Five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has ignited fierce online debate after reporting his opponent to tournament officials for possessing a mobile phone moments after smiling broadly for a pre-match selfie with her at Germany’s Grenke Chess Festival.
Critics accused the Norwegian grandmaster of “beta behaviour” and “snitching” despite strict FIDE regulations prohibiting electronic devices during competition, with the awkward exchange captured on video by ChessBase’s Abhudaya Ram at the Karlsruhe event attracting over 3,500 participants.
Kazakh player Alua Nurman—ranked second amongst Kazakhstan’s female chess players behind Bibisara Assaubayeva—requested the photograph after Carlsen arrived at their table, with the world number one happily obliging before walking directly to tournament arbiters reporting that his opponent retained her device.
Officials approached Nurman demanding she surrender the phone, which she had placed back in her handbag following the selfie. She complied and the device was confiscated before their match commenced in the elite Freestyle Open A category boasting a £178,000 (€205,250) prize fund including £58,000 (€60,000) for first place.
Nurman later revealed she had been inspired by witnessing French grandmaster Etienne Bacrot take a similar selfie the previous year. “I thought like, why not? I’m very grateful that Magnus agreed to this,” she told ChessBase India.
Tournament regulations enforce absolute bans on electronic device access during games unless arbiters grant explicit permission, with phones required to be switched off and stored away. Players discovered possessing devices after victories face potential expulsion.
The incident represents merely the latest unusual controversy at the April 2-6 festival, with another player reportedly complaining about an opponent’s distracting wristwatch that officials eventually demanded be removed.
Carlsen’s heightened sensitivity to cheating concerns stems from September 2022’s explosive controversy when American grandmaster Hans Niemann defeated him at Missouri’s Sinquefield Cup, triggering accusations the Norwegian star publicly suggested his opponent had cheated.
The extraordinary dispute sparked wild online speculation Niemann employed a remote-controlled vibrating sex toy receiving signals during gameplay—claims the American categorically denied when Piers Morgan asked directly: “Have you ever used anal beads while playing chess?”
Niemann’s £79 million ($100 million) defamation lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com and fellow grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura was ultimately settled last month following Chess.com investigations claiming he “likely” cheated in over 100 online games whilst finding no determinative evidence of in-person tournament cheating.
Niemann admitted twice cheating in online games aged 12 and 16 but denied professional over-the-board tournament violations.
