After defeating Magnus Carlsen in the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour and relegating him to the Losers’ Bracket, Levon Aronian had a rather quirky response to Hans Niemann’s delighted celebrations of the result.
“Well, I definitely made Hans very proud so this is already a good thing,” the American Gramndmaster said in an interview after the match.
For the uninitiated, during Carlsen’s match with Aronian, Niemann was doing commentary with Tania Sachdev and David Howell on the official stream for the Freestyle Tour and got so animated at one point that the official broadcasters opted to focus their camera on him.
“I definitely made Hans really proud.”
– Interview with @LevAronian after beating Magnus in tiebreaks. pic.twitter.com/3LrKEiMlxD— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) July 17, 2025
He clasped his hands on his face, jumped out of his seat, egged on Aronian with ‘come ons’ from time to time, and shouted moves at the TV screen.
“There are very few pleasures in life that compare to this feeling,” Niemann declared after Aronian won the first game against Niemann said. After Aronian defeated Carlsen, Niemann was said, “You know what they say, karma is a …. I don’t want to finish the sentence. Levon, I’m taking you to dinner tonight.”
Asked how he felt about not having to play Carlsen, Niemann said: “It’s not about how I feel. It’s about how he feels.”
Carlsen and Niemann have been locked in a feud since 2022 when the Norwegian player had accused the American of cheating after losing to Niemann in a Sinquefield Cup game. 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.
