5 biggest chess controversies of 2023, featuring Hans Niemann, GMHikaru, Magnus Carlsen, and more

While chess controversies have existed since time immemorial, adding the online dimension has opened Pandora's box of dramas. In 2023 alone, many of these controversies emerged, with some even entangling popular chess streamers and content creators.

This article highlights five such chess-related controversies from 2023 that raised eyebrows and sparked extensive discussions within the online and chess communities.

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5 biggest chess controversies that took place in 2023

1) Vladimir Kramnik's feud with GMHikaru

Vladimir Kramnik, the former World Champion, was among the controversies as well. He recently took to his Chess.com blog post (which has since been locked) to share some statistical anomalies that, in his eyes, are worth investigating. Interestingly, these stats mostly targeted fellow Grandmaster and Twitch streamer Hikaru "GMHikaru" (particularly after Hikaru went on a 45.5/46 winning run online).

While he hasn't directly accused Hikaru of cheating, Vladimir believes that Hikaru's online performance doesn't quite match his on-the-board performance. In response, however, Chess.com published a report stating that they had found no evidence of any cheating involving Hikaru.

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2) Ludwig cancels his Chessboxing 2023 event

The second of the chess controversies involves former Twitch streamer Ludwig Ahgren. Following a successful run in 2022, Ludwig had ambitious plans to organize a chessboxing event in 2023. Despite his considerable experience in event hosting, the streamer stunned his audience by announcing the cancellation of this year's Chessboxing event.

The surprising twist stemmed from the event's inability to secure approval from any official boxing association willing to sanction the fight in the states of Nevada or California. Ludwig also revealed that he had lost over $100K in the process. This tournament was also tied up with a potential match-up between GMHikaru and Carlsen, which also got canceled due to sponsors pulling out.

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3) End of Hans Niemann vs. Magnus Carlsen lawsuit

After losing the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, Magnus Carlsen accused Hans Niemann of cheating. In the ensuing months, Hans admitted to cheating on Chess.com in the past but emphasized that it was limited to online play and not over-the-board (OTB). Hans, in response, took legal action against Magnus, GMHikaru, and Chess.com, accusing them of defamation.

This controversy extended into the middle of this year, and in August 2023, the lawsuit was withdrawn. Magnus and Hans reconciled, deciding to resume playing chess against each other. Hans' account, which had been banned by Chess.com, was also restored to the website.

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4) Alireza Firouzja criticized

Alireza Firouzja, the Iranian-French Grandmaster, faced scrutiny recently for participating in a mini-tournament in his homeland. This was seen as an attempt to quickly gain ELO points, boosting his chances of qualifying for the Candidates Tournament 2024. However, FIDE later decided not to rate the tournament, meaning that the ratings he earned were not added to his FIDE ranking.

Firouzja eventually qualified after participating in a last-minute open tournament in the remaining few days of 2023. This propelled him ahead of American Grandmaster Wesley So, who would have otherwise secured the last Championship spot.

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5) Ian Nepomniachtchi and Daniil Dubov "pre-arranged" draw

Russian Grandmasters Ian Nepomniachtchi and Daniil Dubov were also involved in a chess controversy for trolling their way to a draw in the World Blitz Chess Championship 2023. The duo had essentially looked at each other and decided to move their knights only before returning the pieces to their home squares and agreeing to a draw.

This, after an investigation from FIDE's arbiter, was deemed as a "pre-arranged" draw, meaning that both were docked their 0.5 points. What's interesting is that Daniil would have been tied for the top spot with Magnus had he not engaged in the trolling leading to the penalty.

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These are, of course, only five of the Chess controversies that garnered the most attention. There were, however, other chess-related dramas, such as Dutch chess Master Anna-Maja Kazarian getting fined for wearing sneakers to a tournament.

Another controversy involved Ian Nepomniachtchi, who called out FIDE for allegedly giving Magnus Carlsen special treatment in a tournament over other Grandmasters.