Hans Niemann all set to play rival Magnus Carlsen at Las Vegas Freestyle event: ‘See you…’

American Grandmaster
Hans Niemann
has confirmed his participation in the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tournament, which is set to take place from 16 to 20 July. Neimann will go head-to-head with some of the world’s best and might as well face his long-time rival
Magnus Carlsen
.

Niemann qualified for the Las Vegas event after a string of impressive wins in the qualifier on Chess.com. He beat Germany’s Rasmus Svane, China’s Yu Yangyi, former world champion Ding Liren, and Denis Lazavik to book his spot. His victories over Yu and Lazavik came on the same day he celebrated his 22nd birthday.

After the qualification, Niemann took to his social media handle, where he posted, “SEE YOU ALL IN LAS VEGAS!!!!”

https://twitter.com/HansMokeNiemann/status/1936424893391786090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Niemann’s qualification is highly anticipated because of his history with Carlsen, who is also the co-founder of the Freestyle Tour. Carlsen has accused Neimann of cheating on several occasions, including in 2022 when the five-time world champion withdrew from a tournament following his loss to the American GM.

The incident led to a $100 million lawsuit, which was later settled with no evidence found against Niemann. This will also mark the first time Niemann and Carlsen will play each other again in a high-profile event since that controversy. Meanwhile, Carlsen recently achieved a 2900 rating in the new Freestyle rankings announced by the organisers.

Why did Neimann pull out of previous Freestyle event?

Niemann had earlier qualified for the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Tour but pulled out at the last minute, citing personal reasons. His withdrawal sparked rumours linking his decision to strict anti-cheating measures taken in Paris. Niemann later slammed these claims and said he withdrew due to personal reasons.

“I withdrew from the tournament strictly for personal reasons that I prefer not to disclose publicly right now. What’s been particularly disappointing is witnessing how quickly some people jumped on this moment to perpetuate three years of baseless accusations against me. I genuinely wonder when they’ll finally accept reality,” Neimann said.

“I didn’t immediately issue a public statement because, frankly, I was deeply frustrated by the organizers’ and TV2’s absurd speculation suggesting my decision was linked to what they dramatically called ‘new, advanced anti-cheating measures.’ The article falsely claimed that the last message I received referenced ‘enhanced measures’. To be absolutely clear—this is completely false. Unsurprisingly, the usual suspects within the chess mafia eagerly amplified this ridiculous narrative. At the time, I believed publicly responding would only legitimize accusations that have no basis in reality,” he added.