The International Chess Federation (FIDE) said Tuesday it filed a complaint against former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik after he made unproven cheating accusations against fellow players, including American grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, who died last month at 29.
FIDE said the complaint concerns harassment and “the insulting of an individual’s dignity.” Naroditsky’s cause of death has not been released.
Kramnik accused Naroditsky of cheating last year and continued to post his suspicions on social media. Naroditsky, a prodigious player who helped popularize chess online through instructional YouTube videos and livestreams, denied the allegations.
In his final livestream before his death, Naroditsky said Kramnik’s claims had affected him. “Ever since the Kramnik stuff, I feel like if I start doing well, people assume the worst of intentions. The issue is just the lingering effect of it,” he said.
Other grandmasters, including Hikaru Nakamura and Nihal Sarin, criticized Kramnik’s conduct, saying he had harassed Naroditsky. Kramnik did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent through his GoFundMe page for an anti-cheating campaign; he previously called FIDE’s inquiry “insulting and unfair.”
The complaint, lodged with the FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission, outlines a “pattern of conduct over roughly two years” related to alleged harassment. It cites testimony from Czech grandmaster David Navara, whom Kramnik also accused of cheating, and from “people close to Daniel Naroditsky.”
Under FIDE’s anti-cheating rules, a player may be sanctioned for making unfounded accusations based on emotion or insufficient evidence; the federation also requires substantial proof before opening a cheating investigation. FIDE said there were no documented records of an investigation into Naroditsky.
FIDE had earlier referred Kramnik’s statements, made before and after Naroditsky’s death, to its ethics commission. Tuesday’s announcement marks the formal submission of the complaint.
