Two of the world’s leading American chess players, Wesley So and Hans Niemann, have confirmed their participation in the Jerusalem Masters rapid-chess tournament, scheduled for November 23-26. So, ranked sixth in the world, and Niemann, ranked 22nd, join a growing list of top players expected to arrive in the Israeli capital for the prestigious event.
For Niemann, the tournament will also mark a return to Jerusalem four years after he competed in Israel at the 2022 World Team Chess Championship. That appearance came shortly after one of the biggest and most publicized controversies in modern chess, the confrontation between Niemann and then-world champion Magnus Carlsen. What began with a surprising result over the board quickly escalated into accusations, suspicions, a $100 million lawsuit and bizarre online theories, spreading far beyond the chess world.
The controversy began at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis in September 2022. Niemann, then 19, stunned Carlsen while playing with the black pieces, handing the Norwegian a defeat and ending his 53-game unbeaten streak in classical chess. The following day, Carlsen withdrew from the tournament and posted a clip on social media of soccer manager José Mourinho saying: ‘If I speak, I am in big trouble’
Carlsen later said he believed Niemann had cheated more often in the past than he had publicly admitted and that he did not want to play against someone he believed had cheated repeatedly. Niemann acknowledged cheating in online chess games when he was younger but strongly denied cheating against Carlsen or in over-the-board chess.
The controversy then took on a life of its own as theories circulated online about how Niemann could allegedly have cheated. The strangest and most prominent was the so-called ‘anal beads’ theory, which suggested he could have received computer-generated moves through a vibrating device concealed inside his body. There was no evidence that Niemann used such a device, and it was not the method of cheating alleged by Carlsen.
Hans Niemann, Magnus Carlsen
(Photo: AFP STORY BY Florian SOENEN, AP)
Niemann filed a $100 million lawsuit in October 2022 against Carlsen, Chess.com, grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura and others. The legal dispute ended in a settlement in August 2023 that allowed Niemann to return to Chess.com.
Carlsen also said no conclusive evidence had been found that Niemann cheated in their Sinquefield Cup game and that he would be willing to play him again in the future.
Also heading to Jerusalem is Wesley So, one of the most recognizable names in elite chess. So became the first official world champion in Fischer Random, also known as Chess960, after defeating Carlsen in the 2019 final.
He won the Grand Chess Tour in 2016, the Tata Steel tournament in 2017 and the U.S. Chess Championship three times. At his peak, So reached a rating of 2,822 and was ranked second in the world. He was also part of the U.S. team that won the Chess Olympiad in 2016.
Israel Chess Federation chairman Zvika Barkai, Sports Minister Miki Zohar and CEO Gil Boruchovsky
(Photo: Israel Chess Federation)
Their arrival is part of an ambitious chess initiative in Jerusalem, with this year’s Masters offering record prize money for a chess competition in Israel. The winner of the rapid event will receive $101,000, the largest first prize ever awarded at a chess tournament in Israel and $1,000 more than the top prize at the most recent World Blitz Championship in Qatar.
The overall prize fund for the Masters will total $250,000, another record for a chess competition held in Israel. The four-day tournament is expected to bring a lineup of leading players from around the world to Jerusalem.
Before the Masters, Jerusalem will host the Jerusalem Open rapid-chess tournament on November 17-18 at the Ramada Hotel as part of the Maccabiah Games events. The tournament will offer 45,000 euros in prize money, with the top two finishers earning automatic places in the Masters.
More than 300 players have already secured places in the Jerusalem Open, with participants currently expected from 30 countries.
Among the prominent names are reigning European champions Roman Dekhtiarov and Anastasiia Hnatishyn, European under-20 champions Yahli Sokolovsky and Aline Rovers, former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, Igor Kovalenko and Alexey Sarana.