Daniel Naroditsky death: Vladimir Kramnik threatens legal action amid backlash; ‘I have never…’
Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik faces backlash after Daniel Naroditsky’s death, following past cheating claims; he threatens legal action over harassment.
Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik sparked a row after American grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky's death for insinuating that the latter was unstable in his last stream. Since then, the former World Champion has faced attacks from many prominent names in world chess, as the community mourned Naroditsky's death.
Amid the backlash, the Russian issued a statement in which he further clarified his comments, accusing critics of a "cynical and unlawful campaign of harassment against me and my family." He has also threatened to sue certain "public figures" for their "provocative statements," which sometimes escalated to "blatantly false and criminal accusations against me and my family."
After a statement from Daniel Naroditsky confirmed the 19-year-old's death, chess followers dragged Vladimir Kramnik into the controversy over their feud on fair play in chess. Notably, back in 2024, Kramnik had accused Naroditsky of cheating in online chess and ran a campaign around the accusations, which still remains active.
In response to the allegations made by the followers of the popular chess streamer, Kramnik shared a screenshot of a text exchange in which a chess fan purportedly told him Naroditsky was "unstable" in his last streams. The user, whom Kramnik described as a "friend and a Chess fan," speculated in the texts that there could be drugs or foul play involved in Naroditsky's death.
Notably, the authorities in the United States are investigating Daniel Naroditsky's death as a possible suicide or a case of drug overdose. As of now, nothing conclusive has been made public on what caused Naroditsky's death. Referring to it, Kramnik says that we welcome the probe and will cooperate with the authorities with "some important non-public information at my disposal."
"Finally, with full responsibility, I want to state that I am in a good physical and mental condition and under no circumstances am I planning to take my own life," Kramnik added.
Here's the full statement:
Backlash Against Vladimir Kramnik Amid Allegations
Vladimir Kramnik's comments in the aftermath of Daniel Naroditsky's death sparked backlash in the chess community, with the former World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, calling Kramnik's accusations "horrible."
“He started going after Naroditsky so hard – first of all, I don’t think anybody thought Naroditsky was cheating… I personally in private expressed that I was sorry for what he was going through and supported him,” Carlsen said.
“Probably should have done that publicly as well but I think people can understand some of the reasons I was reluctant to.”
Hikaru Nakamura, the top-rated chess player in the United States who was also accused by Kramnik of cheating briefly, also reacted to the news, calling it "disgusting". Indian GM Nikal Sarin, meanwhile, accused Kramnik of “taking a life.”
