Magnus Carlsen faces backlash from FIDE over one-move resignation: ‘Better ways to handle this situation’

Magnus Carlsen’s ongoing feud with Hans Niemann drew remarks from the International Chess Federation (FIDE) on Friday.

Carlsen withdrew from a tournament earlier this month after losing to Niemann and resigned from an online match after one move during the week against him. The organization said that while the two incidents weren’t FIDE events, they felt it was their duty as the governing body for the sport to “protect the integrity of the game and its image, and in view that the incident keeps escalating, we find it necessary to take a step forward.”

FIDE said Carlsen shouldn’t have resigned given his status as world champion while also acknowledging the need to fight cheating. Niemann has denied the recent cheating accusations.

“First of all, we strongly believe that the World Champion has a moral responsibility attached to his status, since he is viewed as a global ambassador of the game. His actions impact the reputation of his colleagues, sportive results, and eventually can be damaging to our game. We strongly believe that there were better ways to handle this situation,” FIDE said.

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“At the same time, we share his deep concerns about the damage that cheating brings to chess. FIDE has led the fight against cheating for many years, and we reiterate our zero-tolerance policy toward cheating in any form. Whether it is online or ‘over the board’, cheating remains cheating. We are strongly committed to this fight, and we have invested in forming a group of specialists to devise sophisticated preventive measures that already apply at top FIDE events.”

Carlsen won the Julius Baer Generation Cup despite resigning against Niemann. The 19-year-old American would lose in the quarterfinals.

He vowed to speak out more about cheating in the sport.

“I generally want cheating in chess to be dealt with seriously,” he said via Chess24.com.