Hans Niemann has been on the lips of the entire chess world due to the controversy he aroused at the beginning of September when, at the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis, United States, the world champion Magnus Carlsen withdrew before the end of the tournament due to alleged cheating committed by the american against him.

Although Carlsen did not directly accuse Niemann of cheating, with his withdrawal from the tournament (something not very common to see in the world champion) plus other statements, they hinted that he was indirectly accusing the young talent of cheating. As a result of this, Niemann began to be on the lips of the entire chess world.

The story adds new chapters

One of those who spoke about what happened, although trying to be prudent and without attacking Niemann directly, was the famous streamer and chess player Hikaru Nakamura, who somehow agreed with Magnus Carlsen by joining the accusations against his compatriot for doing cheating in the Sinquefield Cup.

The controversy continued in online chess, more precisely in the sixth round of the Julius Baer Generation Cup tournament, where Carlsen was supposed to play Niemann, but gave up after making just one move, and again generating criticism for and against the young chess player.

And what started as a feud within the chess world turned massive when the famous platform chess.com published a report showing that Niemann had cheated in more than 100 games on the website, later published in the Washington Post. Hans Moke admitted to having cheated in online games in his youth, although not in that amount and never in face-to-face games.

The lawsuit

Although many point out that this was beneficial for Niemann since he went from being a complete unknown to one of the most recognizable faces in chess, the truth is that his reputation was damaged and that has affected him professionally. It was expected that he would be invited to the prestigious Tata Steel tournament, but as a result of this trouble it seems that the organizers have given up doing so.

For this reason, Niemann started a lawsuit not only against Magnus Carlsen but also against the Norwegian’s online chess platform, Play Magnus; Chess.com executive Danny Rensch and American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. The document with the demand of Hans Moke consists of 44 pages.

According to the website chess.com (one of the entities involved in this case): “against all five entities, Niemann is claiming slander, libel, unlawful group boycott under the Sherman Act, tortious interference with contract and business expectancies, and civil conspiracy. For each cause of action, at least $100 million is claimed”.

So far, 10 rounds have been played and if necessary, a playoff will be held on July 5. In addition, like all Candidates Tournament since 2013, it has a two-round league format. The winner of the 2022 Candidates Tournament will face Carlsen in The World Championship scheduled for 2023.

Four games were played in round 10, and three of them ended with a winner, and there was only one draw. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alireza Firouzja drew, Richard Rapport was defeated by Liren Ding, who played with black pieces. Jan-Krzysztof Duda won against Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura beat Alireza Firouzja.

Standings after 10 rounds of the 2022 Candidates Tournament

It remains to be seen how the tournament will end, but Carlsen said he will only defend his title against Firouzja, and the Frenchman is currently in last place in the standings.

2022 Candidates Tournament 11th round: Clashes

Hikaru Nakamura vs Richard Rapport
Alireza Firouzja vs Ian Nepomniachtchi
Teimour Radjabov vs Jan-Krzysztof Duda
Fabiano Caruana vs Liren Ding