Magnus Carlsen stamped his authority over FIDE by forcing the world chess body to bend to his will, not once but twice, during the World Rapid & Blitz Championships in New York.

After forcing FIDE to relax its controversial dress code regarding jeans, Carlsen left the world chess body with no choice but to accept his decision to split the first place in the Blitz event, an unprecedented feat that has invited mixed reactions.

Carlsen came up with the idea to share his prize with Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi after they played seven games in a row in the final. Carlsen won the first two, but Nepo bounced back with two wins to draw level, and then three draws followed. According to FIDE rules, the players must continue playing until a winner emerges. "I thought we had already played for a very long time. I thought it would be a reasonable solution," Carlsen said about sharing the first place.

After the two finalists agreed to split the first place, Carlsen summoned the Chief Arbiter and said: "I'm wondering if we can agree to share first." The arbiter said he would take up the matter with the FIDE higher-ups. It was Carlsen's way of showing players have equal rights. After his infamous walkout from the Rapid event after being penalised for wearing jeans, Carlsen blasted Chief Arbiter Alex Holowczak, calling him unfit for the job. "What will happen now is there will be some room for arbiters to use commonsense," Carlsen said later. So, by ensuring that the buck did not stop with the arbiter, Carlsen scored a win again. Carlsen and Nepo hugged it out after FIDE agreed to the unusual demand.

'Chess is controlled by a singular player'
American GM Hans Niemann was the harshest critic of Carlsen's unprecedented decision to share first. Carlsen had defeated Niemann 2.5-1.5 in the quarterfinals. There has been bad blood between the two since 2022, when Carlsen accused Niemann of cheating in an online tournament. The two have not reconciled since, and their match-up in the quarterfinals was fiery, with Carlsen appearing shaky at first as he went behind after losing the second game. But the World No. 1 regained his composure and won the next two games to seal victory. He then did something stunning. Just after Niemann had stepped away, Carlsen took his King and stomped it in the centre of the board as if marking his territory.

After the final, Niemann unleashed a barrage on the social media platform X, also called Twitter. "The chess world is officially a joke. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN DONE IN HISTORY. I can't believe that the official body of chess is being controlled by a singular player FOR THE 2ND TIME THIS WEEK. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE WORLD CHAMPION!" Niemann posted.

"FIDE goes from forfeiting Carlsen to creating an entirely new rule. Seems like the the regulatory body of chess, has no intention of being unbiased. They seem to only care about what one player thinks," he was relentless. Carlsen refused to comment when reminded of Niemann's social media outbursts.

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