Niemann's former mentor equates his talent with Karpov's

Maxim Dlugy (Moscow, 1966; New York resident) is, suddenly, an important character although hardly anyone knows him outside of chess.

He was the mentor of the controversial Hans Niemann, a 19-year-old American whom the world champion, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, accused without proof of cheating in the game he lost against him a month and a half ago.

Seriously affected by the scandal, Dlugy assures that Niemann - confessed to cheating as a minor on the internet, but not in face-to-face tournaments or in the last two years - is a genius comparable to former world champion Anatoli Kárpov, which would explain the great brilliance of some of his games, and predicts that Carlsen will face legal proceedings, unless he apologizes.

Dlugy was an elite grandmaster, especially in the blitz mode (five minutes per player for the entire game) in which he even beat Gary Kasparov once.

He met Niemann when he was 11 years old, was his coach until he was 14 (via Skype, because Hans lived in California) and then a kind of mentor: “When Hans was 13 years old, I saw how he destroyed an international master.

That game made me cry.

He applied exactly what I had taught him.

He convinced me that he was exceptionally bright.

So much so that he reminded me of Kárpov, whom I also trained for some time, ”recalls Dlugy in an interview with the German weekly

the first he has granted, on the advice of his lawyers, since Carlsen lit the fuse of the scandal.

Dlugy also remembers the most conflictive part of Niemann's character, who had previously been a student at a school for the gifted in the Netherlands: “He was very disrespectful to his rivals, especially after beating them.

When we met [U12 World Cup, South Africa 2014], I beat him almost every rapid game we played.

And maybe that's why I managed to get him to respect me and get along."

The breakdown of the professional relationship between the two coincided with "turbulent problems" in Niemann's family, whose sporting progression stagnated for two years, with a peculiar outcome: "At 16, and with one of the greatest talents I have ever seen in the many young people I have trained, Hans got a scholarship at Columbia Grammar School, became independent and started teaching chess to get ahead.

Dlugy met him a few times in New York to play speed games, gave him advice and put him in touch with good coaches.

That curious relationship between the two would have been private without the soap opera scandal that has filled so many pages and minutes of radio and television since last September 4.

Carlsen loses to Niemann in the 3rd round of the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis (USA), withdraws from the tournament and accuses Niemann, without evidence or solid evidence, of having cheated.

Niemann acknowledges that he cheated online in two periods of his life, at 12 and 16, but never since then and never in face-to-face games: “It was the biggest mistake of my life.

I learned the lesson".

The online chess club Chess.com, which claims to have more than 90 million users and is buying the Play Magnus group of companies, whose main shareholder is Carlsen, for 82 million dollars, then increases and amplifies the scandal with several controversial actions .

He breaks his policy of maximum discretion and reveals that Niemann cheated in over a hundred telematics games, without explaining why he waited so long to kick him twice from his platform.

It publishes a very detailed report on Niemann's career in face-to-face tournaments -something totally unrelated to the business environment of Chess.com, which is only dedicated to online chess-, highlighting his explosive rise between 2020 and 2022. And, a few days after a cryptic manifestation of Carlsen –”It seems that Dlugy has done a good job with Niemann”-, Chess.

Dlugy has an explanation for those two punishments.

On the first occasion, he played games on Chess.com while teaching his students, so that they would get involved and give him ideas, in a practical exercise.

After Chess.com banned him for illegal computer help, Dlugy discovered that one of his students was consulting a very powerful computer program instead of giving him ideas with his own head.

That explanation was accepted by Chess.com, who gave him a second chance.

But according to Chess.com, Dlugy cheated again in a 2020 game. The virtual club gave him 72 hours to confess in writing.

Dlugy claims that he did not cheat, but thought that if he did not grant the request, his reputation as a teacher-coach would be greatly damaged.

So he opted for a false confession: “It was all absurd.

In that tournament I could have won a prize of 500 dollars, but I earn much more with my daily classes, and preserving that was the important thing.

Dlugy explains Carlsen's reaction after losing to Niemann in much the same way as other expert observers: “I had the utmost respect for Magnus, whom I know personally because we've played a lot of rapid games (…).

I think he was furious when Hans broke his 52-game unbeaten streak (…).

And maybe he also has a personal problem with Hans, whose behavior is sometimes insufferable”.

Niemann "has been having a very hard time ever since that day," according to Dlugy, who has spoken with Niemann several times since then.

"Lots of sleepless nights and great difficulty concentrating on the games he plays," he adds.

He predicts that Niemann, who is playing the US Championship these days with a lower game than his usual, will take Carlsen to court.

And as for himself, he asks for two things so as not to go to the judges: “An apology from Magnus for involving me in this.

And another from Chess.com for publishing private correspondence."

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