Vladimir Kramnik has hit back at his critics, denying responsibility for the death of American GM Daniel Naroditsky. In an interview with Al Arabiya, the former world champion claimed that he never accused Naroditsky of cheating, and ended up slamming FIDE, Chess.com for denying his observations, where he pointed out anomalies.
The 50-year-old has been facing criticism lately from fans and chess players. The likes of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin have accused him of bullying Naroditsky with his cheating accusations, which began in October 2024.
Vladimir Kramnik drops verdict on Daniel Naroditsky cheating allegations
Kramnik accused Naroditsky of cheating in online chess. Naroditsky was found dead at his home on 19 October, and since then, the backlash has been heavy on Kramnik. “I never accused Daniel of cheating,” said Kramnik
“What I did, I collected very, very serious material and I will stand by it and prove it in any commission or whatever is needed, that it definitely shows it has to be examined. There are many strange things that needs to be examined. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen and instead of examining it and giving an opinion, I started from the very beginning being accused of misconduct and accusation, but it’s not an accusation, it’s a suspicion, very very argumentized suspicion and I can again guarantee that there are lot of evidence and it has to be considered.”
Most of the criticism has slammed Kramnik for affected Naroditsky’s mental health. Meanwhile, Naroditsky himself claimed in a podcast in 2024 that it took a tremendous toll on his mental health. In his last strema in October 17, he looked distressed and addressed Kramnik’s accusations.
Kramnik’s cheating allegations against Naroditsky are being labelled as baseless by many. Kramnik said, “It was not an accusation, not a baseless accusation as they pretend, and that would be the basis of my legal case. I said many times it’s not an accusation and I asked many times to consider it, but it didn’t happen and that’s one of the main reasons this very sad tragedy occurred.”
“It’s completely tragic what happened. It’s shocking and heartbreaking for me also because of the especially circumstances, which probably we will touch later in this conversation, but I have no guilt in it, and this attempts, this very dirty, very organised, orchestrated PR campaign, which is happening now against me, is what will be a cause of many different cases, criminal and civil cases, which we are now preparing with my legal team. And so I can only say we will meet in court, and I’m sure that the court will understand, will see real facts, not PR, but real facts, and I have a lot of documents, facts,” he added.
