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Recently, the chess community witnessed a series of controversies, with the most recent one unfolding on January 11, 2024, involving Grandmasters and Twitch streamers Hans Niemann or "GMHansN," and Hikaru "GHHikaru." The wrangle transpired amid the ongoing Puzzles World Championship 2024, where GMHikaru was eliminated from the qualifiers, and Niemann progressed to the knockouts.
The focal point of the controversy was Niemann, who, in response to the final table results, sarcastically bid farewell to GMHikaru. It's worth noting that both players have a history of online and legal disputes.
Reacting to GMHikaru getting KO'd in a livestream, Niemann said:
"(Waving at Hikaru's stream on Kick.com) Bye, bye. I would say, 'See you tomorrow,' but you didn't make it buddy."
What is the feud between Hans Niemann and GMHikaru?
The latest episode of drama between Hans Niemann and GMHikaru unfolded during the Puzzles World Championship 2024. The tournament, as its name implies, is a puzzle rush competition hosted on Chess.com and features numerous top players.
Nevertheless, the spotlight was firmly on two individuals: GMHikaru and Niemann. The top eight in the standings secured their spots for the scheduled knockouts on January 12, 2024.
Unfortunately for GMHikaru, Niemann outperformed him, claiming the final spot in the process. Here's the final table:
This, naturally, isn't the initial instance of drama involving the two Grandmasters-turned-streamers. Throughout Niemann's year-long legal (2022-2023) dispute with Magnus Carlsen, GMHikaru found himself entangled in the matter.
Niemann also publicly criticized GMHikaru's takes on his cheating scandal (which eventually closed in August 2023):
"Hikaru has thoroughly enjoyed watching all of my interviews and enjoyed criticizing every single detail and making frivolous implications. I'd like to see him watch my entire interview today and see what he has to say."
Fans react to the drama
The controversial clip of Hans Niemann's reaction was quickly shared to the popular r/LivestreamFail subreddit. Here are some of the notable comments made there:
Incidentally, GMHikaru has been embroiled in another online dispute involving another GM, Vladimir Kramnik.
Kramnik has been posting quite a bit of stats, which according to him, suggests that there may be some kind of foul play involving GMHikaru's online matches, especially his recent 45.5/46 run on the website.
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