Carlsen came in early with a faint blow at grandmaster Dlugy. Even before Carlsen made the cheating accusations against Niemann public, he threw Dlugy’s name into the underhand cocktail. Carlsen told Chess24:

– People can draw their own conclusions, and they certainly have. And I have to say that I was very impressed with Niemann’s play. I think his mentor Maxim Dlugy must have done an excellent job.

Dlugy was a name not many people knew at the time, but the 56-year-old chess player was quickly accused of cheating.

You can read more about Dlugy here:

Answer

On Monday night, Dlugy replied to Carlsen’s message. He was not satisfied with what the Norwegians had achieved:

– I had absolutely nothing to do with the infamous feud between Magnus and Hans, but I was forced to defend myself against the completely unreasonable and defamatory accusations against me, Dlugy wrote in a Monday night announcement.

Carlsen did not provide any evidence against Niemann in his publications, but discarded many of the allegations. Dlugy doesn’t like it:

– He quipped that Hans cheated, without saying anything concrete, and then he quipped that Hans’ mentor (me) did a great job, which is proof of cheating for Magnus.

Dlugy denies any involvement in the cheating scandal:

– There is no method, that I or anyone else knows of, by which I can act as an accomplice to Hans’ alleged cheating of Magnus. No dips, no actual cheating and I was in New York when the game was played, he wrote.

Widespread cheating allegations

Following Carlsen’s report on Niemann, Chess.com also produced a report in which they accused the American of extensive fraud.

Analysis from the website claims that Niemann may have cheated in more than 100 internet games and that was until the end of 2020. These games include games where there is prize money.

Niemann previously admitted to having an affair between the ages of 12 and 16.

Despite the accusations and great pressure, Niemann participated in the American Chess Championship, which is being played now.