At the recent World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships in Astana, WR Chess, with Magnus Carlsen on the top board, and GMHans.com, with Hans Niemann on the top board, were paired up against each other in both sections. Carlsen sat out the matches, as Ian Nepomniachtchi took his spot and faced Niemann.
A huge controversy grabbed the world's attention once Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup in 2022 after losing a classical game against Niemann. Public statements, lawsuits, investigations and settlements followed. The contenders did not play a single over-the-board game since then. But now they cannot escape it, and according to the interviews they gave to chess.com, it seems like we will finally get to see the much-anticipated confrontation.
The players will face off in the semifinals of the Speed Chess Championship. This year's series will see the final stages (semis, final and match for third place) taking place at Espot in Paris on 6-8 September.
Niemann stunned Wesley So in the quarterfinals, while Carlsen got the better of Arjun Erigaisi. The other semifinal will see Alireza Firouzja facing Hikaru Nakamura.
The event in Paris will feature the four qualified players competing on computers in a series of 5-minute, 3-minute and 1-minute games (all with 1-second increments):
3-minute game
