Chess war escalates: Kramnik drags chess.com & GM David Navara to court over ‘slander’ claim

Civil defamation/slander case against @chesscom @chessdom and personally Mr. Navara registered today in Tribunal de Geneve

Penal (Criminal) case takes little more time to open, but definitely coming pic.twitter.com/8Az5ST1Em8

— Vladimir Kramnik (@VBkramnik) June 24, 2025

This comes as a result of a long-standing feud between Kramnik and the rest of the stakeholders.

To give some context, Navara wrote an open letter on 23 May, earlier this year, in response to cheating insinuations and allegations from Kramnik, where the Russian GM had accused Navara of cheating in chess. In that letter titled “Because we care“, Navara wrote how he lost sleep after reading the comments from Kramnik and went into depression and had to take professional help from a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist.

“After reading comments I got very depressed. I had to contact a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist soon after reading GM Vladimir’s tweet, as it put me completely out of balance,“ Navara wrote in that open letter.

“I was shocked and angry. My sleep and concentration were affected heavily. I quickly wrote to FIDE, sending them a complaint against GM Vladimir. I believed (and still believe) that GM Kramnik’s tweet was clearly wrong, and therefore wanted to react quickly and resolutely. This was perhaps a mistake, as I should have consulted a lawyer before taking action, to learn about the legal aspects first,“ he added.

In this response, the former World Champion said, “I would kindly ask GM Navara to file official complaint or start a legal case, if he wants. Or stop this shaming blaming campaign.”

He then threatened Navara that a similar public statement would lead to league consequences. “Next similar public statement of David would lead to legal consequences otherwise,” wrote the Russian.

I hope everything clear pic.twitter.com/2MZx2rtYnm

— Vladimir Kramnik (@VBkramnik) May 23, 2025

The feud between chess.com and Kramnik goes back a long way, where the Russian was banned from the platform after he repeatedly accused other players of cheating publicly, violating the platform’s terms of service.

Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov came in support for Navara and said Kramnik has crossed the line. He wrote on X, “I lost respect for Mr. Kramnik’s actions some time ago but this lawsuit against respected colleagues crosses a line. I don’t know a single colleague who takes his so-called statistical analysis seriously, and the only “misconduct” of David Navara—and the others—was to call a spade a spade.

I lost respect for Mr. Kramnik’s actions some time ago but this lawsuit against respected colleagues crosses a line. I don’t know a single colleague who takes his so-called statistical analysis seriously, and the only “misconduct” of David Navara—and the others—was to call a… https://t.co/0dvSdl39Wr

— Pavel Eljanov (@Eljanov) June 24, 2025

“David is one of the most honest and principled people in the chess world and he deserves full support, not legal actions. I sincerely hope that more colleagues will find the courage to speak up, instead of staying silent as they often do,” wrote Eljanov.