Is Magnus Carlsen sinking into paranoia? After suffering a totally unexpected defeat at the Qatar Masters on Thursday against the young Kazakh GM Alisher Suleymenov, who returned over 300 ELO points, the world number 1 explained on X his failure to stay focused against an opponent who was wearing a watch. ” I was completely overwhelmed in my game today. It’s not a question of accusing my opponent of anything. He played very well and deserved to win but, honestly, when I saw at the start of the game that he was wearing a watch, I lost my ability to concentrate. I take responsibility for my inability to deal with these kinds of thoughts, but it’s also incredibly frustrating to see organizers who continue not to take anti-cheating measures seriously (no delay for the replay and spectators moving around the hall with smartphones). “.
In addition to demonstrating a certain mental flakiness in the world’s best player that we didn’t know he had, this statement, despite its oratorical precautions regarding Suleymanov’s probity, has already drawn the wrath of a good part of the chess world. Many had, it’s true, taken a dim view of his unproven accusations against Hans Niemann a little over a year ago.
Nevertheless, the Norwegian highlights the lack of progress in the fight against cheating in tournaments. Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave commented on Carlsen’s tweet: ” I agree. Players must unite to implement anti-cheating measures in tournaments. To guard against cheaters on the one hand, but also to avoid doubts about every great performance, when I’ve already seen a few bad tweets casting a shadow over Alisher’s brilliant game. “
