Chess Board May Sanction Russian Grandmaster Who Accused Naroditsky of Cheating

Chess’s international governing body said Wednesday it is considering taking disciplinary action against a Russian former world champion who persistently raised unproven cheating allegations against Daniel Naroditsky in the year before the American grandmaster’s death.

The Charlotte Chess Center in North Carolina, where Naroditsky trained and worked as a coach, announced his death on Monday-. He was 29 years old. The cause of death has not been made public.

Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik, who held the world title for several years in the early 2000s, began accusing the California-born professional of cheating in online chess last October. He continued to share his suspicions on social media over the past year without providing substantial evidence.

Naroditsky, who at age 18 became grandmaster, the highest title in chess other than world chess champion, denied the cheating allegations and accused Kramnik of trying to ruin his life.

Arkady Dvorkovich, president of the International Chess Federation, said Wednesday that he formally forwarded all relevant public statements made by Kramnik before and after Naroditsky’s death to the body’s Ethics and Disciplinary Commission for review. He promised that the federation would take “appropriate action” in any case where public harassment or intimidation is observed.

The agency requires substantial evidence to launch a cheating investigation and can sanction a player who makes unfounded accusations based on emotions or insufficient data, according to its anti-cheating laws. There were no documented reports that the federation investigated Naroditsky.

The News contacted Kramnik on social media Wednesday for comment.

Naroditsky’s accuser was harshly criticized

The investigation comes as several grandmasters, including Hikaru Nakamura and Nihal Sarin, denounced Kramnik’s conduct, saying the Russian professional had harassed Naroditsky and tried to destroy his reputation.

Five-time world chess champion Magnus Carlsen called Kramnik’s relentless pursuit of Naroditsky “appalling.”

During his final livestream on Saturday, Naroditsky told his massive online following that Kramnik’s cheating allegations had taken a toll on him.

“Since Kramnik, I feel like if I start doing well, people assume the worst intentions. The problem is just the lingering effect of it,” Naroditsky said, adding that Kramnik used to be one of his “heroes.”

This is not the first time Kramnik has been accused of harassment. Popular Internet chess server Chess.com shut down Kramnik’s blog on the site in 2023, saying he had used it to spread unfounded accusations about “many dozens of players.”

The following year, Kramnik posted a list of players on social media with the title “Cheat Tuesday” that included Czech grandmaster David Navara. Navara later shared on his blog that Kramnik’s public accusations had led him to consider suicide. Kramnik responded by accusing Navara of defamation.

In June, the federation responded to the players’ public dispute, saying that the way Kramnik presents his arguments “brings a lot of harm to the chess community” and “could be ruinous for the careers and well-being of certain players.” The group invited Kramnik to present details of his approach and statistical data for an official evaluation.

Chess Cheating Allegations Soared During Pandemic

Kramnik’s anti-cheat crusade exploded with the game’s shift to online format during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many elite players swapped the physical chess board for a keyboard to continue playing during lockdown, leading to a surge in popularity of streaming content and the fast-paced online games that Naroditsky excelled at.

Players of this cerebral sport are known to value respectful behavior on the board. But a new level of toxicity has developed in the digital realm, with accusations of cheating becoming more rampant and increasingly difficult to prove. Players now have sophisticated computer schemes at their disposal that could give them an unfair advantage and new ways to profit from their online success.

In blitz and bullet chess, where players have just minutes to finish intense games, experts say top talent often moves with speed and precision on par with a computer. Naroditsky was among the top 25 blitz players in the world and won the US National Blitz Championship in August.

“In recent times, public debate within the chess world has too often gone beyond the limits of what is acceptable, damaging not only people’s reputations but also their own well-being,” Dvorkovich acknowledged on Wednesday. “When this happens, arguments can escalate into harassment, intimidation and personal attacks, a particularly serious concern in the current environment.”

“The chess community has long respected the achievements of GM Vladimir Kramnik, and his contributions to our sport are undeniable,” he continued. “However, the same high standards that accompany great achievements also confer a responsibility to uphold the principles of fairness and respect and to be ambassadors of sport.”

Dvorkovich said the federation will establish an award in Naroditsky’s memory.

Kramnik continued to post about Naroditsky the day his death was announced, calling it a tragedy and speculating about the cause. Kramink wrote on the social platform X that the death “should be investigated by the police.” He wrote Wednesday that he received threats after revealing “public information about the ‘dark side’ of modern chess.”

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