Vladimir Kramnik Refuses Blame For Chess GM Daniel Naroditsky's Death: 'I Have No Guilt In It'

Last Updated:October 30, 2025, 09:30 IST

Vladimir Kramnik denies blame in Daniel Naroditsky's death, calling social media criticism a PR campaign.

Vladimir Kramnik has been facing immense flak over Daniel Naroditsky's death (Picture credit: AP)

Former World Champion and Russian Grand Master, Vladimir Kramnik, has staunchly refused any blame or guilt in the death of American Grand Master Daniel Naroditsky in October, which is being investigated for a possible suicide or overdose. He labeled the social media fury against him for the regular criticism of Naroditsky as ‘an orchestrated PR campaign’ and threatened to sue those behind it.

Thousands of people have signed a Change.org petition demanding strict action against Kramnik. The petition accused Kramnik of making ‘insensitive and damaging’ remarks about Naroditsky. Kramnik was one of Naroditsky’s biggest critics, regularly using social media to accuse him of wrongdoing in his games.

“It’s completely tragic what happened," he now told Saudi Arabian news outlet Al Arabiya. “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," he said.

Titled #JusticeForDanya, the petition seeks Kramnik’s suspension, a probe under FIDE’s Ethics Code, and even revocation of his titles if found guilty.

“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 added.

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich has since confirmed an investigation into Kramnik’s public comments, acknowledging his contributions but warning that recent online debates have crossed ethical and moral boundaries.

My accusations weren’t baseless: Kramnik 

Kramnik said he never ‘accused’ Naroditsky and described his comments as ‘very argumentized suspicion’.

“I never accused Daniel of cheating," Kramnik said. “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."

“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," he added.

Top players like Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Nihal Sarin have previously condemned Kramnik’s conduct, calling his treatment of Naroditsky ‘horrible’ and ‘deeply damaging.’

News sports Kramnik Refuses Blame For Chess GM Naroditsky's Death: 'I Have No Guilt In It'

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