Many prominent figures in the chess world have taken to social media in a call for Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik to be permanently banned following comments he made about and alleged harassment of 29-year-old Daniel Naroditsky, who passed away on Monday.
The chess world is seemingly never short of controversy, yet most of the community were united in grief after it was revealed that Daniel Naroditsky had tragically died earlier this week.
Naroditsky had become a Grandmaster at just 18-years-old, and grew a sizeable audience as an influencer and streamer in the chess community. He was unfortunately plagued in recent times with countless allegations of cheating, particularly from world champion Vladimir Kramnik.
As reported by Dexerto, Naroditsky's last stream saw him share his concerns regarding the allegations, although that still didn't stop Kramnik from continuing to place a target on his back.
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"Typical nowadays [in the] world of chess, the only thing everyone cares about is 'looking great' and pretending there are no issues," declared Kramnik after Naroditsky fell asleep in the middle of the broadcast, adding: "Even if it's about long-term major problems. Stop this double-faced hypocrisy and try to help solve them. Image isn't everything."
Only the morning after it was revealed that Naroditsky had passed away, and many mourned this tragic loss of life. World ranked #2 Hikaru Nakamura wrote on X that he was "devastated" to learn the news of Naroditsky's death, adding that it is "a massive loss for the world of chess."
However, Kramnik added his own now-controversial reaction, writing: "Too high price paid, but if I was the only person shouting about obvious long term problems of Danya becoming alarming, requiring urgent measures from people around, while 'friends' only cared about hiding it and erase evidence, it's rotten to the core."
He was slammed in the post's replies, with one user writing that it's "not a time to blame anyone now," and another adding: "Where is the 'rest in peace'? A person died, do you care? Forget about chess for a moment, we lost a soul."
It has also escalated to the point where other players are calling for Kramnik to be permanently banned from FIDE, alongside other punishments for his conduct before and after Naroditsky's death.
Grandmaster and influencer Nemo Zhou declared that "it's time to stop worrying about the backlash. I am calling on the FIDE EDC to remove Vladimir Kramnik from the FIDE record books, revoke his title, and disqualify his world championship. What Kramnik has done to David Navara, Hikaru, and Danya, ad others cannot be tolerated."
Hikaru himself echoed Nemo's sentiment in the replies, thanking her for "stating this so clearly."