Hans Niemann takes a dig at D Gukesh

American Grandmaster Hans Niemann is known more for controversies than his exploits on the board.

He was involved in a public feud with World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen over the cheating allegations levelled against him by the Norwegian. Despite his achievements and avowed ambition to become the best player on the planet, his straight-talking seems to put him in a spot more often than not.

After the end of the Chennai Grand Masters here, the 23-year-old took a dig at reigning World champion D. Gukesh and his predecessor Ding Liren, saying that they had never been the best players in spite of winning the game’s top prize.

“The main reason we’ve seen Ding and Gukesh do poorly is that they were never the best players in the world. Not even close to it,” Niemann said on Wednesday.

He also criticised the World Championship format with “limited number of games” and said that it does not necessarily identify the strongest player over a sustained period. Despite that, Niemann felt Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov was a deserving challenger for the title.

As for the match itself, he opined that Gukesh — whose confidence has been dented by a succession of poor results — could return to form with a bright start.

“If he starts well, regains his confidence and takes control, his prime form could return. But if he starts poorly, it is just going to be a reminder of all the bad results. In one match of 14 games, anything can happen.”