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NEW DELHI: World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura has made it clear he is not interested in watching Netflix’s latest documentary on the controversial rivalry between Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann, even as the film sparks fresh debate in the chess world.Speaking after a recent game at the FIDE Candidates, Nakamura admitted he hasn’t followed the documentary or the online reaction around it.
“Well, I mean, I don’t know because I haven’t watched it. also haven’t been on social media, so I have no idea. I mean, I would say what I said before on my stream yesterday after my game, which is from what I’ve heard about it, they don’t really delve too much into the behind the scenes of how everything transpired before the event, which is very disappointing,” he told ChessBase India. The documentary, Untold: Chess Mates, revisits the infamous 2022 Sinquefield Cup clash where Niemann defeated Carlsen, triggering one of the biggest controversies in modern chess. Carlsen’s withdrawal from the tournament and public doubts over Niemann’s play led to widespread speculation and divided opinions across the chess community.Nakamura believes the film may fall short by not fully exploring the background of the incident.“Because without that, I think people are lacking the proper context. But I have no intention of watching it. There’s a saying, I know it’s slightly different, so it’s paraphrasing, but they say you should never sleep where you work or something like that,” he added.Making his stance even clearer, he remarked, “There’s more crafts where they use specifically. But I would say that basically I spend enough time on chess. I’m not going to spend my free time seeing even more chess. That has no interest to me whatsoever.”ALSO READ: Magnus Carlsen vs Hans Niemann documentary: Is ‘Untold: Chess Mates’ worth watching?Meanwhile, Niemann uses the documentary to send a strong message about his ambitions, declaring, “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer. I’m going to become the best player in the world.”
