Still recovering from Daniel Naroditsky’s sudden death, chess fans and players have been left shellshocked. The 29-year-old American GM was less than a month short of his 30th birthday, and was one of the most popular figures in the chess fraternity due to his playing skills, commentating and streaming. Members of the chess fraternity have also been left enraged by Vladimir Kramnik’s distasteful behaviour towards Naroditsky.
The former World Champion has accused Naroditsky of cheating in online chess without substantial evidence from October 2024 onwards for over a year. On a podcast held by Fabiano Caruana and Cristian Chirila in 2024, Naroditsky also openly claimed that Kramnik’s accusations took a tremendous toll on his mental health.
In his last live stream, Naroditsky fell asleep while playing and also discussed Kramnik’s accusations. In response, Kramnik tweeted, “Typical nowadays [in the] world of chess, the only thing everyone cares about is ‘looking great’ and pretending there are no issues. Even if it’s about long-term major problems. Stop this double-faced hypocrisy for once and try to help solve them. Image isn’t everything.”
Later, he remarked on X, “Got the stream episodes. Not a doctor but looks like something ‘very else’ than sleeping pills. Hope, if any, real friends of him will care.”
Since Naroditsky’s death, a petition has gone live on change.org requesting that FIDE ban Vladimir Kramnik and revoke his titles/norms, as per the FIDE ethics standards.
The petition also claims that FIDE and its CEO Emil Sutovsky have remained silent over the issue, and that the FIDE website doesn’t even have the news of Naroditsky’s passing.
The petition also asks for the town hall in Asnieres-sur-Seine (France) to change the name of a street called “Rue Vladimir Kramnik” to “Rue Daniel Naroditsky”.
The petition also asks for thre resignation of FIDE CEO Sutovsky. The petition states, “After the post in response to Daniel’s passing, we should also call for the resignation/removal of the sitting CEO of FIDE Emil Sutovsky.”
The petition also slams the FIDE CEO’s tweet on Naroditsky’s death, calling it ‘vile, disgusting and cruel’.
Here is Sutovsky’s tweet:
The petition also claims, “Between October 19 and October 20, 2025, Vladimir Kramnik published several posts on social media questioning the circumstances of Daniel Naroditsky’s passing, suggesting unfounded and conspiratorial explanations, and attacking/disparaging Daniel, his friends, his family, etc.”
“These comments—shared publicly and coming immediately upon the revelation of his passing—show a clear disregard for decency, compassion, and professionalism. In doing so, Mr. Kramnik caused harm not only to the memory of a beloved grandmaster but also to the emotional well-being of the chess community, fans, and the family of the deceased.”
Since going live, the petition has received more than 12,000 signatures, and as of October 24, 11:00 PM IST, it had 14,864 signatures.
