Kramnik refuses to take blame for Naroditsky’s death, accuses FIDE and Chess.com of negligence: ‘I never accused Naroditsky of cheating’

Former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik has said he cannot be held responsible for the death of the American Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky as he “never accused” him of cheating, but pointed out anomalies that highlighted wrongdoing which FIDE or Chess.com chose to ignore. The Russian chess great, Kramnik, added that he feels “no guilt” for the sudden death of Naroditsky as it was “not his fault.”

Kramnik has been facing intense criticism from top players, including world No 1 Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, who have accused him of bullying Naroditsky by making unfounded cheating allegations in 2024. Kramnik had claimed that Naroditsky was using a second screen while playing online chess matches.

The 29-year-old Naroditsky was found dead at his home on 19 October after a marathon livestream. Local police reportedly feel that Naroditsky died either by suicide or drug overdose. Interestingly, he had spoken about the cheating allegations against him in his last livestream as well.

More from Chess

Gukesh hits bottom as Carlsen storms back to lead Clutch Chess Champions Showdown 2025: ‘I just wasn't sharp enough’ ‘When you play well, it’s always fun’: D Gukesh on leading world’s top players at Clutch Chess Champions Showdown

Kramnik blades FIDE, Chess.com for Naroditsky’s death

Defending himself in an interview with Al Arabiya. Kramnik said that he never made any cheating allegations against Naroditsky, but shared observations that pointed towards malpractices in online games, and that needed to be addressed by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and Chess.com (the most popular website hosting the majority of online games).

“I never accused Daniel of cheating,” Kramnik told Al Arabiya. “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.”

Kramnik added that his allegations were not “baseless,” but the lack of action from the authorities has led to Naroditsky’s death.

“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.”

Kramnik says he doesn’t feel ‘guilty’ for Naroditsky’s death

Expressing sadness at Naroditsky’s death, Kramnik said he doesn’t feel he is guilty for the unfortunate episode as what the “orchestrated PR campaign” would want many to believe.

“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.”

Kramnik also highlighted that he had provided all the important information to FIDE and Chess.com, but they ignored it, leading to disaster.

“We lost a brilliant person, a very young player,’ Kramnik said. “But it was not my fault. I was not hiding away. I was always responsible with my words, and I can always prove my words.”