Tragic death of chess player Naroditsky sparks conspiracy theories and reproach

Many chess players, led by world number one Magnus Carlsen, have linked the sudden death of U.S. grandmaster and commentator Daniel Naroditsky last Monday at age 29 to the attacks from Russian former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who had been accusing Naroditsky of cheating since 2024.

Kramnik, however, has denied the allegations he was in any way responsible for Naroditsky’s death. ″This tragic event has become an opportunity for some to exploit it for their own interests and to launch an unprecedentedly cynical and unlawful campaign of harassment against me and my family," he wrote in a statement released Saturday.

The statement comes after Carlsen strongly criticized Kramnik’s treatment of Naroditsky. “[Kramnik] 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. Probably should have done that publicly as well. The way he was going after Naroditsky was horrible," said Carlsen, who has yet to publicly apologize for his 2022 cheating accusations against another U.S. player, Hans Niemann, which ended in an out-of-court settlement.

Following Naroditsky’s death, Arkady Dvorkovich, president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE, which has 201 member countries), said he had warned Kramnik about his actions. “Other people and I tried to convince Vlad [Kramnik] to change the tone and approach [of his accusations against Naroditsky],” he told EL PAÍS.

Last Wednesday, Dvorkovich also released an official statement on the case: “Human life and dignity are fundamental values shared by all of us. […]. In recent times, public debate within the chess world has too often moved beyond the boundaries of acceptable, harming not only people’s reputation but their very well-being."

“The chess community has long respected the achievements of GM Vladimir Kramnik, and his contributions to our sport are undeniable,” the statement continued. “The same high standards that accompany great achievements, however, also confer a responsibility to uphold the principles of fairness and respect and to be ambassadors for the sport.”

Dvorkovich concluded: “Therefore, I, along with the FIDE Management Board, will formally refer all relevant public statements made by GM Vladimir Kramnik — both before and after the tragic death of GM Daniel Naroditsky — to the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission for independent consideration.”

Far from admitting any responsibility, Kramnik argued he had “never made any personal attack or insult towards Daniel Naroditsky.” In his statement, the Russian player said: “Despite the tensions in our relationship, I was the only person in the chess community who, noticing on video Daniel’s obvious health issues a day before his death, publicly called for him to receive help.”

“The subsequent attempts, immediately following his passing, to directly link this tragic event to my name-especially in light of this fact-cross all boundaries of basic human morality, in my view,” he added.

Last week, Kramnik also denied any wrongdoing on X, and suggested a conspiracy may be behind Naroditsky’s death. “Without a doubt, this recent tradegy should be investigated by police, there are too many huge financial interests involved to be sure about it being just an incident. I am ready to provide all information required,” he posted last Wednesday.

That same day, he also shared: “Once I started to reveal in public information about the ‘dark side’ of modern chess, I became a subject of the dirtiest possible orchestrated PR campaign, including several documented murder threats, in addition to continues defamation. I have collected extensive material.”

And on Thursday, he stated that he had contacted the Charlotte police (where Naroditsky lived and died) to request an investigation.

For over a year, Naroditsky engaged with Kramnik’s claims and provided any evidence he could think of — for example, scanning every detail of the room where he played online games to show that he was not cheating — in an attempt to prove his innocence. On Saturday, October 18, in his final Twitch video (now deleted), he repeatedly spoke about Kramnik while clearly showing over two and a half hours that he was not feeling well.

Among the many signs that Naroditsky was deeply affected by Kramnik’s accusations is a YouTube interview on October 27, 2024 (C-Squared channel), conducted by grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Cristian Chirila, in which Naroditsky said:

“This is a sustained and evil and absolutely unhinged attempt to destroy my life. I’m tired of mincing words at this point. He’s trying to ruin my life. He’s trying to inflict emotional harm, physical harm on me. He knows exactly what he’s doing. This is one of the most wicked people that I’ve ever dealt with.”

Leontxo García, in addition to being a contributor to EL PAÍS since 1985, is also an advisor to FIDE on educational chess.

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