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The first news regarding the lawsuit itself came on November 23rd when the judge assigned to the case, District Judge Ronnie L. White, recused himself from the case citing 28 U.S.Code § 455.
The US Code he refers to is one in which a judge or magistrate may be removed from a case if their impartiality is in question. It most often is in reference to a conflict of interest such as financial interests in the case (a shareholder of a company for example), or other.
(a) Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
It was then re-assigned to Her Honor Audrey G. Fleissig.
On December 2, the legal counsel of the plaintiffs, notably Magnus Carlsen, Chess.com, Danny Rensch, and Hikaru Nakamura filed a 25-page memorandum seeking a summary dismissal with prejudice of the lawsuit, citing irreconcilable flaws such as the inability to properly prove a conspiracy among the plaintiffs.
“It is so plainly without merit that it could have been brought only as a public relations stunt,” lawyers for Chess.com stated in the filing.
Carlsen’s lawyers added, “After years of trying to curate a reputation as the bad boy of chess, Plaintiff Hans Niemann wants to cash in by blaming others for the fallout from his own admitted misconduct.”
While it seems unlikely a dismissal will take place, this sort of maneuvering is standard and was to be expected.
