Viswanathan Anand slams Vladimir Kramnik's cheating crusade, FIDE boss issued warning 'before Daniel Naroditsky's death'

Vladimir Kramnik's accusations against chess players can be labelled as ultra-aggressive, and they also carry a lot of weight, due to his stature.

Viswanathan Anand broke his silence on Vladimir Kramnik's ongoing campaign against cheating in online chess, despite the lack of substantial evidence to support it. Since Daniel Naroditsky's sudden death, Kramnik has been under the spotlight due to his cheating accusations against the American GM, which took a tremendous toll on his mental health.

Viswanathan Anand broke his silence on Vladimir Kramnik.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday during the Chess World Cup, Anand, who is also FIDE Deputy President, called Kramnik's allegations 'unfounded' and revealed that he was 'quite disappointed' with the former world champion.

"To be honest, most of us are quite disappointed with how Kramnik has behaved in this matter, and we will take steps to take care of this. I don’t think there is any cause for unfounded allegations, and we will continue working on that," he said.

"But I don’t want to comment too much on what we are specifically going to do, because it is a matter which is going to the FIDE Ethics Commission."

Kramnik's accusations against chess players can be labelled as ultra-aggressive, and they also carry a lot of weight, due to his stature in the world of chess.

"I hope this (Naroditsky’s death) will also lead to a conversation, not only for organisations and platforms, but also parents and youngsters. I think one of the messages parents will have to give out to youngsters is not to believe everything you read, and not to take it literally. I mean, it is a fairly unregulated space. You will have to learn to just leave it there. But of course, it is not something we are only going to leave to the parents. Hopefully, they can help fight the battle with it", Anand said.

FIDE chief Arkady Dvorkovich tried to warn Vladimir Kramnik

Meanwhile, FIDE chief Arkady Dvorkovich also revealed that he tried to urge Kramnik 'informally' to be 'less aggressive' with his accusations. "Vladimir is a good friend. And we had a good relationship for many years. I always supported him. We all just feel that it (the cheating accusations) went in the wrong direction. I tried to persuade Vladimir Kramnik informally that he should be less aggressive. Not after what happened (with Daniel) but actually before the incident. A long time ago, since I felt that it’s a bit too much. I also asked him to provide the full methodology—a clear scientific foundation for the statistics—that he is using to air his hints or accusations. And we didn’t receive it from him. He promised to have a group of people who are dealing with fair play," he said.