In the aftermath of grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky’s sudden death at the age of 29, many in the chess world have responded by trying to hold Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik to account. While the details surrounding Naroditsky’s tragic passing remain private to his family, his behaviour in the weeks leading up to his death has prompted many to question whether Kramnik’s public feud with the American GM had any role to play.
Many fans and friends of Naroditsky from the chess world have asked FIDE to hold Kramnik to account for his comments, which have included a tirade against Naroditsky which alleged him of cheating without any basis in evidence. FIDE are finally set to investigate Kramnik’s interactions with Naroditsky, with Magnus Carlsen’s recent comments on the situation playing a big part.
Speaking for the Take Take Take channel, Carlsen delivered a message regarding chess commentator and blitz specialist Naroditsky’s passing. One of the faces of the new wave of online chess due to his online presence, Naroditsky was a much-loved figure, and Carlsen didn’t hesitate from calling out the brutality of Kramnik’s comments against him.
“With the whole Kramnik situation… Obviously I have had problems with him in the past, not like big problems but generally. He thought that he was somebody who had a bit of a better reputation than he deserved for many reasons,” said Carlsen.
“But I did feel from the very start when he was going through some kind of ‘crusade’ against cheating online, I didn’t agree with his numbers. [But] I thought at the end of the day he is kind of fighting the good fight,” explained Carlsen of his own personal impression of Kramnik, a man who was World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006.
‘He started going after Naroditsky so hard…’
“But it turned on its head. First of all, he started to go after Hikaru (Nakamura) which seemed crazy,” explained Carlsen. “He started going after Naroditsky so hard – first of all, I don’t think anybody thought Naroditsky was cheating… I personally in private expressed that I was sorry for what he was going through and supported him,” further explained the Norwegian great. “Probably should have done that publicly as well but I think people can understand some of the reasons I was reluctant to.”
“I thought the way he was going after Naroditsky was horrible. Seeing how it affected him as well, which was apparent now,” explained Carlsen outwardly, a comment which prompted FIDE to take the criticism aimed towards Kramnik seriously.
While the situation surrounding Naroditsky’s death remains uncertain, fans do fear the worst, which has led to a massive outcry against Kramnik. This includes on the behalf of Indian GM Nihal Sarin as well as comments made by Nakamura. FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky informed Reuters that the chess body would be “looking into” Kramnik’s crusade against Naroditsky over the last year.
“I don’t have any more information. I don’t know what happened two days ago so I am not going to speculate on that. But regardless, even long before that it had clearly taken him to a point where he was not in a great space,” concluded Carlsen. “It’s a great loss. It’s very sad for all of us that somebody who was such a resource to the chess community and also had a universally high approval rating from everybody he met was led to the place that he was.”
Kramnik has received massive condemnation for his comments against Naroditsky, particularly on social media, creating extreme amounts of vitriol against the young grandmaster even in the days leading up to his death.
