Niemann's $100 Million Lawsuit Against Carlsen and Chess.com
Hans Niemann filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Magnus Carlsen, Chess.com, and Hikaru Nakamura in October 2022. A federal court dismissed the case in June 2023, and the parties settled in August 2023.
What we know
On October 20, 2022, Hans Niemann filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of Missouri against Magnus Carlsen, his company Play Magnus Group, Chess.com, Chess.com's chief chess officer Danny Rensch, and grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. The suit sought a minimum of $100 million in damages and alleged defamation, slander, libel, unlawful group boycott under the Sherman Antitrust Act, tortious interference with contract, and civil conspiracy.
Niemann's legal team argued that the defendants had colluded to 'blacklist' him from the chess world and that Chess.com, which was simultaneously acquiring Carlsen's Play Magnus app for $83 million, had a financial incentive to discredit Niemann. The lawsuit highlighted that Chess.com had emailed Niemann on August 31, 2022-just days before the Sinquefield Cup-telling him it was 'super excited to have him' in its $1 million Global Championship, only to disinvite him on September 5, one day after the Carlsen game.
On June 27, 2023, U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig dismissed the federal antitrust claims with prejudice-meaning they cannot be refiled-ruling that 'Niemann's ban resulted from his alleged violation of Chess.com's rules regarding cheating' and was 'not plausibly tied to any anticompetitive intent or effect.' State-level defamation claims were dismissed without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction. Niemann appealed, but the parties settled in August 2023 before further proceedings: Niemann dropped the appeal, was fully reinstated to Chess.com, and Carlsen acknowledged in a public statement that there was 'no determinative evidence' of cheating.
Common claims
- Niemann won his lawsuit against Carlsen and Chess.com.False
- The lawsuit was dismissed because Niemann cheated.Misleading
- The settlement included an admission of cheating by Niemann.False