After Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi agreed to share the World Blitz title at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship, American grandmaster Hans Niemann went on an explosive rant on social media, lashing out at FIDE, the global governing body of chess, for allowing the two players to share the prestigious title. “The chess world is officially a joke. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN DONE IN HISTORY. I can't believe that the official body of chess is being controlled by a singular player FOR THE 2ND TIME THIS WEEK. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE WORLD CHAMPION! (sic)” Niemann posted on his X handle. Niemann was also accused of causing damage to a hotel room after a defeat in a tournament earlier this year. Referring to that incident and jokes about it on social media, he posted: “Don’t worry guys, I’m not staying in a hotel room.” READ MORE: Chess world miffed at Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi sharing blitz title, says incident should be investigated He also called Magnus Carlsen a “judge, jury and executioner” in one tweet. Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann have a rocky past: the world no 1 had accused the American of cheating which had led to an expensive lawsuit. The duo had come to an out-of-court agreement eventually. READ MORE: Magnus Carlsen defends himself against allegations, says ‘not trying to influence FIDE… was a bad joke given gravity of situation’ Magnus Carlsen defeated Hans Niemann in the quarters of the World Blitz Championship. Here are the rest of Hans Niemann’s tweet about Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi opting to share the title: “There's one world champion. It's not a title that you can just ‘SHARE’” “Money and power corrupts absolutely. The unfortunate reality being proven true YET AGAIN” “FIDE goes from forfeiting Carlsen to creating an entirely new rule. Seems like the regulatory body of chess, has no intention of being unbiased. They seem to only care about what one player thinks.” “I'll be working my heart out to make it to the final next year to ensure that no ‘CHAMPIONSHIPS’ are arbitrarily ‘SHARED’. Onwards.” “The chess revolution has begun. Happy New Year to the collateral damage.”
