The 19-year-old American is defending himself against allegations of cheating at chess. The Norwegian only slandered him to take revenge for a lost game.
In the dispute over allegations of fraud, the American chess player Hans Niemann is suing the online platform Chess.com and world champion Magnus Carlsen. Niemann, 19, filed his lawsuit Thursday in the US District Court in Missouri. He is demanding $100 million in damages.
Niemann claims there was a conspiracy between Chess.com and Carlsen to ban him from professional competition in retaliation for his win over Carlsen in September’s Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis. “My lawsuit speaks for itself,” wrote Niemann on Twitter.
The 31-year-old Norwegian Carlsen had raised allegations of cheating against Niemann in September after losing a game to the American. Niemann, on the other hand, admitted to cheating on Chess.com when he was 12 and 16, but not since. Carlsen then claimed that Niemann cheated more and more often.
According to the lawsuit, Niemann is taking legal action against Carlsen to “recover from the devastating damage the defendants have caused to his reputation, career and life” by “egregiously” defaming him and unlawfully colluding to to blacklist him. Niemann suggests his ban from Chess.com came under pressure from Carlsen. Carlsen’s Play Magnus company is being acquired by Chess.com for $83 million.
In the wake of Carlsen’s allegations, the lawsuit goes on to say, Niemann’s tournament invitations were revoked and an upcoming match against 17-year-old German grandmaster Vincent Keymer was canceled altogether. It goes on to say that Niemann will “not get a job as a chess teacher at a respected school”.
According to the BBC, Chess.com’s lawyers have already dismissed Niemann’s allegations as “baseless”. Carlsen or his attorneys have not yet commented on the allegations.
