Hans Niemann makes comeback at Grenke Chess after last-minute no-show at Freestyle Chess in Paris | Chess News

American grandmaster Hans Niemann made an appearance at the Grenke Chess Freestyle Open after his mysterious last-minute pull out from the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour last week. Playing against Andreas Ciolek, a FIDE Master from Germany ranked over 8000 in the world and with a classical rating of 2198, Niemann forced a resignation in 23 moves after trapping the white king.
Niemann’s appearance at the event raises the prospect of Niemann meeting arch-nemesis Magnus Carlsen over the board in later rounds at the tournament. The duo were involved in the infamous cheating scandal in 2022 when Carlsen had withdrawn from the Sinquefield Cup after losing a game to Niemann. This had led to allegations of cheating and a $100 million lawsuit from the American. No implicating evidence was ever found to suggest that Niemann had cheated.
Niemann was supposed to play at the Paris event of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour which ended on Monday, but had withdrawn without offering an explanation just two days before the event started. The organisers had found a last-minute replacement in Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
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Jan Henric Buettner, who is the force behind the Freestyle Chess Tour, had told Take Take Take app that Niemann had refused to respond to his texts or emails and instead opted to write an email to another member of the organising committee to announce his withdrawal due to “personal reasons” without explaining anything.
The Grenke Chess Freestyle Open event is being along with the Grenke Chess Open, which is one of the world’s biggest open events held annually in Karlsruhe, Germany. Besides Carlsen and Nieman, some of the world’s best players are in action like Ian Nepomniachtchi, Arjun Erigaisi, Fabiano Caruana and Vincent Keymer. India’s Aravindh Chitambaram is also in action.
Carlsen will take on Czech teenager Vaclav Finek in Round 2 while Niemann faces Andrei Deviatkin. Arjun will take on Cem Kaan Gokerkan while Aravindh faces Maciej Klekowski.
The Grenke event is being played in a 9-round Swiss system. Players in the Grenke Chess Open have been allowed to switch to this tournament until Round 5, while also retaining their points from the classical open event.Story continues below this ad
The winner of the Grenke Chess Freestyle Open will earn a ticket to the next event of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour that will be played in Las Vegas now. Players get 90 minutes for each game (with an increment of 30 seconds per move).
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