How strong is Hans really?

by ChessBase
9/3/2024 – On Friday, September 6th, there is going to be a touchy encounter between former World Champion and World number one Magnus Carlsen, and upstart GM Hans Niemann, 21. The pair will meet for the first time across the board since the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, where their game sparked cheating allegations and a $100 million lawsuit. GM Jorden van Foreest, who has recently encountered Hans in evening blitz sessions, tells us what he thinks of the strength of this rising star.
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Jorden van Foreest on Hans Niemann:
"I got to see his strength up close"

GM Hans Niemann has been making waves with his recent string of matches and controversial interviews. His current ranking on the FIDE scale:

 16  Niemann, Hans Moke  g  USA  2733  18  2003

Recently the young and talented GM Jorden Van Foreest, himself 2700, met up with Hans for a private training session. Since Hans was sick, they ended up only playing blitz in the evenings. Jorden's assessment of the encounter was that usually, when he loses, he attributes it to an oversight, a blunder, or something in those lines. However, he admits that with Hans, he was often just getting completely outplayed. That is impressive and not an obvious comment to hear from a 2700 player!

Here's an interesting video in which Jorden and fellow GM Borki Predojevic give their predictions before the Carlsen vs. Niemann match in Paris this Friday (September 6th).

And here is the full 1:40h podcast interview with GMs Jorden and Borki Predojeevic

Topics:

  • Niemann vs. Carlsen match in Paris
  • Jorden shares his thoughts about Niemanns strenghts after blitz training
  • Kramnik's cheating accusations in social media
  • Jorden admits not working as hard on chess as he should
  • Life as a professional chess player.
  • Constant chase of rating and the lack of structure in chess

You can read all about the upcoming Carlsen vs Niemann encounter in last week's Guardian column written by the indefatigable Leonard Barden. He writes:

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.

The Carlsen v Niemann match will be a semi-final of the Chess.com Speed Championship, whose earlier rounds were online but whose last stages will be across the board. The other semi-final is Hikaru Nakamura v Alireza Firouzja.

You can read Leonard's full Guardian column here

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