GM Hans Niemann files 'cheating' lawsuit against Magnus Carlsen, others

The Carlsen-Niemann 'cheating' row sees a new twist in its tale in the world of Chess as the 19-year-old American Grand Master has filed a lawsuit against the reigning World Champion, alongwith with GM Hikaru Nakamura, IM Danny Rensch, chessdotcom, as well as PlayMagnus.

This saga between the two players started out when Carlsen lost to Niemann at the Sinquefield Cup in the US in early September, post which the Norwegian pulled out of the tournament. The hostility between the two aggravated at the Julius Baer Cup, an online competition which took place weeks later, where Carlsen resigned from the game just after playing one move.

While Neimann comes from a past blemished by cheating instances which he has confessed to, they were during online games. The American firmly believes that he has never played unfairly in over-the-board face. However, Carlsen's public statement said otherwise.

"...throughout our game in the Sinquefield Cup I had the impression that he wasn't tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions, while outplaying me as black in a way I think only a handful of players can do," the World Champion said in his statement dated 27th September, 2022.

Now, almost a month later, Neimann has decided to take Carlsen and others to court. It's a defamation lawsuit which includes both libel and slander types, which means Hans through this case says that Carlsen and the other defendants have defamed Neimann through verbal and written communication.

Moreover, one of the clauses in the case reads that Niemann expects no less than one hundred million dollars in damages, while the final amount will be decided in the due course of the trial.