Chess Grandmasters Vladimir Kramnik (left) and José Martínez Alcántara face off on the World Chess Conflict of Blames event on Aug. 19, 2024, in London. The Worldwide Chess Federation mentioned Wednesday it’s investigating Kramnik for allegations of dishonest he levied at Daniel Naroditsky and different elite gamers.
Antony Jones/Getty Photographs for World Chess
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Antony Jones/Getty Photographs for World Chess
The Worldwide Chess Federation is investigating a Russian grandmaster for allegations of dishonest he levied at fellow elite gamers, together with 29-year-old U.S. grandmaster and YouTube sensation Daniel Naroditsky, who died earlier this week.
The world governing physique for chess, often called FIDE, mentioned Wednesday that it was wanting into statements Vladimir Kramnik made “each earlier than and after the tragic dying of GM Daniel Naroditsky” to find out if the Russian chess legend ought to undergo disciplinary actions.
“In current occasions, public debate inside the chess world has too typically moved past the boundaries of acceptable, harming not solely individuals’s status however their very well-being,” FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich mentioned in a statement on the group’s web site.
“When this occurs, discussions can flip into harassment, bullying, and private assaults — a very critical concern in at present’s setting,” Dvorkovich added.
FIDE didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark detailing the steps of the investigation and what attainable disciplinary motion is perhaps taken.
The information of Naroditsky’s death rocked the chess group and left lots of his followers and supporters in search of solutions.
The Charlotte Chess Middle in North Carolina, the place Naroditsky labored as a coach, didn’t instantly disclose a reason behind dying.
Naroditsky was remembered by his friends as a participant of immense ability who remained humble regardless of his abilities.
Along with coaching different gamers, Naroditsky ran profitable YouTube and Twitch accounts the place he grew a fandom of fellow chess lovers and launched the sport to a brand new technology of gamers.
In what gave the impression to be his final stream on Twitch final week, Naroditsky appeared at occasions agitated and irritable as he described the stress that the Kramnik accusations had prompted him. He defined why he felt the necessity to counter the Russian participant’s public dispersions.
“And you already know, then there’s after all individuals who will likely be like, ‘OK, certain, no matter, however how does that impression your livelihood? … Even when some GM [grandmaster] will assume this like who cares?,’ ” Naroditsky mentioned on the stream.
“That’s surprising to me as nicely as a result of that actually is what a legacy is. That’s all I’ve,” he mentioned.
“If I knew that a number of the most influential movers and shakers of the chess world, you already know, would carry the notion that I’m a totally morally bankrupt particular person, that might symbolize the entire failure of actually every thing … my motive for waking up within the morning,” Naroditsky mentioned.
On social media, Kramnik, a former world champion who is taken into account one of many all-time greats, described what he referred to as the FIDE’s “insulting and unfair” “marketing campaign” in opposition to him.
Naroditsky is just not the primary participant to get ensnared in battle with the Russian chess large. The 50-year-old Kramnik has baselessly accused a number of of his youthful opponents of dishonest, leading to his account on the favored website chess.com being muted in 2023.
In a collection of ranting posts on social media on Wednesday, Kramnik doubled down on his accusations, writing: “From outstanding gamers, you all know their names, however is not going to [disclose] it in public … #chessmafia should be held accountable.”
Kramnik wrote that Naroditsky supporters had been “falsely blaming” him for the chess streamer’s dying and threatened authorized motion in opposition to individuals concerned in making these claims.
With out citing any proof, Kramnik alleged there have been efforts to hide the “actual fact concerning the [circumstances] and reason behind this [tragedy].”
To honor Naroditsky’s reminiscence, FIDE introduced this week it might establish a special prize in his identify.
