The controversy has been described as the most serious cheating scandal for international chess since the
Toiletgate incident in the
World Chess Championship 2006, and became a top story in the news media worldwide. It has garnered significant attention from outside of the chess community, including on American
late-night talk shows
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Chess organizers The executive director of the
Saint Louis Chess Club (host of the Sinquefield Cup), Tony Rich, said in a statement that "a player's decision to withdraw from a tournament is a personal decision, and we respect Magnus's choice." Rich later elaborated that no formal complaint was made in writing. Bird's statement did not address the reason to add additional security measures after Carlsen's withdrawal. The SLCC organisers permanently upgraded their anti-cheating measures for future events, including
nonlinear junction detectors to detect silicon in electronics, and a 30-minute broadcast delay for the duration of the U.S.
Chess Championships. FIDE upgraded their anti-cheating measures for the
FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship 2022. This included a medical doctor to inspect the ears of players for any transmitters, and confiscating the electronics of spectators.
Players and commentators Two days after the game, French grandmaster
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, a participant in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup and the reigning World Blitz Champion, expressed concern that the developing drama was becoming a "witch hunt". He did not think that Niemann had cheated.
Laurent Fressinet, second of Carlsen in all his
World Chess Championship matches, revealed "Few months ago, I met Hans in Paris, MVL was playing a blitz match with him, it was very close and MVL won in armageddon. Then, he played with
Jules Moussard, I can tell you he would kick our arse in blitz without any problems that's for sure." After the event,
Ian Nepomniachtchi commented that he had asked the St. Louis organisers for additional anti-cheating measures once he heard Niemann would be playing in the event.
Fabiano Caruana mentioned that Carlsen was already "upset" about Niemann's inclusion and had considered leaving before the tournament began.
Christopher Yoo called for more accountability for Niemann's past actions. and
Ben Finegold questioned his need for Niemann's permission if he did have evidence, and criticized him for dropping insinuations without providing any evidence.
Raymond Keene stated that Niemann could seek legal counsel, citing
Nona Gaprindashvili's
Netflix defamation case.
Sergey Karjakin criticized current anti-cheat measures but maintained that no proof so far had been established against Niemann.
Garry Kasparov said he understood Carlsen's "frustration", but that leaving the Sinquefield Cup was unacceptable without any evidence of Niemann cheating. Dutch chess commentator
Tim Krabbé published a satirical comment "Carlsen caught at cheating", foiling Carlsen's statement "I had the impression that he wasn't tense or even fully concentrating on the game" with a photo of Carlsen in a nap-like relaxing pose at the board.
Viswanathan Anand, speaking about the controversy, said that the moves of the game did not suggest to him that Niemann was cheating, that he keeps an open mind, that he does not make claims he cannot prove, and that proof of cheating will be difficult if not impossible to produce. He asked, "I don't know, am I naïve, or are my colleagues paranoid?" Many called on FIDE to investigate the controversy. Nakamura and
Daniel Naroditsky commented that there should be clear agreements among online platforms and FIDE on the subject of cheating.
Leonard Barden,
The Guardians chess columnist, asked FIDE to act. == Investigations ==