Chess Player Hans Niemann’s Lawsuit Against Magnus Carlsen & Chess.com Dismissed By Court

A lawsuit against the Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen and Chess.com has been dismissed by a Missouri federal court in a $100 million defamation lawsuit. 

Hans Niemann, a U.S. chess prodigy, accused Carlsen, Chess.com’s chief officer Daniel Rensch and Hikaru Nakamura of collusion and defamation. 

The U.S. District Court Judge Audrey Fleissig dismissed the claims Niemann made that the defendants were, “egregiously defaming him and unlawfully colluding to blacklist him from the profession to which he has dedicated his life.” 

In addition to this, Niemann sued for slander and libel, which Fleissig also rejected, but without prejudice. This means that Niemann is permitted to file a separate suit to sue the defendants on those allegations, but Niemann has not confirmed if he plans on doing this. 

Judge Fleissig rejected accusations that antitrust laws were violated “with prejudice,” so Niemann is not allowed to file an antitrust violation lawsuit again on the evidence he provided.

This lawsuit was filed last October and came to light around the same time another scandal occurred in chess, sending shockwaves through the community. 

In the scandal, Carlsen alleged that Niemann cheated back in September 2022 in St. Louis, Missouri at the $350,000 Sinquefield Cup. 

Carlsen accused Niemann after he lost to him during the tournament. The details of the suit were not released. 

Niemann conducted an interview after the tournament with the St. Louis Chess Club where he stated that he has never cheated in an over-the-board game. He did admit to cheating in competitions on Chess.com and confessed to this after being confronted. He calls this, “the single biggest mistake of my life.”

Chess.com has accused Niemann of this deceit and claimed that he “likely cheated” in over 100 games online from July 2015 to August 2020. These include matches where Niemann won prize money. 

Niemann confessed to this in 2020 to Chess.com’s chief chess officer which resulted in him being banned temporarily from the website. 

In the recent lawsuit, Niemann claims that all these allegations against him are “false” and that he has never “been banned twice on Chess.com for cheating.”

Niemann’s account with Chess.com was closed in September 2022 after his initial confession. The company was highly suspicious that Niemann cheated multiple more times than he admitted and that “his results are statistically extraordinary,” as he was number 36 in the world.