During the Sinquefield Cup in September 2022, a controversy arose involving the chess grandmasters Magnus Carlsen, then world champion, … See more

As of 2022, Carlsen was the No. 1 rated player at the time and World Chess Champion. In July 2022, Carlsen announced he would not defend his … See more

On September 4, 2022, in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup, Niemann defeated Carlsen with the black pieces, playing the Nimzo-Indian Defence. His live rating surpassed 2700 for the first time with this win. Slate described the result as a "shocking upset" … See more

On September 19, 2022, Carlsen was again scheduled to play Niemann in the Julius Baer Generation Cup, an online tournament hosted by chess24 that was part of the Champions Chess Tour. He began the match, made one move against Niemann, then See more

Grandmaster and streamer Hikaru Nakamura said he believed Carlsen had likely suspected Niemann of cheating, claiming that Niemann had previously been banned from Chess.com for cheating in online chess games. Levon Aronian, a grandmaster who … See more

Chess.com report
On September 29, 2022, Allebest stated on Reddit that Chess.com was investigating Niemann's cheating with a "complete timeline" and all of the "facts and reasons" for their decisions. On October 1, Rensch … See more

On October 20, 2022, Niemann filed a federal lawsuit in Missouri against Carlsen, his company Play Magnus Group, Chess.com, Rensch, and Nakamura. In his suit, Niemann's lawyers claimed he had been subject to defamation and unlawful See more