What was the drama involving Daniel Naroditsky and Vladimir Kramnik? Controversy explored in wake of former's death at 29

Daniel Naroditsky, 29, died from unknown causes on October 19, 2025. The Charlotte Chess Center announced the chess player's death in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Also known as Danya, he built a big fan base with his skills in the game of chess over the years. Apart from that, he added multiple achievements to his list of accolades by participating in the U.S. Chess Championships. Furthermore, Naroditsky also contributed to a column of The New York Times.

Daniel even started trending when World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik made allegations of cheating. Notably, Kramnik's claims came on two different occasions and he even launched a campaign, addressing the topic of statistical cheating, as per International Business Times UK.

Charlotte Chess Center’s tribute described Daniel Naroditsky as a “cherished member” of their community, adding that he was admired and respected by all those who knew him. The post also mentioned:

“We ask for privacy for Daniel’s family during this extremely difficult time. Let us remember Daniel for his passion and love for the game of chess, and for the joy and inspiration he brought to us all every day.”

Saint Louis Chess Club also expressed its grief on Facebook by saying that he was a “gifted player” and someone close to them for a long time. The tribute continues:

“His passion for the game and commitment to teaching inspired countless players around the world. He will be missed by all who knew him.”

Vladimir Kramnik made the allegations on a social media post: Controversy involving Daniel Naroditsky explained

The issues between Vladimir Kramnik and Daniel Narodistky started with a social media post, shared by the former in October 2024, where he raised certain questions after a game with Danya. He initially did not include any form of evidence for his allegations and wrote:

“Ok was enough time to answer my proposal of having a 100K stake match with Daniel Naroditsky, 50K each puts on the table, winner takes all. Since no answer is the answer, lets close this story and I will be publishing statistics of Danya and others instead, explaining my concerns.”

In another post, Vladimir added a screenshot, saying that he has a team that has checked multiple games and created an internal use application, where the data is analyzed on all parameters. Kramnik claimed that there is a lot of work to do to bring a system that will restrict cheating. He explained the same by giving an example in a post, which reads:

“For instance, a player increasing the amount of top level games within a month from 13% to 34%. Obviously, still playing there, making great living, Etc… Just for your understanding that all that campaign about “diletant old crazy grandpa” is the fear of revealation.”

According to Chess for Sharks, Kramnik has made similar accusations against other players such as David Navara. The outlet stated that Vladimir alleged that certain players like Hikaru Nakamura were cheating on online platforms.

Although Daniel Naroditsky did not share a direct response, he appeared on Take Take Take a few months ago, referring to all those who were supporting the claims made by Vladimir. Daniel described all those individuals as “worse than dirt.” Daniel seemingly addressed his frustration with everything that was happening in terms of the allegations. He said:

“I don’t think I’m good… You know, not good enough of a person, but thick-skinned enough to say, honestly, that that isn’t affecting me at all. I would be, you know, failing the lie detector test if I said that. I’ve been nice and civil and courteous to this army of troglodyte lowlifes for way too long. I’m really sick of it. I’m not going to tolerate any of the hate any longer.”

Vladimir Kramnik never responded to what Daniel Naroditsky said. Kramnik has also been active in the world of chess and is known for being the recipient of FIDE and Classical titles.