Slovenian GM Vladimir Fedoseev commented on his 16-move loss to American GM Hans Moke Niemann in the first round of Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026. Fedoseev cited a loss of concentration due to tournament protests and praised Niemann’s resilience in post-match comments.

Vladimir Fedoseev

Vladimir Fedoseev

Slovenian GM

“The feeling was that I couldn’t play this game, because after that game, after such games you’re always asking questions to yourself: am I able to play chess at all or not? Because losing in 16 moves… it’s very hard to recover from that in a very short period of time.

I realized that I had huge concentration and focus problems in that game. For example, today I went to the playing hall much earlier just to have an opportunity to get into the game, because on the first day of the tournament it felt like a leap into water. Everyone else was at least half ready, but I wasn’t ready at all.

Now I feel better, because at least it was quiet in a playing hall, I felt it’s a chess tournament, not a stadium. I had one of the toughest opponents for such a situation in the face of Hans Neiman. He is an actor, he’s always up for such challenges! He literally doesn’t care for this. It’s very hard when you face wrong opponent in such situation.”

Slovenian GM Vladimir Fedoseev lost his game to American GM Hans Moke Niemann in 16 moves after blundering a knight in Round one of the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026. Activist group Extinction Rebellion disrupted the round with loud noise and demonstrations, delaying the start by an hour and a half. The Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026 takes place in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands from January 17 to February 1.

Credit: Tata Steel Chess