News

Jun 13, 2023

Hans Niemann Suing For $AU159 Million Over Chess Cheating Allegations

Hans Niemann, the chess grandmaster at the centre of cheating allegations —

Hans Niemann, the chess grandmaster at the centre of cheating allegations — which you can catch up on here — has filed a suit in a Missouri court suing world champion Magnus Carlsen, his chess app Play Magnus, the website chess.com, chess.com's Daniel Rensch and streamer Hikaru Nakamura for $US100 ($AU159) million.

The suit, tweeted out by Niemann earlier today, can be read here.

My lawsuit speaks for itself https://t.co/rOfUxiNYCH

Niemann, the 19 year-old chess prodigy who has been accused of not just cheating but cheating using vibrating anal beads, says in the suit that the allegations against him are baseless and without merit, and world champion Carlsen has lashed out because he was "fearful that the young prodigy would further blemish his multi-million dollar brand".

He also says that "a flurry of independent and unbiased sources" have proven he has not cheated, yet despite this "Carlsen unleashed his media empire to fan the flames of Carlsen's cheating accusations, drown out the legitimate evidence refuting them" and have Niemann "blacklisted" from major international tournaments as part of a "conspiracy".

The "media empire" he's talking about are the other parties accused in the suit; Carlsen has his own chess app, Play Magnus, which was recently bought by Chess.com (where Niemann is now banned) for over $US80 ($AU127) million, and for whom Rensch (who Niemann also accused of lying about cheating admissions) is chief chess officer, and Nakamura a streaming partner.

Amazingly, the suit even includes a breakdown of the context behind one of the greatest sporting soundbytes of all time:

Basically, Niemann is saying that he beat Carlsen fair and square, that beating Carlsen put a dent in the world champion's personal goals and business plans, and so in retaliation Carlsen and his mates in the chess world created this cheating scandal. And that as a result, the affair has "had the desired effect of destroying Niemann's reputation, career, and livelihood."

The suit is seeking to clear Niemann's name, prove that "defendants made the defamatory statements with full knowledge that such statements were false", and is looking for "no less than" $US100 ($AU159) million in damages.

He's a known, admitted cheater who was mentored by another admitted, known cheater… yeah, good luck with the court case, buddy.

If the court case goes ahead it will be on the them to prove that he cheated in the game in question, which is where they’ve come up empty so far.

It would certainly be an interesting one though with Neimann having to defend his past and associates and the other side having to prove his guilt and defend against conflicts of interest.

It’d be a great popcorn watch as far as court case go, especially when one of the so-called cheating experts in chess who provides tech for it is the guy he's currently suing. To be the fly on the wall of the lawyers as they try to work out who they can call as an expert when all of the experts are parties to the lawsuit.

Time to do a word check to make sure all your "allegedly" are in their proper places 😛

The article refers to allegations, and then describes what those allegations are. There is no need to add "allegedly" as well. For all practical purposes the words "allegations" and "allegedly" are synonymous.

I was more referring to the people he is suing, making sure their alleges are all in place 😛

Clearly he is butt hurt in more ways than one!