GM Daniel Naroditsky
I'm getting back into chess a little. I have an inactive USCF rating around 1700 but having played in a tournament or even live otb for over 20 years.
So I'm watching youtube videos of GM Daniel Naroditsky and I think they're extraordinary. He can explain chess ideas so clearly that it shocks me, and I can't get enough. But when I looked him up on Wikipedia I see that Kramnik called him a cheater.
Can somebody give the cliffnotes on this cheating scandal and his reputation in the chess world?
13 Replies
Watch Daniel's response here: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/...
Then, make your own conclusions if you are Team Daniel or Team Vlad. I am Team Daniel on this one.
One factor that older generations of chess players do not consider is how much blitz younger generation players have played and how many hours they have spent training with engines. As a result guys like Carlsen, Nakamura and even Naroditsky can have a very high accuracy and make a lot of engine-looking moves even when playing fairly. You can even see it in OTB blitz games, where cheating would be logistically difficult or impossible.
Thanks, AALegend. Looks like I'm definitely Team Daniel.
Afaik Kramnik has yet to actually provide any sort of path for Danya to actually be innocent in his eyes. It's a complete clown show. It's not just a generational thing, he's legit flat earthing it.
He also thinks Naka is a cheater I believe.
Kramnik losing his mind like Fisher .
And he's ruined David Navara's mental health. I mean, on one hand, Navara "let him" but on the other, Navara is most likely autistic and takes the integrity of the game too seriously (which is one reason he is so beloved in the chess community). Accusing him of cheating and then the way FIDE handled his communications just seems like a Kafka-esque nightmare.
Kramnik is the master of the motte and bailey.
He makes provocative statements and when challenged, falls back on reasonable requests.
His underlying issue about cheating is legitimate, but all his specific off the cuff hits are unsubstantiated.
Though it doesn't help when Chess.com itself is so opaque about everything, and injected itself into the dispute between Niemann and Carlsen, a chess.com stakeholder.
This thread reminded me of Toilet-gate. I was going to say that Kramnik has been accusing people of cheating for 20 years, but I forgot it was Kramnik who was the accused!
We should expect those proven great to accomplish great things.
Top 20 in the world is insane.
Danya is highly respected. Love his analysis.
Spent the few weeks watching a couple of his speedrun videos every day, and I can't say enough good things about him as a teacher. For a person who's so accomplished to also be so gracious is very rare indeed. His communication skills are off-the-chart, and his feel for the beauty of chess is contagious, it really is. Now, after many years away, I'll be coming back to tournament chess at the Western States Open in Reno on Oct. 3, can't wait.
His commentary on Major Tournaments, especially when paired with Robert Hess, is out of this world good too.
Kramnik has developed a reputation as someone who accuses very many players of cheating without what most in the community consider to be good evidence, and of refusing/failing to retract his accusations even when most in the community feel that they have been convincingly discredited.
It seems unlikely that Kramnik's accusations against Naroditsky have much merit, although of course anything is possible when it comes to cheating in sports and there is in general definitely a large amount of cheating in chess at all levels, including by titled players both online and IRL.
One thing is for sure, Danya is not cheating for big money, simply because he's not good enough to play in the big money tournaments (except a few open events like the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz, which is open to anyone who has been 2500+ on any FIDE rating list in the previous 12 calendar months - actually, you don't even need a title).
