In September 2022, the world of chess went into a frenzy as an alleged cheating incident rocked the sport. The situation blew out of proportion after Chess superstar Magnus Carlsen accused Hans Niemann of cheating, forcing the latter to eventually file a defamation case against the former, among others, for a whopping sum of $100 million (over Rs 820 crore). Now, eight months later, a U.S. District Court Judge Audrey Fleissig dismissed the lawsuit filed by the 20-year-old American grandmaster.
So what exactly happened in the later stages of 2022? What did Niemann claim in his defamation lawsuit? Who are the parties involved and what next? Let's take a deeper look:
The controversy arises in Sinquefield Cup in September 2022
When the top grandmasters from the world gathered at St Louis, Missouri in September last year for the Sinquefield Cup, the tournament promised to be a box-office affair. When Carlsen and Niemann faced off in a third-round match, the Norwegian suffered a shock defeat and later withdrew his name from the event. The Sinquefield Cup was staged in an over-the-board format, meaning that players sat across each other to compete for the title. When Carlsen dropped out of the tournament, many people speculated that the Norwegian has accused his competition of cheating.
Niemann admits to cheating, but not in an over-the-board game
In a lengthy interview with the St. Louis Chess Club after the fifth round of the Sinquefield Cup, Niemann admitted to cheating in online games but said he had never cheated in over-the-board games.
"I cheated on random games on Chess.com. I was confronted. I confessed. And this is the single biggest mistake of my life. And I am completely ashamed. I am telling the world because I don’t want misrepresentations and I don’t want rumors. I have never cheated in an over-the-board game. And other than when I was 12 years old I have never cheated in a tournament with prize money," he had said.
Carlsen counters Niemann's statement, chess.com
After Niemann's address, Carlsen released a statement and said that the American grandmaster is lying about the times he has cheated. Chess.com, which is the sport's leading website that hosts over 10 million chess games a day, released a 72-page report of its own and said that Niemann 'cheated in more than 10 times and in tournaments with prize money'. The report further claimed that Niemann admitted to cheating in 2020 and was even banned from the platform temporarily.
Niemann's lawsuit
Upon being targeted by Carlsen and chess.com, the American grandmaster filed a lawsuit claiming that the report is false and that he was not temporarily banned from chess.com. Niemann's filed a defamation lawsuit against Carlsen,Chess.com, its chief chess officer Daniel Rensch and streamer Hikaru Nakamura have been in October 2022 and later made two amendments to it.
In his lawsuit, Niemann accused the aforementioned parties of "egregiously defaming him and unlawfully colluding to blacklist him from the profession to which he has dedicated his life' and that the entire incident has caused him 'devasting damages'.
Niemann later also claimed that Carlsen paid a friend $328 to scream 'Cheater Hans' during the closing ceremony of a tournament.
What's next?
In his lawsuit, Niemann sued Carlsen and others for slander, which the judge dismissed without prejudice, meaning that the American grandmaster can file another suit. However, the judge quashed accusations of an antitrust violation with prejudice meaning that Niemann cannot file another suit against the defendants based on the same evidence.
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