Chess: Hans Niemann closes on world top 20 as US star impresses in London

Hans Niemann, the controversial US 21-year-old, is in London this week as his “Niemann v the World” series against European grandmasters ­continues with a match against the England No 1 and former Russian, Nikita Vitiugov.

Niemann won their first classical game on Wednesday morning in 48 moves, playing an impressive Anatoly Karpov style strategic attack. But in game two, after creating a winning position, he missed two easy tactical shots and had to settle for a drawn rook ending. Games three and four on Thursday were also drawn after level play.

The $20,000 match has six classical games on Wednesday to Friday (10am and 4pm starts), six rapid games on Saturday (6pm start) and 12 blitz games on Sunday (6pm start). The match at the Gem Fitzrovia Hotel, Bolsover Street is free for spectators, and is also live on ­lichess, where several hundred view the games daily.

Guardian reader Mike Gunn went to watch, and was enlisted as Deputy Arbiter (he is a qualified Fide National Arbiter). He writes: “The playing room is an air-conditioned basement meeting room in the hotel, with 40 seats for spectators. There are no viewing screens or wallboards. Spectators had a mainly side view, and you had to stand up to get a proper view of the board.

The first game had to be scored on Dutch scoresheets, but I bought some English ones from the nearby Chess and Bridge shop in time for game two. Most of the few spectators were young, and did not play in leagues or tournaments, but followed Niemann on X.

Vitiugov arrived five or 10 minutes before the start, Niemann only a minute. Both players were scanned before the game using a hand scanner, and were accompanied to the toilet by the Dutch chief arbiter, Frans Peeters, who took the scanner with him.

Vitiugov sat in a still, symmetric pose and continually studied the board. Niemann, in contrast, was a real fidget. He crossed and recrossed his legs, ran his hands through his hair, stretched, shielded his eyes with his hand, and glanced at his opponent and sometimes round the room. Some would find him annoying, but I don’t think Vitiugov noticed. Generally Niemann had an advantage on the clock, and Vitiugov lost the first game on time in a lost position.”

Niemann became famous after the 2022 Sinquefield Cup in St Louis, where he defeated the then world champion Magnus Carlsen and triggered cheating allegations, a $100m lawsuit, and an enduring hostility between the pair which remains unresolved. It is now generally accepted that there was no cheating, and certainly no anal beads, involved.

Now Niemann, who has jumped up to world No 21 after being outside the top 40 a year or so ago, is making a push for a place in major invitation tournaments, for which he has had few opportunities due to his relatively low ranking, difficult personality, and a widely publicised incident of trashing his hotel room.

Earlier this month Niemann defeated Anish Giri, the Netherlands No 1 and one of the best players in Western Europe, in a $50,000 series in Utrecht. Niemann’s victory was by 24-18 in a mixed series where the scoring was 3 points for classical games, 2 for rapid and 1 for blitz Niemann won at classical and blitz, and drew at rapid. After his match with Vitiugov, he will go to Paris for a $30,000 series against France’s No 3, Étienne Bacrot. He could reach the world top 15 with further strong performances.

Niemann’s concept, individual matches to offset a lack of top quality tournament invitations, has a precedent more than a century ago when José Raúl Capablanca toured multiple cities, also including London and Paris, and in master play scored +19=5-2.

Capablanca’s tour was highly successful, and comparable to the legendary Paul Morphy’s European tour of 1858. It established the Cuban firmly as the pre-eminent challenger to the reigning world champion, Emanuel Lasker.

Realistically, Niemann should have more modest ambitions. To reach the world top 15-20 by the end of his tour, and then to deprive Carlsen of his No 1 blitz rating, would be a maximalist outcome.

There will be a Carlsen v Niemann rematch in Paris on 6 September, when the semi-finals and final of the chess.com Speed Championship will be played live. To reach the semi-final, Niemann defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So, while Carlsen knocked out the world No 4, Arjun Erigaisi. Niemann gave an interview after his match with So in which he lashed out at “the chess establishment which conspired to ruin my career.”

The rematch will be in an unusual format. Previous rounds of the speed championship were played exclusively online, but Paris will be a hybrid event, where the opponents will sit opposite each other but play on separate computers. There will be 90 minutes of 5+1 blitz, 60 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 30 minutes of 1+1 bullet. Carlsen said that he would prefer a different opponent but “if I have a decent day I’ll probably win without too many issues.” The other semi-final will be Hikaru Nakamura v Alireza Firouzja.

It was the 2022 Sinquefield Cup which began the Carlsen v Niemann imbroglio. The 2024 Sinquefield Cup, the climax of the St Louis-based Grand Chess Tour, starts on Monday. Its centre of interest will be Ding Liren and Gukesh Dommaraju, the participants in the 14-game, $2.5m world title match scheduled to start in Singapore on 23 November, playing together. Ding will be hoping to continue his recent improved form.

The full list for Sinquefield 2024 is: Fabiano Caruana and So (US), Firouzja and Vachier-Lagrave (France), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Gukesh (India), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia/Fide), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) and Ding (China). Play starts 7.30pm BST on Monday 19 August, and will be screened live on grandchesstour.org.

3933 1….Kf2+! 2 Qxb3 Ng5+! 3 hxg5 Qh8 mate.