Former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik has asked Swiss authorities to investigate threatening messages posted online since the sudden death of US grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, according to a copy of the filing seen by Reuters on Sunday.
Kramnik, who raised questions about possible cheating by Naroditsky and other players last year, is facing disciplinary proceedings over public attacks on the American, a popular streamer and commentator who died earlier this month aged 29. The cause of his death has not been disclosed.
In a nine-page complaint submitted to the Geneva public prosecutor on Saturday, Kramnik said he and his family had received “hundreds of terrifying private messages and public comments” on social media, many of them calling for his death or urging him to take his own life.
Photo: AP
He also received death threats via e-mail.
The filing by the Russian-born grandmaster, who has lived in Switzerland for several years, called for an investigation to be opened into the threatening messages and also asked for police protection.
The filing does not name any suspects, but cites numerous threatening and abusive messages posted on X since Oct. 19, the day Naroditsky was found dead in North Carolina.
Naroditsky’s death prompted an outpouring of grief and an ethics review by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) into Kramnik’s months-long online campaign hinting at cheating by top players, including Naroditsky, during Internet events.
Naroditsky’s name appeared on a list published by Kramnik last year of players showing unusually low blunder rates in the final seconds of online games.
Kramnik has denied accusing Naroditsky personally of cheating, saying his remarks were “reasoned questions” based on statistical analysis.
The data he cited came from the Titled Tuesday competition hosted on the chess.com platform last year, which Kramnik labeled “Cheating Tuesday.”
In his final stream on Twitch on Oct. 17, Naroditsky, who finished ninth in the over-the-board blitz world championship, spoke about the “lingering effect” of Kramnik’s allegations.
Naroditsky denied any wrongdoing.
In his complaint to prosecutors, Kramnik said news headlines linking him to Naroditsky’s death were “deeply damaging to my honor.”
FIDE declined to comment on Kramnik’s filing.
Top players, including world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, have condemned Kramnik’s repeated insinuations against fellow competitors.
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