It was time for the counter-attack for Hans Niemann. The American Chess Player filed a complaint on Thursday in the United States against those who accuse him of cheating, including his Norwegian rival the champion Magnus Carlsen, claiming 100 million dollars in damages. The 19-year-old filed a civil lawsuit in federal court in Missouri against the five-time world champion and other players in the chess world, including the chess.com platform, which he accuses of “defamation” and of “collision”.
Their allegations “nipped in the bud his remarkable career and ruined his life”, write his lawyers in this complaint consulted by AFP. Hans Niemann has been excluded from many competitions and “can no longer get a job as a chess teacher in serious schools”, they say. The complaint is the young chess master’s most notable act since the outbreak of what his lawyers call “the biggest scandal in chess history”.
“Ready to play naked”
It all started on September 5 when the young American beat the Norwegian star in the Sinquefield Cup in the United States. Magnus Carlsen then withdrew from the tournament, accusing him of cheating. His claims were later echoed by American player Hikaru Nakamura and the world’s leading online chess platform, chess.com, who said the young grandmaster “probably cheated” at least 100 times online.
In his complaint, Hans Niemann accuses his detractors of having acted in a concerted manner out of financial interest. “Fearing that the young prodigy would endanger his multi-millionaire mark by inflicting further defeats on him, Carlsen took revenge by accusing him without proof,” write his lawyers. Hans Niemann admitted to cheating on chess.comwhen he was between 12 and 16 years old, but denies having continued and said he was “ready to play naked” to prove his talent.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) opened an investigation on September 29 to shed light on this affair.