‘Kramnik 2.0 in the works’: Nepo lambasted for ‘complaints’ after loss

India's Grandmaster (GM) Diptayan Ghosh pulled off the biggest upset of the ongoing World Chess Cup, stunning former world championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia in the second game of their second-round clash on Wednesday.

Playing with the black pieces, the Indian grandmaster capitalised on his opponent’s erratic play and sealed a famous win. Ghosh took control early in the middlegame after Nepomniachtchi blundered a simple tactic, losing a pawn — an error that proved decisive. The Indian converted the advantage flawlessly in a rook-and-pawn endgame, leaving the Russian with no counterplay. “This is certainly the biggest victory of my chess career, beating Nepo in a match,” Ghosh said after the win.However, it was Nepomniachtchi’s reaction online that drew attention later. In a Telegram post after the defeat, he wrote in Russian: “I'd played in India before (in 2019 in Kolkata), so I had a general idea of what the conditions would be like. But FIDE, to their credit, managed to surprise me. There's nothing to say about the chess aspect. It's one of those places you won't regret leaving.”The remarks sparked a flurry of criticism from fans across social media.

“I literally predicted this when he was losing that he would definitely complain about something,” one user wrote on Reddit. Another added, “Kramnik 2.0 in the works, mark my word Ian gonna go full lunatic in 10 years.”Others were equally scathing: “Complains about ‘conditions’ but never specifying what,” one comment read. Another user wrote, “It’s one thing to complain beforehand, but doing this right after losing is just bitterness.”Meanwhile, several other Indian players, including P Harikrishna, Arjun Erigaisi, and D Gukesh, also advanced in their respective matches, marking a strong showing for India at the World Cup.