ST. LOUIS — A defamation suit filed by a chess player who had been accused of cheating at a St. Louis tournament has been dismissed. It had sought more than $100 million.
A federal judge, Audrey Fleissig, with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, on Tuesday dismissed the suit, which had been filed by 20-year-old Hans Niemann.
Niemann filed the suit in October 2022 as he faced mounting allegations of cheating, which initially surfaced after he defeated the top player in the world, Magnus Carlsen, in September in St. Louis during the Sinquefield Cup, one of six events that make up the 2022 Grand Chess Tour. The allegations deepened in October when online chess website Chess.com released a report that alleged Niemann “likely cheated” in 100-plus games played on its online platform, according to the Washington Post. Niemann sued Carlsen, his firm Play Magnus Group and Chess.com LLC, alleging they and others defamed him since he did not cheat.
Read the full story on the St. Louis Business Journal's website.