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The Storm: What He Actually Faced

In September 2022, after Carlsen surprisingly lost to the 19-year-old Niemann at the Sinquefield Cup, Carlsen withdrew from the tournament — widely interpreted as a tacit accusation of cheating. Carlsen later made the accusation explicit, and the scandal became the most serious cheating controversy in chess in years, attracting global media attention. Wikipedia

Chess.com then published a 72-page report claiming Niemann had "likely cheated" in more than 100 online games, including prize events. However, the report found no evidence he had cheated in any over-the-board tournament — not at the Sinquefield Cup or anywhere else. Chess.comESPN

The scandal took on a life of its own, spawning an absurd viral conspiracy involving, of all things, anal beads — which was amplified by Elon Musk on social media — turning a serious chess controversy into a global spectacle of mockery and humiliation aimed at a 19-year-old.

Following the Sinquefield Cup, Niemann faced open ostracism and received no further invitations to elite tournaments. 2700chess

Netflix after the Queen of Chess tried to capitalise this story by making a documentary out of it. Personally did not like this as I characterise this like a accident or disaster and people stopping to watch it. Nothing as wholesome as Judith's Polgar amazing achievements in chess. Of course I didn't watch the Netflix documentary despite it being related to chess.

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The Fight Back

Rather than retreating, Niemann went to war on multiple fronts simultaneously. He filed a $100 million federal lawsuit against Carlsen, his company Play Magnus Group, Chess.com, Daniel Rensch, and Hikaru Nakamura, alleging defamation and unlawful collusion to blacklist him. Wikipedia

The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed and settled in 2023, but the settlement contained something significant: there was no evidence of Niemann cheating in his game against Carlsen — or in any other over-the-board game — a point Carlsen himself acknowledged as part of the settlement. Chess.com fully reinstated him and Carlsen agreed to play against him in future pairings. Chess.comEuronews

Meanwhile, while much of the chess world remained obsessed with the events of 2022, Niemann was grinding tournaments across continents, paying out of his own pocket, rebuilding his rating, and trying to force the conversation back to chess. World Chess

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The Vindication: By the Numbers

The results became impossible to argue with. Niemann rose from 49th in the world rankings in September 2022 to 12th in May 2026. He achieved a peak FIDE standard rating of 2742. Chess.comWikipedia

The milestones stacked up rapidly in 2026 alone: he tied for third at the prestigious Tata Steel Masters in January, placed fifth at the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in February, defeated Awonder Liang 7½–4½ in a classical match in April, and in May won the GCT Super Rapid & Blitz Poland — becoming the first American ever to win any section of the Grand Chess Tour. Wikipedia

Then came perhaps the most symbolically loaded moment: a grudge match against Ian Nepomniachtchi in Belgrade — one of Niemann's most vocal critics after the cheating scandal. Niemann drew the match, winning the final game to level it 4–4. World Chess

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The Olympiad Selection: What It Really Means

Niemann announced in June 2026 that he will represent the United States at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand — writing "Honored to finally represent my country!" 

Four years ago, Niemann was the most controversial man in chess — an outcast. Selection for Team USA may be the clearest answer yet to the question mark that has hung over him.

 The chess media is buzzing about Lima right now because of the World Record Chess Marathon, organized by WR Chess. Held at the Sheraton Lima from June 25 to 28, 2026, it is built around a simple but slightly mad concept: essentially non-stop chess for roughly 67 hours.

Here is why it's dominating the news cycle and what makes it such a unique spectacle to cover.

The "Marathon" Format

The event isn't just one long tournament; it's a grueling gauntlet of eight separate ranked events stacked back-to-back across four days and nights.

• The Night Shift: The three FIDE-rated Blitz events (5+2 time control) literally run overnight, starting at 11:00 p.m. and going until 9:00 a.m. the next morning.

• The Day Shift: The daytime slots are filled with two 9-round FIDE-rated Rapid tournaments (10+2) and three Bughouse team events.

• Open Access: The entire festival is free to enter and open to players of all ages and nationalities, capped at 400 players per tournament.

The moment one tournament finishes, the venue transitions immediately to the next. The logistics of managing the pairings, arbitrating, and keeping a media broadcast alive through a 3:00 a.m. blitz round are staggering.

The Highlights

Beyond the sheer endurance required from both players and the media team, the festival delivered several major storylines:

• Fausti vs. Jospem: The marquee attraction that kicked off the festival was a six-game exhibition match (2 Rapid, 4 Blitz) between 12-year-old prodigy GM Faustino Oro (the second-youngest GM in history) and local Peruvian hero GM José Martínez Alcántara ("Jospem"). Faustino ultimately won the match 4–2, taking home the $10,000 prize.

• The Grand Prix: Players can enter as many of the eight tournaments as they want. A unified Grand Prix ties all the events together, awarding $18,500 to the top overall endurance scorers out of the massive $100,000 total prize fund.

• Elite Simuls: Across the four days, heavyweights like GM Leinier Dominguez and Peruvian legend GM Julio Granda hosted simultaneous exhibitions, taking on 15 to 25 amateur opponents at once.

