It felt like today may by no means come, however former world champion Magnus Carlsen and grandmaster Hans Niemann have lastly put the dishonest scandal that rocked the chess world final yr, together with meme-filled hypothesis about anal beads, to mattress.
Chess.com and Carlsen reached a settlement with Niemann, who had sued them and Twitch streamer Hikaru Nakamura for $100 million over what he alleged was a “civil conspiracy” to defame him. “We are pleased to report that we have reached an agreement with Hans Niemann to put our differences behind us and move forward together without further litigation,” Chess.com wrote in an replace on August 28. As a outcome, Niemann will as soon as once more be allowed to compete on the web chess platform, and Carlsen has agreed to play him sooner or later ought to they meet in a event.
“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,” Carlsen stated in an announcement. “I am willing to play Niemann in future events, should we be paired together.”
It was the former world champion’s remarks that originally set the most important dishonest scandal within the fashionable period of the sport in movement. After dropping to Niemann in a surprising upset through the early levels of the August 2022 Sinquefield Cup, Carlsen resigned from the event utterly, and tweeted out a Jose Mourinho meme implying Niemann had cheated.
The accusations took chess message boards and Twitch communities by storm, with viewers within the Chessbrah Twitch chat joking that perhaps Niemann had used anal beads to speak with somebody sending him one of the best strikes from the surface utilizing an AI chess engine. Anal beads turned a working joke, not as a result of there was any proof they had been ever used, however exactly as a result of there was by no means any proof that Niemann ever truly cheated, not to mention how he would have managed to, given the Sinquefield Cup’s strict safety. It even turned the idea for an total episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
It was all enjoyable and video games till Carlsen doubled-down on his allegations in September and Chess.com launched a 72-page report in October accusing Niemann of dishonest in a number of matches performed on the web site. Niemann fired again with a $100 million lawsuit accusing Carlsen of leveraging his “media empire” and partnerships with Chess.com to attempt to get Niemann blacklisted from tournaments and shunned from the skilled chess world.
A federal decide tossed out Niemann’s lawsuit in June, however he tried to attraction the choice and now the 2 sides have settled. While Chess.com stated it stands by its earlier report, it additionally admits that there isn’t any “determinative evidence” that Niemann ever cheated in any in-person video games.
“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,” Niemann stated in an announcement. “I look forward to competing against Magnus in chess rather than in court.”
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