Judge tosses Hans Niemann’s has $100M libel suit against grandmaster Magnus Carlsen

A federal judge has dismissed the $100 million libel suit against chess prodigy Hans Niemann.

Niemann, 19, filed the lawsuit last year in the US District Court for Missouri accusing Norwegian World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen of defaming him by accusing him of cheating.

Last year, Niemann sent the elite world of competitive chess into a tailspin when he defeated Carlsen in the prestigious Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, leading Carlsen to publicly accuse him of cheating.

In an order issued Tuesday, Judge Audrey G. Fleissig dismissed the federal antitrust claims in Niemann’s lawsuit with prejudice, meaning they cannot be filed again, and refused to accept jurisdiction over the lawsuit’s libel and defamation claims.

Carlsen’s attorney Craig M. Reiser told DailyMail.com in a statement, “We are pleased that the court rejected Hans Niemann’s attempt to recover an undeserved windfall in Missouri federal court, and that Niemann’s attempt to to cool speech through strategic litigation in that forum has failed. .’

A lawyer for Niemann did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com Tuesday afternoon.

His lawsuit had also named online chess platform Chess.com, Chess.com executive Daniel Rensch and chess streamer Hikaru Nakamura.

The lawsuit sensationally charged the defendants with “conspiracy to blacklist Niemann” from playing professional chess, saying he had been shunned by tournament organizers since five-time world champion Carlsen accused him of cheating.

Judge Fleissig dismissed the federal antitrust elements of the lawsuit for failure to file a claim, meaning that even if Niemann’s allegations were true, they did not constitute a proper claim for relief under the law.

The other elements of the lawsuit, including libel and defamation, would not normally fall under federal jurisdiction, and the judge declined to extend jurisdiction after throwing out the antitrust elements.

Attorneys Nima Mohebbi and Jamie Wine of Latham & Watkins, who represented Chess.com in the lawsuit, told DailyMail.com: “We are very pleased with the court’s order to dismiss Hans Niemann’s claims.

“Our customers are happy that this saga is coming to an end and are grateful that all parties can now focus on growing the game of chess.”

The saga began at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis in September, when Carlsen retired after Niemann defeated him by playing black, a significant disadvantage at the highest level of chess.

Carlsen’s surprise defeat and the unusual decision to immediately withdraw from the tournament sparked a flurry of speculation in the chess world that Carlsen thought Niemann had cheated.

Wild speculation and rumors swirled online, including a suggestion first floated by chess podcasters that Niemann had used vibrating anal beads to receive tips from an ally.

The rumor spiraled into scandal later that month when Carlsen resigned after making one move in a match against Niemann during an online tournament.

Carlsen subsequently released a statement saying he believed Niemann had “cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted,” though he did not speculate on how the cheating was carried out.

Chess.com, an internet chess server, banned Niemann after the first game against Carlsen and later published a report stating that he had probably cheated more than 100 times in online games.

Niemann has admitted to cheating in online chess matches when he was 12 and 16 years old, but has denied ever cheating in prize money tournaments or in over-the-board competitions.

Tournament organizers in St. Louis say they have found no evidence that Niemann cheated.

Following the cheating allegations, a 72-page report from Chess.com accused the “self-taught chess prodigy” of cheating “more than 100 times.”

On October 5, 2022, Niemann was scheduled to begin competing in the U.S. Chess Championship tournament, which, due to repeated defamatory allegations and blacklisting of defendants, may be one of the last competitive chess tournaments Niemann will ever be allowed to play. play,” the lawsuit reads.

Niemann desperately hoped that he could enter that tournament, deliver an impressive performance, and lessen the blow of at least some of the slanderous accusations from defendants. Yet Defendants again had other plans.’

The comprehensive report showed that the prodigy privately confessed to Chess.com that he repeatedly cheated, while also revealing that he was banned from the site – though this was never made public.

The report states that Niemann confessed his cheating to Chess.com COO Danny Rensch during a Zoom call and then in writing during a Slack chat.

Many of the tournaments Chess.com said Niemann cheated on featured cash prizes, the report said, including Chess.com prize events, Speed ​​Chess Championship Qualifiers and the PRO Chess League.

As a result of the allegations, tournaments, including the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, have lost contact with Niemann.

Meanwhile, Carlsen’s refusal to participate in tournaments where Niemann is present also effectively bans the 19-year-old from “the vast majority” of them, he complained in his lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleged that Carlsen’s actions were financially motivated — his Player Magnus brand merged with Chess.com last August in an $83 million deal. Player Magnus is Carlsen’s chess training app.

Defendant Nakamura is one of Chess.com’s “influential streaming partners” who posted content to bolster Carlsen’s allegations with “numerous additional defamatory statements,” the lawsuit said.

Meanwhile, Chess.com executive Rensch was charged with releasing the company’s “defamatory report” to “reinforce Carsen’s unsubstantiated defamatory allegations that Niemann cheated on him at the Sinquefield Cup.”

In court filings, Rensch and Carlsen said Niemann is an “admitted” imposter who has not identified defamatory statements made by them in his lawsuit.

“After years of trying to build a reputation as the bad boy of chess, Prosecutor Hans Niemann wants to make money by blaming others for the consequences of his own admitted wrongdoing,” Carlsen’s file reads.