Chess Grandmaster Hans Niemann sues world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen for defamation over cheating allegations - CBSSports.com site: media arena: general pageType: stories section: slug: chess-grandmaster-hans-niemann-sues-world-no-1-magnus-carlsen-for-defamation-over-cheating-allegations sport: other route: article_single.us 6-keys: media/spln/other/reg/free/stories CBSSports.com 247Sports MaxPreps SportsLine Shop Play Golf Stubhub Caesars Sportsbook Play

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Chess Grandmaster Hans Niemann sues world No 1 Magnus Carlsen for defamation over cheating allegations

The suit is asking for $100 million in damages

By Isabel Gonzalez Oct 21, 2022 at 3:32 pm ET • 2 min read Getty Images Chess Grandmaster Hans Niemann's latest move in the chess cheating scandal is a lawsuit toward world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and others he is accusing of "egregiously defaming him and unlawfully colluding to blacklist him." Last month, Carlsen resigned unexpectedly while playing against him in a tournament, which led to Niemann's credibility being questioned in the chess community. The other defendants are Grandmaster and Twitch streamer Hikaru Nakamura, online chess platform Chess.com and the website's Chief Chess Officer Danny Rensch. Niemann is seeking "no less than $100,000,000" in damages. The lawsuit says the "conspiracy theories began going viral on the internet" and lists ways in which Niemann believes he has been affected, including FIDE-sanctioned tournaments he won't be able to compete in. "Accordingly, Niemann asserts the following claims against Defendants" (1) slander; (2) libel; (3) unlawful group boycott under the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. & 1, et. seq.' (4) tortious interference with contract and business expectancies; (5) civil conspiracy," reads the 44-page document. My lawsuit speaks for itself https://t.co/rOfUxiNYCH— Hans Niemann (@HansMokeNiemann) October 20, 2022 Chess.com, who Niemann said has "the best cheat detection in the world," banned him from the site after the incident with Carlsen because of cheating concerns. Niemann admitted publicly to cheating in the past, but only twice according to him, and he called out Chess.com in an interview for treating him unfairly. The website then shared a 72-page report that claims his statements in the interview were inaccurate because he likely received illegal assistance in more than 100 online games. That report showed old messages between Niemann and Rensch from when Niemann confessed to cheating on Chess.com. Niemann's lawsuit claims that website banned him "to lend credence to Carlsen's unsubstantiated and defamatory accusations of cheating." Rensch is called out because Niemann claims the press releases and report released by him and the website were "defamatory." Nakamura got involved when he began theorizing that Carlsen had left the game early because he believed his opponent had cheated during a previous encounter the previous month. On Sept. 4, Niemann and Carlsen faced each in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis and Niemann pulled off an upset against Carlsen, who then withdrew from the tournament without saying anything other than a cryptic meme on social media that implied he had something to say but was going to stay quiet to not get in trouble. While Carlsen took a while to say anything, Nakamura often made videos discussing the latest updates on situation and what others in the chess community were saying. The lawsuit describes Nakamura as Chess.com's most influential streamer, and said he acted in collusion with Carlsen and Chess.com. "Despite the falsity of Defendants' accusations, Defendants' malicious defamation and unlawful collusion has, by design, destroyed Niemann's remarkable career in its prime and ruined his life," reads the document.

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