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The controversy surrounding streamer Grand Master Hans Niemann and the cheating allegations and statements from Chess.com and legend Magnus Carlsen seems to have been put to bed with public statements made from all three parties. In a recent press release, it appears that last year's dramatic lawsuit brought by Niemann against the website and fellow GM Carlsen has been settled.
The cheating scandal that rocked the chess world back in October 2022 after Hans Niemann filed a defamation case against Chess.com, Magnus Carlsen, and Hikaru seems to have reached a conclusion for most parties. In a joint press statement released on Chess.com, Carlsen appears to have withdrawn his statements about cheating and the action to forfeit a match against Niemann and even expressed his willingness to play him in the future, writing:
"I acknowledge and understand Chess.com’s report, including its statement that there is no determinative evidence that Niemann cheated in his game against me at the Sinquefield Cup. I am willing to play Niemann in future events, should we be paired together"
"I am pleased the lawsuit has been resolved": Explaining cheating allegations against Hans Niemann and his lawsuit against Chess.com and Magnus Carlsen
For those out of the loop or need a recap of the details, the drama started back in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, where Magnus Carlsen had an unexpected loss to a significantly lower-seeded Hans Niemann. After losing, the Chess icon withdrew from the tournament, and on their next meeting, something even more unprecedented happened.
On a match in September, Magnus simply forfeited the game and let Niemann win and afterward published a public statement on X, formerly Twitter, accusing Hans of cheating. Readers should note that the latter did admit to playing unfairly on Chess.com as a kid. However, since Carlsen's public accusations, the website has uninvited Hans Niemann from events.
In a long report released back in early October, Chess.com revealed that while they had found no evidence of Niemann cheating in games, they had decided to ban him from events due to "growing suspicion among top players." Popular chess streamer Hikaru was also involved in the lawsuit that followed after he commented on the issue.
Long story short, in a couple of days, Hans Niemann filed a defamation case against Chess.com and Magnus Carlsen, which marked the legal battle over perhaps chess's biggest cheating scandal. The lawsuit seems to have gone in Niemann's favor as statements recently released by Chess.com confirm there was no cheating and that he would be free to play in tournaments and on their website.
Niemann welcomed the results of the lawsuit, himself saying:
"I am pleased that my lawsuit against Magnus Carlsen and Chess.com has been resolved in a mutually acceptable manner, and that I am returning to Chess.com. I look forward to competing against Magnus in chess rather than in court..."
Readers might have noticed that nothing in the statements mentions Hikaru, and considering his recent comments about being busy with legal trouble while commenting about an Andrea Botez cease and desist controversy, it seems his case may not have gone down as well.
