Hans Niemann has said that stars like Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura will experience more pressure than he will when they face off across the board in a chess game. Niemann is one of the 16 players at the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, where Carlsen and Nakamura are also in the fray. Niemann and Nakamura are in eight-player Group Black while Carlsen headlines Group White.
Niemann’s group will also have players like Fabiano Caruana, Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi while Praggnanandhaa is in Carslen’s half. The Las Vegas event could see a rare, over-the-board clash between the outspoken American and Carlsen, who had accused him of cheating after losing to Niemann in a Sinquefield Cup game in 2022. That incident led to a $100 million lawsuit which was eventually settled. None of the cheating allegations were ever substantiated.
Carlsen and Niemann have played against each other a couple of times over the board since then, most notably at the FIDE World Blitz Championship in New York in December last year. There, Carlsen defeated Niemann and then made a “what’s the fuss” gesture at the camera. Niemann, though, believes that the Norwegian world no 1 will experience more pressure than him if they meet again.
“I honestly think that more pressure is on them because they have much more to lose than me. For me, I’m 22 years old. I have 10 chances against them, right? If I lose to them, it’s not something to be embarrassed about, right? They’re great players, but for them, if they lose, considering the history, for them it would be quite devastating, you know? So, I think that they feel more pressure,” Niemann told Chessbase India in an interview.
“Even recently my results against Hikaru and Magnus online have been very good. I think against Hikaru this year I’m 5 ½ vs 1 ½ and all the wins I had were decisive to win the tournament. So Hikaru I’m out performing. I beat Magnus and Hikaru back to back. Even Alireza I’m 3-0 in the last. So I don’t feel the same nerves that I used to feel against the top guys. I guess having opportunities to play them in blitz online helps you acclimatize to their level and to the potential stress that could incur throughout the game. They have much more to lose. So like I would say that they’re stressed (facing me). Because if you saw in my rapid game against Hikaru he was completely winning, but then he blundered and so I’ve been tricking him a lot. So it’s a sign of stress.”
