Hikaru Nakamura gives honest opinion on Magnus Carlsen-Hans Niemann cheating scandal documentary: 'Lot of stuff cut out'

World No.2 Hikaru Nakamura was not impressed by the recent Netflix documentary "Untold: Chess Mates" that showcased the infamous cheating scandal that rocked the entire chess world.

World No.1 Magnus Carlsen had withdrawn from the Sinquefield Cup in 2022 after a loss to the then 19-year-old Niemann. The withdrawal was largely seen as implicit accusation of cheating against Niemann which were further strengthened when Carlsen resigned after just one move in their next match-up. A $100 million lawsuit from Niemann followed which was later settled.

The recent film features interviews with Carlsen, Niemann and others including Nakamura. The movie covers this scandal, Niemann’s comeback, and their 2024 rematch.

Nakamura unimpressed with Magnus-Niemann documentary

Nakamura was not too impressed with the 75-minute documentary. He was also not to happy by the fact that his screen time was only three minutes despite him giving an entire day to the makers.

More from Chess

"I watched it at 1.5x speed and I wasn’t very impressed. I actually gave the Netflix team a full day, over eight hours of footage of me talking about a lot of these things. But in the end, I think I was only in it for about three minutes.

"I suspect Eric, Danny, Hans, and Magnus all said a lot more too, but a lot must have been cut out. The whole thing surprised me. It didn’t really feel very inspiring. Honestly, I was just very confused by it," Nakamura recently said during his live stream.

He also confirmed that no one was paid for their part in the movie.

Also, on the pay: nobody’s getting paid. There’s no money going to anybody for doing this. I’ve seen people assume that everyone got paid, but that’s not the case at all," he said.

The reception to the documentary has largely been mixed with some praising its production and accessibility, while others like Nakamura noting the lack of depth in the movie.