The world of chess was hit with more controversy recently after streamer and grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura dismissed “garbage” claims that he had cheated.
Now, the most famous player in the world, Magnus Carlsen, is having a little fun at his expense.
In case you missed it, chess grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik appears to have accused Nakamura of cheating in a cryptic post after referencing a number of “interesting” statistics behind his incredible form in setting a new blitz game record of 46 consecutive games on Chess.com.
Another grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi also shared a screenshot of Kramnik’s post.
Nakamura hit back by writing on Twitter: “Vladimir appears to be referencing my record…is he really accusing me of cheating? [Ian Nepomniachtchi] are you jumping on this accusation as well by tweeting this garbage??”
Now, Carlsen has jokingly mocked Nakamura over the recent developments.
Posting on Twitter on Tuesday (November 21), Carlsen accompanied a screenshot from a match he was playing against Nakamura which showed him giving up his bishop to a pawn – a game which Carlsen would go on to win.
“Wins all these online events, yet doesn’t know how pawns capture? Interesting,” appeared to joke.
Nakamura then replied, referencing an inside joke within the chess community about Carlsen not knowing how the knight moves, saying: “I know you don’t know how the knight moves, I was hoping you didn’t know how the pawn moves too!”
Carlsen seemed to be making light of the cheating accusations made against Nakamura – which is in stark contrast to the scandal that rocked the chess world last year.
One of the most eye-catching stories of 2023 saw American grandmaster Hans Niemann accused of using anal beads to trick his way to success against opponents.
He was eventually cleared of the claims, but not before nearly a year of speculation and rumour.
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