Vladimir Kramnik denies wrongdoing in death of US chess star Daniel Naroditsky
Vladimir Kramnik has broken his silence following the death of American grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, calling the 29-year-old’s passing a tragedy while accusing critics of mounting an “unprecedentedly cynical and unlawful campaign of harassment” against him and his family.The 50-year-old former world champion, who has faced widespread condemnation for accusing Naroditsky of online cheating without evidence, expressed condolences but denied any personal attacks.“Despite the tensions in our relationship, I was the only person in the chess community who, noticing on video Daniel’s obvious health issues a day before his death, publicly called for him to receive help,” Kramnik wrote in a statement on X.“The subsequent attempts, immediately following his passing, to directly link this tragic event to my name … cross all boundaries of basic human morality.”Kramnik said his earlier calls for a review of Naroditsky’s online play had been ignored “despite a significant amount of evidence”, and claimed he would provide material to “any relevant authority”, He said his lawyers were preparing civil and criminal suits over “false accusations” that have led to threats against him and his family.
@CNN @Reuters @euronews @guardian @figaro @derspiegel @nytimes @ABC @LeTemps @elpaisinenglish @FoxNews @FIDE_chess pic,twitter,com/pwzRBvJa6SHe added that he welcomed what he described as a criminal investigation in the United States into the circumstances of Naroditsky’s death and offered to assist with “important non-public information”,Kramnik closed by asserting that he was “in good physical and mental condition” and “under no circumstances” planned to take his own life,The death of Naroditsky may have been the result of a drug overdose and is being investigated as a possible suicide, according to a police report released Thursday.
A report from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department says Naroditsky was found dead Sunday evening and describes the case as a “Death/suicide/overdose/Sudden/Natural Death Investigation”.“On Sunday October 19th at approximately 07:11pm officers responded to an assist medic call in the area of 9000 Colin Crossing,” the report says.“Upon arrival an unresponsive subject was located and later pronounced deceased by a medic.”Naroditsky was discovered at his home by close friends, grandmaster Oleksandr Bortnyk and Charlotte Chess Center founder Peter Giannatos.The pair had gone to check on him after he stopped responding to calls and messages.
“I found him dead in his house,” Bortnyk said in a stream this week,“We came to check because he wasn’t answering, and we found him dead on the couch,”Naroditsky, one of the most popular streamers and commentators in the chess world, was found dead last weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he served as head coach and grandmaster-in-residence at the Charlotte Chess Center,Police have not disclosed a cause of death,A Stanford-educated prodigy and former world youth champion, Naroditsky amassed over 800,000 followers on Twitch and YouTube.
Known as Danya, he was celebrated for his humor, clarity and humility, becoming a leading voice in chess’s pandemic-era boom.He was also one of the world’s finest players under shorter time controls, finishing ninth at last year’s blitz world championship in New York.Naroditsky consistently denied the allegations but acknowledged the toll they had taken on his mental health.“Ever since the Kramnik stuff, I feel like if I start doing well, people assume the worst,” Naroditsky said in his final livestream.Anger over Kramnik’s conduct has dominated the chess world.
Hikaru Nakamura called his behavior “disgusting”, while five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen described it as “horrible”.Indian grandmaster Nihal Sarin, who played Naroditsky in his final online match, accused Kramnik of “taking a life,” saying his vigilante campaign against suspected cheaters was ineffective and “completely unacceptable”.Kramnik, who dethroned Garry Kasparov in 2000 and held the world title for nearly seven years, has made similar cheating accusations against other players.In 2023 Chess.com banned him from posting, citing “baseless and damaging” claims.
The International Chess Federation (Fide) said this week it was “looking into” Kramnik’s behavior.“The way Kramnik approaches it simply can’t be accepted,” Fide chief executive Emil Sutovsky told Reuters.The federation plans to honor Naroditsky with a memorial award.Fide president Arkady Dvorkovich later confirmed that all of Kramnik’s public statements about Naroditsky, before and after his death, would be referred to the organisation’s Ethics and Disciplinary Commission “for independent consideration”.“Human life and dignity are fundamental values shared by all of us,” Dvorkovich said in a statement.
