Photo: Hans Niemann/Twitter; ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty
What started out asa chess cheating conspiracyis now moving to court.
American chess player Hans Niemann has filed a lawsuit against world champion Magnus Carlsen and others after he claims the parties defamed him and “unlawfully [colluded] to blacklist him from the profession to which he has dedicated his life.”
“My lawsuit speaks for itself,” 19-year-old Niemann wrote in atweetthat included a copy of his lawsuit.
In addition to Carlsen, Niemann is also suing online platform Chess.com; the company’s chief chess officer, Daniel Rensch, and Hikaru Nakamura, a chess streamer and grandmaster, for slander, libel and other allegations.
The documents, filed in Eastern Missouri District Court, allege that Niemann is owed $100 million in damages for claims that he cheated during competitive matches. PEOPLE reached out to representatives of Carlsen and Nakamura on Friday.
But Carlsen dropped hints that he believed Niemann had cheated during the match. When announcing he would leave the tournament, Carlsen tweeted a video of Portuguese soccer manager José Mourinho telling reporters he preferred “not to speak” or he would be in “big trouble.”
Hans Niemann/Twitter
The clip was filmed after Mourinho’s team lost a match where officials were scrutinized for their decision-making, theNew York Timesreported.
Nakamura also published a32-minute YouTube videothat attempted to explain why he thought Niemann’s strategy during Carlsen’s match was unusual and did not rule out the possibility of him cheating.
A unsubstantiated rumor that Niemann could have used a wireless anal sex toy to have a computer transmit what moves to make also started online. If there is evidence that Niemann cheated during the match, it has not been made publicly available.
He was since dropped from subsequent Chess.com tournaments.
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They added: “Hans confessed publicly to cheating online in the wake of the Sinquefield Cup, and the resulting fallout is of his own making. As stated in its October 2022 report, Chess.com had historically dealt with Hans' prior cheating privately, and was forced to clarify its position only after he spoke out publicly. There is no merit to Hans' allegations, and Chess.com looks forward to setting the record straight on behalf of its team and all honest chess players.”
source: people.com
