Outspoken American Niemann beats Kerala GM Nihal Sarin in 5-hour online match

Outspoken American chess grandmaster Hans Niemann won an online match against Indian GM Nihal Sarin. The match featured 36 blitz games, of which 18 were in the Fischer-random format.

Niemann scored 10.5-7.5 in the blitz variant (3 minutes, plus 1-second increment per move) and won the Fischer-random event 10-8. Nihal, 21, based out of Thrissur, is the strongest rated (Elo of 2696) player from Kerala.

World No. 20 Niemann has been promoting parallel matchups, claiming he is regularly denied opportunities at the highest level. He recently hosted Anish Giri for a mini-match, which the Dutch GM won.

The garrulous American continuously shared his views during the match against Nihal. He reiterated his accusations against the US Chess Federation for allegedly denying him opportunities. "When people talk about the damage done to my career, I'm basically treated as not an American chess player. In the eyes of American Chess, let's say conglomerate, I don't exist anymore," Niemann said.

"You see how much support the Indian players get; Americans have a hard time competing. It's been like three years since I got an invite, and I have only improved."

Interestingly, while Niemann was constantly talking throughout the 5-hour match, which was live-streamed, Nihal hardly spoke. The young Indian, who is soft-spoken and often quite reserved, was focused on his games.  

Niemann is more famous for his discord with World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. There has been bad blood between the two since 2022, when Carlsen accused Niemann of cheating in an online tournament. Carlsen defeated Niemann 2.5-1.5 in their quarterfinal clash at the World Blitz Championship in New York.