“The chess community has long respected the achievements of GM Vladimir Kramnik, but such stature brings a responsibility to uphold the principles of fairness and respect,”Sutovsky, meanwhile, faced his own backlash after posting a message on X that critics saw as blaming the community for not helping Naroditsky while he was alive,The remarks drew heavy backlash from prominent chess streamers like Anna Cramling and Nemo Zhou, who called the comments “disgusting” and urged him to resign,Naroditsky’s family have said they hope he is remembered not for the hostility he endured but for “the joy and inspiration he brought people every day”,Carlsen called him “a resource to the chess community”, while Nakamura described him as “the best of us”.
In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Meta found in breach of EU law over ‘ineffective’ complaints system for flagging illegal content
Instagram and Facebook have breached EU law by failing to provide users with simple ways to complain or flag illegal content, including child sexual abuse material and terrorist content, the European Commission has said.In a preliminary finding on Friday, the EU’s executive body said Meta, the $1.8tn (£1.4tn) California company that runs Instagram and Facebook, had introduced unnecessary steps in processes for users to submit reports.It said both platforms appeared to use deceptive design – known as “dark patterns” – in the reporting mechanism in a way that could be “confusing and dissuading” to users
Amazon reveals cause of AWS outage that took everything from banks to smart beds offline
Amazon has revealed the cause of this week’s hours-long AWS outage, which took everything from Signal to smart beds offline, was a bug in automation software that had widespread consequences.In a lengthy outline of the cause of the outage published on Thursday, AWS revealed a cascading set of events brought down thousands of sites and applications that host their services with the company.AWS said customers were unable to connect to DynamoDB, its database system where AWS customers store their data, due to “a latent defect within the service’s automated DNS [domain name system] management system”.DynamoDB maintains hundreds of thousands of DNS records. It uses automation to monitor the system to ensure records are updated frequently to ensure additional capacity is added as required, hardware failures are handled and traffic is distributed efficiently
Trump pardons founder of Binance, world’s largest crypto exchange
Donald Trump issued a pardon for the founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange on Thursday.“President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency,” a White House statement said. “The war on crypto is over.”Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in late 2023 to one count of failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program and stepped down as CEO of Binance, which paid $4.3bn to settle related allegations
‘Attacks will get through’: head of GCHQ urges companies to do more to fight cybercrime
Companies need to do more to mitigate the potential effects of cyber-attacks, the head of GCHQ has said, including making physical, paper copies of crisis plans to use if an attack brings down entire computer systems.“What are your contingency plans? Because attacks will get through,” said Anne Keast-Butler, who has headed GCHQ, the British government’s cyber and signals intelligence agency, since 2023.“What happens when that happens to you in a company, have you really tested that?” said Keast-Butler, speaking on Wednesday at a London conference organised by the cybersecurity company Recorded Future. “Your plans … have you got them on paper somewhere in case all your systems really go down? How will you communicate with each other if you’re completely reliant on a system that actually you shut down?”Last week, the National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, announced figures showing that “highly significant” cyber-attacks have risen by 50% in the past year. Security and intelligence agencies are now dealing with a new attack several times per week, the figures showed
Nothing Ear 3 review: good-looking earbuds with ‘Super Mic’ party trick
Nothing’s latest semi-transparent noise-cancelling earbuds have a new trick up their sleeves: a high-quality mic in the case that you can push a button to talk into.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.This so-called Super Mic is designed for all those who want a microphone-in-the-hand experience for clearer conversations, recordings and voice notes in noisy environments
Tesla reports steep drop in profits despite US rush to buy electric vehicles
Despite record vehicle sales, Tesla saw a precipitous drop in profit in its most recent quarter.A rush to buy electric vehicles before a US tax credit for them disappears had boosted Tesla’s flagging sales, leading to the automaker exceeding some of Wall Street’s projections in its most recent financial quarter. Yet the company failed to meet earnings expectations and its stock fell in after-hours trading.Tesla reported third-quarter earnings of $0.50 a share on Wednesday after market close, less than the $0
Leftover wine? Now we’re cooking | Hannah Crosbie on drinks
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for leftover polenta biscuits | A kitchen in Rome
Don’t chuck your parmesan rind – it is an excellent stock cube – recipe | Waste not
No waste, all taste: Max La Manna’s comfort food pantry-raid recipes
When restaurateurs go rogue: is it right to lambast locals who won’t come and dine with you?
If you like piña coladas: how to make slushies at home without a machine