Chess Prodigy Sues For $100m After Being Accused Of Cheating With Anal Beads

American teenage chess prodigy accused of cheating with vibrating “anal beads” is suing for $100 million — claiming he was defamed by his opponent and a major gaming institution, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.

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In court papers, filed in Missouri, he claims that 31-year-old Magnus Carlsen, who he describes as the self-styled 'King of Chess', was fearful that the teenager would blemish his multi-billion dollar brand after beating him in September.

Weeks after the defeat, Chess.com released a report claiming Niemann had 'likely cheated' in hundreds of games. 

Niemann, 19, denied the accusations, saying that he only cheated twice in his life - at the age of 12 and 16 - and that both infractions were some of the greatest regrets of his life. 

Grand Chess Tour

Carlsen allegedly took to Twitter shortly after his defeat on Sept. 4, to spread “false accusations” that Niemann had cheated despite not having any evidence, according to the federal lawsuit, filed in Missouri.

The chess world exploded into such an uproar that Niemann began to face wild rumors he had used technology to cheat — including the claims he’d used anal beads to signal winning moves during the match.

After Carlsen had been beaten by Niemann they met at a rematch on September 19. However, Carlsen resigned from the match after one move, fuelling the rumors against Niemann. Carlsen then formally accused Niemann of cheating on September 26, saying “Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted.”

On October 6 at the US Chess Championships in St. Louis, an official even used a metal detector to inspect Niemann’s rear as he entered the tournament.

St Louis Chess Club

Carlsen’s tweet — a video of a soccer manager saying “If I speak, I am in big trouble” — only hinted at his opponent cheating, but led Chess.com to revoke Niemann’s invitation to its renowned Global Championship.

“[The] defamation and unlawful collusion has, by design, destroyed Niemann’s remarkable career in its prime and ruined his life,” the suit declares.

St Louis Chess Club

The lawsuit doesn’t specifically mention the anal bead cheating allegations —  but notes that some of “the world’s foremost experts in cheat detection, have uniformly confirmed that there is no evidence” Niemann cheated in any games against Carlsen.

The sex toy cheating rumors started with another chess grandmaster, Eric Hansen, who jokingly suggested Niemann must have had someone sending him vibrating signals through a wireless device in his butt on an online forum, and it quickly spread from there.

Reuters

Niemann’s lawsuit also names Carlsen’s chess training firm Play Magnus and the Japanese-American chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura as defendants for allegedly playing a role in the defamation.

“Carlsen unleashed his media empire to fan the flames of [his] cheating accusations, drown out the legitimate evidence refuting them [and] blacklist Niemann from top-level chess tournaments,” the suit states.

Niemann tweeted on Friday (October 21): “My lawsuit speaks for itself.”

The lawsuit states: “Niemann is a 19-year-old, self-taught chess prodigy.

“He brings this action to recover from the devastating damages that Defendants have inflicted upon his reputation, career, and life by egregiously defaming him and unlawfully colluding to blacklist him from the profession in which he has dedicated his life.”

The US chess star has always maintained his innocence and even went as far as claiming he’d play naked to prove he's good at chess.

Niemann’s attorneys Terrence Oved and Darren Oved said: “This is not a game. Defendants have destroyed Niemann’s life simply because he had the talent, dedication and audacity to defeat the so-called ‘King of Chess.’ We will hold defendants fully accountable and expose the truth.”