World Blitz Championship: Match-fixing?
The 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York was roller coaster of controversies and exciting results. While the fans were still recuperating from the Magnus-Jeans fiasco, there was a historical result waiting for everyone at the end of the Blitz Championship. Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi were declared Joint Winners of the World Blitz Champion title!
Amidst all the chaotic discussions and reaction to this decision taken by FIDE, a clip from this video (linked below) released by ChessBase India (Behind the Scenes of how Carlsen and Nepo became joint World Blitz Champions!) has caused a potential match-fixing discussion to erupt on the chess social media. At 4:39, Magnus Carlsen was heard saying, “If they like refuse, we can just play short draws until they give up” to Nepo while both the players were waiting for the officials to give a verdict on the suggestion. FIDE has been critical of players making pre-arranged draws in the past. Ian Nepomniachtchi got a taste of it during the previous World Blitz Championship (2023) where the famous “Knight Dance” was played by him and Dubov in their game, eventually agreeing to a draw. FIDE took notice of the situation and announced a double-forfeit for both players for playing that draw.
Hans Niemann wrote, “This is cause for an investigation by the FIDE Ethics committee” as his reaction to the clip going around on X. CEO of FIDE, Emil Sutovsky has reacted to the clip as well. “A decision was taken by President Dvorkovich under the spur of a moment, and of course, the video appeared much later. I do think it is VERY BAD tho. Too early to say what are the possible consequences,” said Emil in his reaction to the situation.
It seems like FIDE is going to conduct a rigorous and critical investigation. Let’s see how this clip of Magnus Carlsen and FIDE’s intervention in this situation adds to the bucket of controversies that took place at the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Championships!
Photo via Lichess.org
Find the original video by ChessBase India here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHgw-gvGDus
