U.S. Chess Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky's Death Being Investigated.

[Memento]

Only twenty-nine years old, Naroditsky became a grandmaster (the highest ranking in chess other than world champion) at seventeen, played chess and did incredibly well at a young age.

From what little from what I can tell it looks like, his boyhood idol, former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, basically called him and basically everyone a cheater and directed a smear campaign that drove him to this death, and now Kramnik is inserting himself into the investigation and calling Naroditsky an "addict" and himself a "victim" of it all. Kramnik sounds like a real piece of shit that a lot of other chess players and fans around the sport utterly hate because he's basically being a sore old loser and calling everyone cheaters when he loses, while Naroditsky is beloved by a lot of chess people, not just for his skills, not just because he brought chess into the wider public eye and online as a player and teacher, but because the guy was apparently very nice to his fellow competitors, warm to his fans, and a good person in real life, and his integrity was beyond reproach.

May he rest in peace and paradise.

News Article

 

[rhlshrm2430]

Only twenty-nine years old, Naroditsky became a grandmaster (the highest ranking in chess other than world champion) at seventeen, played chess and did incredibly well at a young age.

From what little from what I can tell it looks like, his boyhood idol, former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, basically called him and basically everyone a cheater and directed a smear campaign that drove him to this death, and now Kramnik is inserting himself into the investigation and calling Naroditsky an "addict" and himself a "victim" of it all. Kramnik sounds like a real piece of shit that a lot of other chess players and fans around the sport utterly hate because he's basically being a sore old loser and calling everyone cheaters when he loses, while Naroditsky is beloved by a lot of chess people, not just for his skills, not just because he brought chess into the wider public eye and online as a player and teacher, but because the guy was apparently very nice to his fellow competitors, warm to his fans, and a good person in real life, and his integrity was beyond reproach.

May he rest in peace and paradise.

News Article

Truly tragic news. Naroditsky was one of the more highly-regarded people in modern chess - gifted, modest, and real-deal good to people. The accusing and online drama surrounding him emphasize how poisoned the chess community's cheating discussions have become. It is terrible if that pressure contributed to his passing.

He should be remembered for the positives he brought to chess, not the noise of investigating cheating, regardless of what is discovered from the investigation. Rest in peace Danya.

 

[Tano]

How do you cheat in Chess. It's not like Vizzini in the Princess Bride saying what in the world can that be and moving the chess piece while the opponent looks away.

 

[Memento]

How do you cheat in Chess. It's not like Vizzini in the Princess Bride saying what in the world can that be and moving the chess piece while the opponent looks away.

There's a lot of ways to cheat in chess, mostly involving computers and A.I. Looking up chess moves on a computer while you're away from your opponent (I think there's a time limit for your move, and you're not supposed to look up chess moves away from the opponent, that you're supposed to use your own mind, not a computer's.), which Kramnik was accused of doing himself (had, like, fifty bathroom breaks per match at one point). The scandal was called "Toiletgate", and yes, it was a real thing.

Honestly, the more I read of Vladimir Kramnik, the less I like the man himself. He really seems like the biggest slimeball asshole you will ever meet in your life.

We'll see what the investigation comes up with. Maybe Naroditsky died by other means (as much as I hate to say it, an overdose has also been noted as a possibility). But if it's suicide, especially after Kramnik bullied and harassed Naroditsky whilst trying to ruin his reputation in something he loved and was good at simultaneously for years (and remember, he was that kid's hero in chess. Imagine being a young person being bullied, harassed, and having your name shoved in the mud by someone whom you idolize, want to emulate, want to be as good as if not better, on a constant basis for years.), Kramnik deserves all of the heat that's coming down on him, death threats aside (because while he seems like an absolutely odious person, nobody should get death threats.).

 

[rdlkgliders]

Even something seemingly as pure as chess has and continues to have it's controversies.
Chess Grandmaster Anna Muzychuk comes to mind with her forefeiting of 2 world titles back to back to stand up to Saudi misogyny.