Young American Grandmaster Hans Niemann, who was recently fingered in a cheating scandal, has filed a $100 million lawsuit against reigning world chess champion Magnus Carlsen, who he claims conspired to ruin his career. Niemann also sues chess.com’s leader Danny Rensch, Play Magnus group, and former US champion Hikaru Nakamura.
The 19-year-old American chess player, in a lawsuit filed in an American district court, claims that the trio’s actions seem to have conspired to ruin his career.
Sequel to the Sinquefield cup saga, in which the world chess champion Magnus Carlsen resigned against the American teen grandmaster, Hans Niemann, the story has since taken a life of its own.
The rumors that Niemann was cheating were based on the fact that he had cheated in online tournaments before. He also admitted this but added that it was only twice during his early teens.
The world champion Magnus Carlsen said he refused to play against Niemann due to his past cheating history. Chess.com later banned Niemann’s account, while some other chess players and fans also alleged that there might be electronic anal beads or something similar that vibrated and showed him the moves.
Niemann and his lawyer feel this amounts to defamation and conspiracy to ruin his career. Niemann’s lawsuit indicates that he had a positive business relationship with chess.com. He claims that the investigative report published by the site that concluded that he had cheated on their site might have been inspired by the financial benefits of that relationship.
Chess.com is in an $82 million acquisition deal of an app called “Play Magnus“ (named after chess champion Magnus Carlsen) that Carlsen owns.
Some people say that Magnus’ loss to Hans twice in a row might have affected the deal, which might be the reason for the media attack on his reputation.
So far, the world governing body of chess, FIDE, has not officially commented on its investigation that it claimed to have initiated into the ongoing saga. While FIDE has refused to speak, the young American Grandmaster whom once described his chess as psychotic is saying that: “My lawsuit speaks for itself.”
