IM Lawrence Trent: Sam decapitating Hans’ King and then throwing it back on a random square is bizarre #TweetOftheDay
19-year-old Hans Niemann defeated Samuel Sevian in yesterday’s 12th round of the US Chess Championship (Replay the game here). A dynamic fighting play between the resilient grandmasters and a thrilling endgame was overshadowed by a unique over-the-board incident. While Niemann thought about his 45th move, Sevian picked up Niemann’s King from the board and broke the top cross off. Niemann protested and asked for his King back, explaining in the post-game interview that Samuel wanted to glue the broken piece.
The incident became viral and caused different reactions on social medias. Fabiano Caruana said that the disrespect at the US Chess Championship reached its peak with Sam decapitating Hans’ King, while IM Lawrence Trent described the case as the most bizarre thing he’s ever seen in a high-level tournament: “Sam decapitating Hans’ King and then throwing it back on a random square is easily the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen in a high level tournament. It’s like he had an out-of-body experience. Also looked like he asked Hans to take it outside. Nuts.“. See the tweet below