Picture: St. Louis Chess Membership
The dishonest drama that has enveloped the chess world can have a brand new chapter in federal court docket: 19-year-old Hans Niemann sued Magnus Carlsen, Chess.com, and in style chess grandmaster and streamer Hikaru Nakamura on Thursday for slander and libel and is in search of at the very least $100 million in damages.
Niemann’s lawsuit claims that Carlsen, the top-ranked chess participant on the earth, is “infamous for his lack of ability to deal with defeat,” and that he “viciously and maliciously retaliated in opposition to Niemann by falsely accusing Niemann, with none proof, of by some means dishonest” in the course of the Sinquefield Cup chess event final month when Niemann defeated Carlsen in a decisive upset.
The chess dishonest saga immediately grew to become worldwide information final month after Carlsen implied, then later outright acknowledged, that he believed Niemann cheated in opposition to him in that event. The story has a number of twists and turns which were beforehand reported on by Motherboard. Quickly after the Sinquefield Cup, Chess.com banned Niemann, stating that it had proof that Niemann cheated extensively on the platform (Niemann has admitted to dishonest when he was youthful on Chess.com). Earlier this month, Chess.com launched a report detailing these claims.
Niemann’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Courtroom in Missouri’s Japanese District, the place the Sinquefield Cup was held, calls Carlsen “corrupt and cowardly,” and “gutless.” It alleges “collusion” between Chess.com, Carlsen, Carlsen’s Play Magnus chess firm (which was acquired by Chess.com), and Nakamura, and says that Niemann has been disinvited from numerous tournaments and that he “can’t get hold of employment as a chess trainer at a good college.”
The lawsuit claims that “defendants’ defamatory accusations have Destroyed Niemann’s life,” in addition to his “fame, profession, and livelihood.” It additionally states that Niemann believes Chess.com has violated the Sherman Antitrust Act due to its energy within the aggressive chess house.
“Defendants acted in live performance to improperly refuse to cope with Niemann, as described extra totally above, together with Chess.com banning Niemann from its platform and sponsored occasions, Carlsen refusing to play Niemann in any tournaments or occasions, and Defendants appearing collectively to trigger organizers {of professional} chess tournaments to blacklist Niemann from collaborating of their occasions,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit itself is essentially a recounting of Carlsen’s, Chess.com’s, and Nakamura’s public statements during the last month. It additionally notes that “event organizers and arbiters of the Sinquefield Cup, FIDE, and the world’s foremost consultants in cheat detection, have uniformly confirmed that there is no such thing as a proof that Niemann cheated in any of his video games in opposition to Carlsen, together with on the Sinquefield Cup, notably given the greater than ample anti-cheating safety measures used on the occasion. Unbiased high chess analysts have dissected Niemann and Carlsen’s Sinquefield Cup recreation in excruciating element and concluded that Niemann’s victory resulted extra from Carlsen’s notably poor play than Niemann’s notably distinctive play.” The go well with additionally mentions a Motherboard article during which one in all Niemann’s coaches, Maxim Dlugy, admitted to chess.com in emails that he cheated in his personal matches (Dlugy’s emails had nothing to do with Niemann).
On Twitter, Niemann said “my lawsuit speaks for itself.”
“We’re saddened by Hans Niemann’s resolution to take authorized motion in opposition to Chess.com. We imagine his lawsuit hurts the sport of chess and its devoted gamers and followers world wide,” Chess.com stated in an announcement by means of its legal professionals at Latham & Watkins LLP. “Chess.com is happy with its fame inside the chess neighborhood and past, and can all the time defend the sport, the gamers, and their mission of each rising and defending on-line chess.
Hans confessed publicly to dishonest on-line within the wake of the Sinquefield Cup, and the ensuing fallout is of his personal making. As acknowledged in its October 2022 report, Chess.com had traditionally handled Hans’ prior dishonest privately, and was compelled to make clear its place solely after he spoke out publicly.
There is no such thing as a advantage to Hans’ allegations, and Chess.com appears ahead to setting the report straight on behalf of its staff and all sincere chess gamers.”
This text has been up to date with remark from Chess.com