It's a completely different beast from a standard classical invitational. The mix of elite showmatches, chaotic 3:00 a.m. blitz rounds, and massive open fields makes for an incredibly dynamic event.

Ning Yunlong  – The Amateur Who Played Like a Grandmaster

Yunlong Ning is a casual chess enthusiast from China who served as the indispensable "recreational player" for "Mr. Birdie and Friends."
While the other five roster positions were held by world-renowned chess grandmasters and masters, Ning anchored the final slot to officially meet the FIDE tournament requirement.

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📋 Player Profile

• 🏅 FIDE Rating:
  Holds an official FIDE Rapid Rating of 1927 – comfortably below the tournament's maximum 2000 Elo limit for amateur board representatives.
• 📅 Birth Year:
  Born in 1990, making him an adult club-level competitor rather than a young prodigy.
• 🆔 FIDE ID:
  8623660

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🏆 A Historic Tournament Performance

Despite being labeled a "recreational" amateur on paper, Ning played like an absolute grandmaster during the event:

• 🥇 The Ultimate MVP:
  Shocked the field by putting up an astonishing 11/12 score on the bottom board.
• ⚔️ Giant Slayer:
  In a vital penultimate round, Yunlong Ning secured a clutch victory against the tournament-leading squad, Dragon Chilling.
  His upset win single-handedly counteracted a loss from teammate Carissa Yip, catapulting "Mr. Birdie and Friends" into the sole lead of the World Championship heading into the final round.

💬 Without his historic, dominant run on the amateur board, the team would have never been in contention for a world title podium finish.

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💰 Final Prize Payouts (Top 3)

• 🥇 Dragon Chilling (1st Place):
  €110,000 ≈ RM 521,829
• 🥈 Team MGD1 (2nd Place):
  €70,000 ≈ RM 332,073
• 🥉 Hexamind Chess Team (3rd Place):
  €50,000 ≈ RM 237,195

GM Wolfgang Uhlmann

I ask this because I've heard of Uhlmann. He is from the Fischer era and because I saw the headings in caturNews - Dresden 2026: Uhlmann exhibition with AI simulation. .



However, that's all I know about the supposed legend.

The German Chess Federation will hold its Chess Summit in the city on the Elbe. And the Dresden Chess Club of 1876 is celebrating its 150th anniversary. As part of a major chess festival Dresden is honoring the chess legend with an AI exhibition.

With recent World Blitz and Rapid team over, I now look at what we have for our local scene that is similiar.

The most notable is PMX Trophy — 3rd National Open Team Chess Championship, which just concluded a couple of weeks back. 

Not to worry, we still have the SMS Deen for the next major team rapid in Malaysia. Here's a quick comparison of what we Malaysians care about. How much to pay to enter, and what are the prizes :)

There may be errors so please inform me if I made any mistakes.

My personal challenge is to capture the excitement a team event like this brings. In the past, it has been pictures and videos, as well as some DGT live game broadcasts by our master broadcaster, Norazwan Kamarulzaman, also better known as Shin Azwan. Nothing earth-shattering, but recording and adding some highlighted games would be nice for a change.

Quick Comparison

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Detailed Breakdown

1. PMX Trophy — 3rd National Open Team Chess Championship

Organised by MCF and held at AEON Mall Shah Alam, this is the premier national team chess event in Malaysia.

Registration Fees:

• RM 700 — all-Malaysian Open team
• +RM 100 per foreign player (e.g. a team with 4 foreigners pays RM 1,100 total)
• RM 400 — State teams (limited to 2 per state)
• +RM 100 late fee for entries after 22 May 2026

Prize Fund — RM 30,000 total:

• Champion: RM 6,000
• Full breakdown of remaining prizes not published in the official announcement; distributed among top finishers and special categories (e.g., Best State Team, Best Junior)

Format: 7-round Swiss, Standard time control (90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move)

Team: 4 main players + 1 optional reserve. Limited to 60 teams, with priority given to state associations.

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2. SMS Deen Merdeka Open Rapid Team Championship — 21st Merdeka Chess Festival

Organised by DAT Chess Centre (DATCC) and held at KL Gateway Mall, this opens the annual Merdeka Chess Festival (Aug 28 – Sep 6, 2026).

Registration Fee:

• RM 450 — Open team
• Late entries after 21 August 2026 incur a surcharge or double fee
• Name/board order changes: RM 50 per change

Prize Fund — RM 24,000 total:

Format: 9-round Swiss, Rapid time control (20 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move)

Team: 4 players. Hard cap of 50 paid teams. Average team rating must not exceed 2,250.

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Key Takeaways

The prize gap between the two events is much narrower than often assumed — RM 30,000 vs RM 24,000. The SMS Deen event actually has a more detailed and generous prize structure across categories, rewarding Malaysian teams, state teams, juniors, and ladies separately. The PMX Trophy carries a higher registration cost and uses the slower classical format over 4 days, while the SMS Deen event wraps up in just 2 days at a rapid pace, making it accessible for more casual or club-level teams.

And for you guys planning to take part, START TRAINING NOW !!!!