Chess: Carlsen and Niemann impress as Paris grudge rematch approaches
The pair will meet early next month for the first time across the board since the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, where their game sparked cheating allegations and a $100 million lawsuit.Magnus Carlsen, no longer the world champion but still ranked the global No 1, will meet the controversial rising talent Hans Niemann, 21, across the board next month for the first time since the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, when their fateful third-round game, won by Niemann, sparked cheating allegations and a $100m lawsuit. The view now is that the incident involved no cheating, and certainly no anal beads.Niemann won again this week on his European tour as the American defeated France’s No 3, Étienne Bacrot, 4.5-1.5 in the classical section of their match in Paris. He has reached No 19 in the live ratings, his highest yet, following earlier victories against the Netherlands No 1, Anish Giri, in Utrecht and the England No 1, the former Russian Nikita Vitiugov, in London. Both were by convincing margins. Continue reading…