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Hans Niemann, a teenage American chess prodigy, sued a grandmaster who claimed he had utilized anal beats to cheat.
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In a separate lawsuit, Niemann accuses Chess.com of defaming him in an effort to banish him from the game after being charged with communicating with his coach using vibrating anal beads during a match versus Carlsen on September 4.
He alleges in court documents submitted on Thursday in Missouri that self-proclaimed “King of Chess” Magnus Carlsen, 31, was afraid of damaging his multi-billion dollar reputation after losing to him in September.
Chess.com alleged Niemann had “likely” cheated in hundreds of games in a report published weeks after the incident.
Niemann, 19, refuted the charges, claiming that he had only ever cheated twice in his life, when he was 12 and 16, and that these actions had caused him the most regret in his life.
Additionally named as defendants are chess.com executive Daniel Rensch and chess streamer Hikaru Nakamura.
In the lawsuit, it is claimed that Niemann is now asking for a jury trial “to recover from the devastating damages that defendants have inflicted upon his reputation, career, and life by egregiously defaming him and unlawfully colluding to blacklist him from the profession to which he has dedicated his life.”
He is requesting compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages totaling $100 million.
According to Niemann’s lawsuit,
To “monopolize the chess world,” Carlsen founded Player Magnus, a successful international brand that he combined with Chess.com in a $83 million purchase.
After defeating Carlson, he mocked him in an interview on September 4. This triggered the Norwegian to “snap,” and he “maliciously” retaliated on the adolescent.
The loss prevented Carlsen from establishing himself as “the greatest chess player of all time,” which “would have increased the value of his kingdom.”
Carlsen then, after becoming “unable to accept the reality of his surprise loss,” “falsely and baselessly” accused Niemann of cheating.
The lawsuit claims that Carlsen’s “extraordinary actions and his false accusations sent shockwaves through the chess community and swiftly propelled Niemann into the center of what is now widely considered as the single biggest chess scandal in history.”
“Even though Carlsen had no reasonable grounds to believe Niemann had cheated against him, he could make sure that no respectable chess event would ever again permit Niemann to play, and his bogus charges would compel other top chess players to boycott Niemann as well,” Carlsen said.
The lawsuit asserts that Carlsen’s decisions were motivated by money because his Player Magnus brand joined with Chess.com in an August arrangement worth $83 million. Carlsen uses the chess training program Player Magnus.
Even though Chess.com and Play Magnus declared their intention to merge their businesses on August 24, the process could take up to two months to complete.
One of Chess.com’s “influential streaming partners,” defendant Nakamura, published material to support Carlsen’s charges with “many further defamatory statements.”
A 72-page study by Chess.com accused the “self-taught chess prodigy” of cheating “more than 100 times” after the anal bead cheating allegations.
According to the lawsuit, ‘On October 5, 2022, Niemann was scheduled to start competing in the U.S. Chess Championship tournament, which, due to Defendants’ repeated defamatory accusations and blacklisting, is very likely one of the last competitive chess tournaments in which Niemann will ever be permitted to play.
Niemann fervently hoped to be able to participate in that competition, put on a strong showing, and diminish the impact of at least some of the defamatory claims made by the defendants. But once more, the defendants had other ideas.
The extensive research indicated that the prodigy had repeatedly cheated and had privately admitted this to Chess.com, as well as that he had been banned from the website—although this information was never made public.
According to the report, Niemann admitted to cheating to Chess.com COO Danny Rensch both verbally and in writing thereafter during a Slack session.
According to the study, Niemann was accused of cheating in many of the tournaments Chess.com prize events, Speed Chess Championship Qualifiers, and the PRO Chess League.
According to the lawsuit, Niemann would take part in approximately 15 major chess competitions each year, earning $5,000 to $15,000 in appearance fees and $5,000 to $100,000 in cash awards.
The lawsuit asserted that Niemann’s “career” has been damaged by the Carlson’s “lies” as a result of the 19-year-old being prohibited from competing in most tournaments.
