Former Chess Champ Faces Bullying Complaint

Chess's international governing body said Tuesday that it filed a complaint against former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik after he leveled unproven allegations of cheating against fellow players, including Daniel Naroditsky, who died last month at age 29. The complaint centers on harassment and "the insulting of an individual's dignity," said the International Chess Federation, known by the acronym FIDE, in a news release. Naroditsky's cause of death has not been made public. Police said last month it was being investigated as a possible suicide, NBC News reports. Kramnik accused Naroditsky, an American grandmaster, of cheating last year and continued to share suspicions on social media.

Naroditsky, a prodigious chess player who helped usher in the game's online boom with educational YouTube videos and livestreams, denied the allegations. In his last livestream before his death, Naroditsky said that Kramnik's allegations had taken a toll on him, the AP reports. "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," Naroditsky said. Last month, grandmaster Oleksandr Bortnyk said he found Naroditsky dead in his Charlotte, North Carolina home, NBC reports. He said his friend had been "very sad" about the Kramik situatio, adding that he "never f------ cheated in his life."

Other chess grandmasters, including Hikaru Nakamura and Nihal Sarin, have called out Kramnik's conduct, saying the Russian player had harassed Naroditsky. Kramnik has called the federation's investigation "insulting and unfair."

• The complaint, submitted to the FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission, describes a "pattern of conduct over roughly two years" related to possible harassment, read the federation's statement. It includes testimony provided by Czech grandmaster David Navara, whom Kramnik also accused of cheating, and "people close to Daniel Naroditsky."
• The federation may sanction a player who makes unfounded accusations based on emotion or insufficient data, according to its anti-cheating laws. It also requires substantial evidence to launch a cheating investigation. There were no documented reports of the federation investigating Naroditsky. The governing body previously said it had referred Kramnik's statements, before and after Naroditsky's death, to the ethics commission. Tuesday's announcement is the formal submission of a complaint.