American Chess Player Sues Chess Champion For Accusing Him Of Cheating

A teenager has filed a lawsuit against a chess champion over cheating allegations.

On Thursday, American grandmaster Hans Niemann, 19, sued fellow chess player Magnus Carlsen after he accused him of cheating. He’s now seeking $100 million in damages from Carlsen, 31. The suit also includes Carlsen’s company Play Magnus Group, and Danny Rensch of Chess.com, and American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. He accuses them of slander, libel and working together to destroy his brand and reputation. In the legal doc, Neimann states Carlsen caused “devastating damages.”

“Since the age of 16, Niemann’s sole means of supporting himself has been from the money he makes teaching chess and participating in chess tournaments,” the lawsuit said, CBS News reports.

This all comes after Carlsen — a five-time world champion — went public with claims that Niemann cheats. The website claimed in a report that Neimann “probably cheated more than 100 times” while playing games online, CBS News reports. The site also mentioned there’s no “concrete statistical evidence that he cheated in his game with Magnus any other over-the-board (“OTB”)—i.e., in-person—games.” On top of spewing alleged false claims, the suit says the site also allegedly “banned Niemann from its website and all of its future events, to lend credence to Carlsen’s unsubstantiated and defamatory accusations of cheating.”

Neimann has admitted to previously cheating on Chess.com.

On September 29, the International Chess Federation announced it was launching an investigation into the accusations against Neimann.

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

— Hans Niemann (@HansMokeNiemann) October 20, 2022