Nihal Sarin drops bombshell after Vladimir Kramnik faces heat over Daniel Naroditsky’s death: 'Literally taken a life'

American Grandmaster and popular commentator Daniel Naroditsky's sudden demise at the age of 29 has left the chess world stunned and led to an outpouring of tributes from some of the biggest icons of the sport, including Indian legend Viswanathan Anand as well as world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura.

Vladimir Kramnik, however, finds himself making headlines for the wrong reasons. The Russian chess icon, after all, suggested that Naroditsky, a child prodigy, was under the influence of "some serious drugs" and was also being targeted by the "chess mafia" in a controversial social media post on Tuesday.

The incendiary post on Naroditsky, known popularly as ‘Danya’ in the chess world, was seen by some members of the chess community as Kramnik’s attempt to deflect blame away from himself with regards to the American GM’s untimely demise. The 50-year-old, after all, had accused Naroditsky of cheating in online games by consulting a chess engine using a second screen, a charge that the American GM had repeatedly denied.

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Naroditsky had later hit back at Kramnik over the cheating allegation by labeling him "worse than dirt" while admitting that the accusation as well as the vitriol that he had faced on social media had affected him mentally.

Sarin accuses Kramnik for Naroditsky’s demise

Supporting Naroditsky’s statement on Kramnik is Indian GM Nihal Sarin, who accused the veteran Russian GM of “taking a life”. Sarin also recalled a conversation with Naroditsky shortly before the latter’s demise, revealing how Kramnik’s “baseless accusations” had put him under “immense stress”.

“He has kind of literally taken a life,” Sarin, who was the last player Naroditsky faced on popular platform Chess.com, told The Indian Express.

“His last games were against me. That day, we played a bit in the morning and then there were our last games at night. We were also talking about a few things. He said he was under immense stress due to a lot of baseless accusations — headed by Kramnik, of course.

“Apparently, unfortunately, quite a few others also seem to have joined in… I can totally imagine the pain he was going through and it has been going on for a very long time. I had thought he’s a very strong guy. I didn’t think he would get affected so easily,” he added.

‘Knew Kramnik would come after me’

Sarin, like Naroditsky, acknowledged Kramnik’s greatness as a chess player, with the latter having defeated fellow Russian chess icon Garry Kasparov to be crowned the PCA Classical World Champion and winning the FIDE World Championship later in his career.

The 21-year-old Indian GM, however, added that his greatness did not justify the harm that he was causing to the sport and its players with his controversial statements. Sarin also revealed that Kramnik tried to frame him too, but the support that he received from his friends and coaches shielded him.

“He’s a great player, a world champion… He gave a lot to chess. He’s one of the greatest players of all time, without any doubt. But these days, the harm he’s causing…

“Fortunately for me, my friends, coaches, they immediately defended me. I had quite a bit of a support system. Unfortunately, Naroditsky was not having that… I was aware that I had some really good results. I was kind of waiting for it. I knew Kramnik would come after me someday,” he added.