Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi’s decision to share World Blitz title sparks controversy

PTI, Jan 2, 2025, 8:28 AM IST

Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi’s decision to share the World Blitz Championship title for the first time in history has sent shockwaves through the chess community, sparking widespread criticism.

World number one Carlsen and Russia’s Nepomniachtchi shared the Blitz title after three sudden-death games failed to produce a winner. This was the first time that the title was awarded to two players after the Norwegian asked whether it could be shared given the deadlock.

The move has drawn sharp criticism, with former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik slamming the international chess federation for not thinking of a rule for such scenario.

“Of course, some might wonder if FIDE should have thought a bit making the regulations concerning final WC match situation like that, but understandable, a lot of time and energy was spent on the jeans clause, the person writing the regulations was already tired by then,” Kramnik said.

He was referring to FIDE’s recent revision of its dress code policy. Carlsen had been disqualified from the Rapid section last week after arriving in jeans and refusing to switch to formal trousers.

Following the incident, he withdrew from the Blitz event, prompting FIDE to revise its stance and permit players to compete in jeans, which ultimately led to Carlsen’s participation. US Grandmaster Hans Niemann, who was beaten by Carlsen earlier in the tournament, wrote a series of post on X.

“The chess world is officially a joke. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN DONE IN HISTORY. I can’t believe that the official body of chess is being controlled by a singular player FOR THE 2ND TIME THIS WEEK. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE WORLD CHAMPION!” Niemann wrote. “FIDE goes from forfeiting Carlsen to creating an entirely new rule. Seems like the the regulatory body of chess, has no intention of being unbiased. They seem to only care about what one player thinks,” he added.

Soon a clip started circulating on social media where the Carlsen was heard telling Nepomniachtchi “if “FIDE refuse (to allow us to share title), we can just play short draws until they give up.” This prompted Niemann to call for an investigation.

“This is cause for an investigation by the FIDE Ethics committee. I can’t believe that 2 players who maliciously accused me and tried to ruin my career are openly breaking the rules. The irony simply can’t get any worse,” Niemann later wrote.

American-Hungarian chess grandmaster Susan Polgar pointed out that Nepomniachtchi and Daniil Dubov had been docked points for playing out a draw at last year’s event.

The two had made their knights hop around the board before agreeing to a draw.

“What is the difference between the famous “Knight Dance” and “Title Share”? I hope some arbiters can explain the “rules” to me,” she wrote.

Indian grandmaster Srinath Narayanan said: “Criticism of the regulations and using it as an excuse is nonsense here. The Wimbledon 2019 final lasted 4 hours and 57 minutes. Novak Djokovic won the 5th set 13-12 and won Wimbledon 2019. They didn’t make a pact to share the trophy or ‘keep losing one point each until they give up’.”