Caruana expressed an opinion about Niemann

Fabiano Caruana, a participant in the 2018 World Championship match, believes that the chess world has divided into two camps after the situation with Hans Niemann.

“I understand why Niemann doesn’t want to give interviews, because he feels attacked from all sides. Hans doesn’t want to talk so that his words won’t be used against him. Personally, I have no problem with this guy. I don’t think he would want everyone in the world to discuss his game and behavior right now. It was kind of an accident. I don’t think he’s happy about what’s going on right now. It seems to me that the chess community is now divided into two camps. One thing they say: well, yes, he cheated in online games, but he’s still a very good player. And this, in my opinion, is close to the truth. Another camp has a different opinion: Niemann is not a strong player at all, many top grandmasters also supported this position. It’s just that he somehow deceived everyone in order to achieve a high rating. This, in my opinion, makes no sense. But many people think so,” – Caruana said

Fabiano suggested that Niemann might have played dishonestly. Their personal meetings were held in the same key.

“I got an advantage on the opening, developed it, but already in time pressure Niemann showed an amazing ability to survive, masterfully defending and almost saving the party. But in the last few minutes he made a mistake. Hans always maintains tension in the game, you need to be vigilant with him every second. His style of play is very energy-consuming both for himself and for the opponent. Sometimes it seems that he is a genius and can play at the highest level. After all, we say the same thing about young Indian chess players,” – added Caruana.

Recall that Niemann was suspected chess.com in a dishonest game in more than 100 online games.

The current world champion Magnus Carlsen did not finish the stage of the Grand Chess Tour in St. Louis after losing to Niemann in the third round.