian’s splendid play against Levon Aronian in the very next game which followed his protest, as though he was undisturbed by the drama. I am reminded of those schoolteachers who can segue from righteous fury to monastic calm without skipping a beat.

In the final round of the day, Carlsen seemed also to air some kind of teacherly instinct. At the end of a hard-fought draw with the exceptional 17-year-old Indian Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, he made a little clapping gesture on camera. Spontaneous as it was, it also looked pointed, as if to say ‘this guy is the real deal’. Carlsen himself was on tremendous form during the event, and qualified for the knockout stages easily despite his self-imposed handicap in the Niemann game. He was quick to praise his other teenage opponents too. He described 17-year-old Vincent Keymer, whom he beat in the quarter finals, as ‘very, very strong’. Carlsen heaped praise upon Arjun Erigaisi before they met in the final, describing the 19-year-old as ‘amazingly strong’, and ‘certainly a top-ten player in rapid and blitz’.

Nonetheless, he continued handing out exacting lessons over the board. After beating Erigaisi with four wins and a single draw, he explained that he had strived to play ‘anti-young-player-chess’ – that is, ‘older, less theoretical lines that have some serious strategic complexity’.

But it was pure tactics at the end of the second game, and Carlsen admitted to a bit of good fortune. He left his rook on e3 open to capture, and was surprised when Erigaisi took the bait.

Arjun Erigaisi–Magnus Carlsen

Julius Baer Generation Cup, September 2022 (see diagram)

27 Bxe3 Qxe3+ Now 28 Kh1 Bxd4 29 cxd4 Ng4 would create overwhelming threats. One delightful variation runs 30 Rf1 Qe4 31 Rf3 Nh3! 32 Bf1 Qe3! 33 Rxe3 Ngf2 mate. 28 Kf1 In this position, Carlsen had presumably counted on 28… Ng4, with mate threats on f2 and h2, but then spotted that 29 Nc6+! turns the tables: 29… bxc6 30 Rd8+ Kb7 31 Qa6 mate. No better is 28… Bxd4 29 Rxd4 Qc1+ 30 Rd1, followed by Rd8+. So he sank into thought for a minute and a half, and found the only winning move. N4d5! A brilliant measure, which forcibly blocks the d-file and thus renews the threat of Nf6-g4. 29 Bxd5 White loses in all variations, e.g. 29 Re1 Qf4+ 30 Kg1 Bxd4+ 31 cxd4 Qxd4+ followed by Qxc4. But 29 Be2 is less easy to refute. The strongest response is 29… g4! which prepares Qf4+, without allowing bishop or knight to block the check) 30 g3 c6! (preparing Nf6-e4 without allowing Qe8+) 31 Rd3 Qe4 32 Ke1 Qh1+ 33 Bf1 Bxd4 34 cxd4 Qxh2 and Nf6-e4 is coming, so White is lost. Ng4 With the d-file closed, 30 Nc6+ does nothing, so White resigns.