Drama! Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri blocks Magnus Carlsen's long-time coach on social media - 'I still mostly like him'
The world of elite chess has once again been stirred by drama, this time involving Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri and
Magnus Carlsen
's long-time coach, Peter Heine Nielsen. Their ongoing back-and-forth on social media escalated recently, with Giri deciding to block Nielsen on X (formerly Twitter).
The latest chapter began when reigning World Champion D Gukesh reflected on his record-breaking achievement at just 18.
Looking back, he admitted: "I used to dream about it right from my childhood."
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Giri seized on the comment and posted: "Gukesh, probably the most fighting player, image wise, at least. A very cool guy too. It so happened that in the GCT 2024, in his two Classical events he scored 9 out of 9 and 8 out of 9 draws.
If you are my fan, don't be my mental coach, be my PR guy. (laughing emoji) Thank you."
Nielsen, never one to hold back, responded critically: "Giri is just wrong here. It is exactly a mentality problem. Players are no longer positional or tactical in style, but 'creators' or 'destroyers' People who wants to fight, to get an interesting game, or players who tries to prevent it."
That remark lit a fuse. Giri fired back: "Is this why Carlsen played the symmetrical 1.e4 e5 in his black games this Norway Chess, after losing in 1.e4 c5 Sicilian Kan to Pragg last year? He has mentality issue? Nah, all players try to maximize their result.
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Some fail sometimes."
Anish Giri's post on X
Doubling down, he added: "Peter Heine is highly knowledgeable about all topics of top chess, but his dependance on Carlsen and personal dislike for me (I had a plus score against MC for a while during 2011-2015, maybe that's why), unfortunately clouds his judgement on these matters."
Still, Giri ended on a lighter note: "That said, I still mostly like him and take great interest in his takes on top chess! Blocked him for fun, but that's okay, I hope."
Meanwhile, Giri's chess form remains strong.
He recently finished as runner-up in the Masters section of the Chennai Grand Masters 2025, remaining unbeaten. Vincent Keymer claimed the title, while Arjun Erigiasi secured third place.
Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
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