Niemann sues Carlsen for defamation and asks for one hundred million dollars

Far from abating, the scandal is getting worse.

Hans Niemann, whom Magnus Carlsen accused of cheating, without providing evidence, after his defeat against the American on September 4 in the Sinquefield Cup, has filed a lawsuit for defamation against the world champion before a court in the state of Missouri (USA). ) one day after finishing the US Championship in its capital, San Luis.

He is also suing the Play Magnus group of companies, whose main shareholder is Carlsen, the virtual chess club Chess.com, its director, Daniel Rensch, and the grandmaster and

Hikaru Nakamura.

Chess.com, which claims to have more than 90 million users, is buying Play Magnus for more than €80 million.

Niemann claims "not less than one hundred million" as compensation.

“Niemann is a 19-year-old self-taught chess prodigy.

He is bringing this action to avenge himself for the devastating damage the defendants have inflicted on his reputation, career, and life by blatantly defaming him and unlawfully conspiring to blacklist him from the profession to which he has dedicated his life." in the first point of the statement of claim, which is 44 pages long and requests a jury trial.

Another paragraph reads as follows: “(…) As already mentioned in this lawsuit, Magnus Carlsen, Play Magnus Group, Chess.com and Danny Rensch, about to consummate a merger aimed at monopolizing the chess industry, conspired to manufacture and disseminate a range of libelous accusations against Niemann in order to marginalize him from professional chess.

This is not a game.

The defendants have destroyed Niemann's life simply because he has the talent, dedication and audacity to defeat the so-called

We will hold the accused fully accountable and expose the truth.”

The plaintiffs' lawyers, from the New York law firm Oved & Oved LLP and The Gartner Law Firm (Missouri), thus explain the inclusion of Nakamura, whom they define as "the most influential

", due to his great activity on the networks (1.4 million of subscribers on YouTube): “(…) Acting in collusion with Carlsen and Chess.com, he published hours of video content, amplifying and reinforcing Carlsen's false accusations against Niemann with numerous additional defamatory statements.”

The lawsuit does not include any other grandmasters, although several have publicly supported Carlsen's accusations;

others, less, have defended it.

First page of the lawsuit filed today by Niemann against Carlsen and others in a court in Missouri (USA)

The lawsuit details four specific injuries Niemann has already suffered in a month and a half: a canceled match against 17-year-old German prodigy Vincent Keymer;

the withdrawal of invitations to play the Global Chess Championship (organized by Chess.com) in October and the Tata tournament in Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands) in January, considered the

of chess;

and the cessation of the negotiation to be a chess teacher “in a prestigious school”.

Among the arguments in favor of their client, the plaintiffs cite the report by mathematician Ken Regan, considered the world's leading expert in detecting cheating in chess, whose conclusion is that Niemann has not cheated in face-to-face chess for the past two years.

They also stress that Carlsen has used "his great social influence" on him to discredit Niemann.

The account also includes Carlsen's unsportsmanlike gesture just days after his loss in the Sinquefield Cup, when, in a quick internet tournament, he resigned to Niemann after making a single move.

The plaintiffs do not hide the weakest point of their client: he admitted that he cheated in speed games on the Internet at the age of 12 and at 16, without specifying how many.

"It was the biggest mistake of my life, I learned my lesson, I have not cheated again and I have never done it in face-to-face games," he assured.

But Chess.com published a report of more than 80 pages where he assured that the cheats were more than a hundred.

The lawyers of the alleged defamed argue, however, that this report contains several falsehoods.

Niemann finished 7th out of 14 at the US Championship on Wednesday without dropping a single point on the international list despite suffering a tremendous digital lynching.

The tournament was played under extreme measures to prevent cheating.

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