Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup 2022 without a detailed explanation. The chess world was shaken by the breaking news and the rumors of Carlsen’s possible reasons for withdrawal started spreading over social media.
The story so far: Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup 2022 without detailed explanations. Possible reasons of Magnus Carlsen’s withdrawal can be found here. Sinquefield Cup’s players and organizers reacted to Carlsen’s decision with Fabiano Caruana tweeting that he can’t wait to see the Hans effect on The Magnus Effect. Hans Niemann was shocked by Carlsen’s withdrawal and explained that he couldn’t even focus on his fourth round game against Firouzja. In the post-game interview, Hans added: At least I got to beat Magnus Carlsen before he left
After the quick round 4 draw against Wesley So, Ian Nepomniachtchi gave a short post-game interview and commented on Magnus’s decision: “Probably he had a reason“. Answering the question if he thinks that Magnus Carlsen was affected by the loss against Hans Niemann, Nepo answered: “Yeah. In some way for sure. But it (the game) was more than impressive“.
Levon Aronian spoke about his game and also shared his opinion on Carlsen’s act: “It quite often happens when young players play very well there are accusations towards them. I mean, all of my colleagues are pretty much paranoid, and quite often I was the one telling them, come on, guys. I know myself, I am an idiot, I am a good player. I mean, I always think that young players can play very well. There is no reason not to play well. So I never have this feeling that my opponent is overperforming“.
Tony Rich, the Executive Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club, explained that Magnus’s decision not to continue playing in the Sinquefield Cup 2022 is a personal decision: “Magnus’s decision not to play is his personal decision until he makes the public statement on that matter. (…) I think ultimately it’s Magnus’s decision to come out and give his reasons. I don’t want to put words in his mouth so let him speak on his own behalf“.
Sinquefield Cup 2022: Live games / Day 4 LIVE video coverage / Round 3 results & recap
Interviews and videos: Hans Niemann: It’s not a surprise for me that I am beating the top-level players
