American Grandmaster Hans Niemann recently advocated for the implementation of ratings decay in chess, citing the example of Viswanathan Anand, saying that the Indian legend has been holding on to the same ratings points even though he plays only 5-10 games per year. Anand, who says he is “semi-retired”, rarely plays in classical events these days. He occasionally plays in classical leagues abroad and slightly more frequently competes in rapid events like the Global Chess League.
“In general I think that if you look at the changes in the chess time control, the ratings system, historically relative to how the world has advanced, I think it’s time for, I think first of all you need rating decay. I think the rating system which allows, for example, Vishy Anand who’s an amazing player but him to maintain his rating playing 5-10 games a year, I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Niemann said on the FIDE YouTube channel.
“I think we should adopt a similar system to tennis because I don’t know, because the fact that you can qualify for the Candidates, without playing the Grand swiss, without playing the World Cup. He barely plays classical chess and what he does, he’s quite timid and solid, he’s not really that ambitious. So I think chess needs to change the system,” Niemann continued.
Niemann was answering a question on the recent Hikaru Nakamura controversy where the GM has been accused of trying to sneak through to a Candidates spot by avoiding top tournaments like the ongoing Grand Swiss as well as Sinquefield Cup. He instead played in Louisiana State Championship against a field that consists of players far below Nakamura’s calibre.
Polgar defends Nakamura
American-Hungarian GM Susan Polgar, however, recently came to Nakamura’s defence, saying that the US GM wasn’t hiding anything but is playing in lower-raked tournaments openly.
“Fake moral outrage! Earlier today, I posted about Hikaru Nakamura 7-0 results in the Louisiana State Chess Championship. It is very rare for a world class player to play in small open tournaments, on his own dime. Hikaru did not do this in secrets. He openly tweeted and streamed about the event. There was no rule broken. He was well received by the players. He smiled, posed for photos, and analyzed with them. Very professional!”
“Some people got angry about it when it is none of their business. Hikaru can do whatever he wants with his time. If this is against some rules then it is up to FIDE to do something about it. He broke no rule as far as I know,” Polgar posted on X.
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