A Norwegian world champion and the American prodigy who unexpectedly defeated him have settled a year-long dispute that rocked the chess world.
Magnus Carlsen accused Hans Niemann of foul play after losing the Sinquefield Cup in September 2022.
Niemann sued his rival, the online platform Chess.com, and a second grandmaster for defamation.
Chess.com now says the dispute is resolved, Niemann’s account has been reinstated, and Carlsen has accepted there was no cheating.
The settlement seeks to end a year of recriminations and unsubstantiated claims that began when Carlsen, the world number one, said Niemann, then 19, had cheated to beat him at the tournament in St. Louis, Missouri..
Niemann admitted that he had cheated twice in online games on Chess.com when he was 12 and 16, but denied cheating in the Sinquefield Cup or any land-based games.
The website had suspended his account after his admission and later said in a report that it had evidence that he had “probably” cheated in around 100 matches online.
Crucially though, the same report said that he had found no evidence of tournament cheating against Carlsen.
The allegations led to outlandish speculation on social media about how Niemann may have cheated in person. Theories included tiny microphones and even the use of items that could be embedded in the body and transmit coded instructions.
Niemann last October filed a libel suit claiming US$100 million against Carlsen., Chess.com and Hikaru Nakamuraan American grandmaster who repeatedly stated his conviction that Niemann had cheated.
The case was later dismissed, leading to out-of-court discussions to resolve the matter.
a private agreement
“Since June, both sides have negotiated privately in a good faith effort to resolve their issues and allow the chess world to move forward without further litigation,” Chess.com said in a statement on Monday.
“We are happy to report that all parties have reached an agreement.”
The message added that Niemann will be welcome to play in “any event…and will not be treated any differently than any other player.”
The platform said it stood by its report on Niemann, “including that we found no conclusive evidence that he cheated in any in-person game.”
Carlsen, 32, said he recognized and understood the report, “including its assertion that there is no conclusive evidence” of wrongdoing by his rival.
He added that he was “willing to play Niemann at future events, should we ever play against each other.”
Niemann said that he was “glad” that his lawsuit had been “resolved in a mutually agreeable manner” and that he looked forward to “competing against Magnus in chess rather than in court.”
Meanwhile, Nakamura said in a YouTube vlog that he was glad the chess world had “moved on“.
“It’s good that we put this behind us. A lot of things that came out of this were very negative and definitely reflected very badly on chess as a whole,” he said.
“Now everyone can get on with their lives.”
However, he stated that there were “a lot of grandmasters who are speculating about cheating. Later he could give names or not. I might talk about it in the future.”
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BBC-NEWS-SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/cn37z91zvn0o, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-08-29 22:20:08
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