The World Chess Federation (Fide) has suspended former world champion Vladimir Kramnik for at least one year due to multiple violations of its ethics and disciplinary code. The federation found Kramnik responsible for verbal attacks and accusations of cheating leveled against other players, including the late US grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky.
Fide announced the ban, stating that Kramnik was found guilty of "multiple violations" of its ethics and disciplinary code. A further 12 months of the ban have been suspended for a probationary period of three years, meaning the active suspension is one year, provided no further breaches occur during probation. Kramnik has stated he intends to appeal the suspension.
Daniel Naroditsky, a popular player, teacher, and commentator, died in October at the age of 29. Before his death, he had denied any wrongdoing related to the cheating allegations and indicated that the controversy had affected him. A toxicology report released in 2026 indicated he had multiple drugs in his system at the time of his death, which was attributed to an abnormal heartbeat caused by an accidental overdose.
Naroditsky was a prominent figure in online chess, known to hundreds of thousands of followers as Danya across platforms like Twitch and YouTube. His conduct had been previously condemned by several prominent figures in the chess community, including world number two Hikaru Nakamura, former world champion Magnus Carlsen, and Indian grandmaster Nihal Sarin. Kramnik had publicly accused these players of cheating on X, formerly Twitter.