Because we care

After a year I decided to write about what happened with my complaint concerning GM Kramnik’s statistics and actions. Alas, it is going to be a long text and not nice at all.

A short introduction

It all started with the following tweet by GM Kramnik:

The tweet contains inaccuracies. For example Frederic Svane, who was mentioned as an IM, was a 2636-rated GM back then, with a low “historical” blitz rating but quite decent results in his latest blitz tournaments.

Grandmaster Kramnik was not exactly accusing me, but his messages find a lot of viewers. If this tweet was read by 200 000 people and one per cent of them started to suspect me on its basis, it is 2000 people, a very high number!

I was completely shocked by being put in connection with cheating in such a way. I played 9 Titled Tuesdays in the examined period, scoring decently, but not winning a single prize. And performing slightly better over the board. In my opinion GM Kramnik’s  “piece of stats” is just wrong, surely methodologically and possibly even numerically. If you are searching for bot users by examining their play with less than 10 seconds in such a way, it is wrong.

First, such bot users would be “too fast, too strong”, to paraphrase a well-known phrase of Magnus Carlsen. Why should they regularly get below 10 seconds then, instead of keeping 20 seconds or more almost all the time and laughing at GM Kramnik’s statistics?

Moreover, I was not exactly too fast, too strong, as I lost 3 games on time in normal positions in the examined period, something what a bot user would easily avoid.

To complete the picture, GM Kramnik was in the middle of his three-month ban, which he had received for playing Titled Tuesday(s) from GM Khismatullin’s account. And there was no one taking responsibility for the statistics given.

More on this can be found in the previous texts on my blog.

My complaint

I was shocked and angry. My sleep and concentration were affected heavily. I quickly wrote to FIDE, sending them a complaint against GM Kramnik. I believed (and still believe) that GM Kramnik’s tweet was clearly wrong, and therefore wanted to react quickly and resolutely. This was perhaps a mistake, as I should have consulted a lawyer before taking action, to learn about the legal aspects first.

After I sent my complaint to FIDE (with copies to Chess.com staff), a high-ranked FIDE official expressed support for me. Professor Regan then examined my play as well as play of the other participants of Titled Tuesdays. I should not present his data in my own words, but my play with little time left was above average even considering my FIDE rating, but by no means exceptional. It is not too surprising, given that I only played one fourth of Titled Tuesdays from the beginning of 2024 till mid-May, usually when feeling in form.

I first heard GM Kramnik’s explanation that he was only asking questions only after submitting the complaint. Given how many people interpreted some of those questions as accusations, I believe that GM Kramnik was to a large extent responsible for conveying such a message.

When submitting the complaint, I hoped to clean my name and reach justice – at least an official apology from GM Kramnik and possibly even a three-month ban for him. (Given his scarce activity in FIDE-rated events back then, it looked more like a symbolic punishment.)

Alas, apart from Professor Regan, there was a total silence on the FIDE side for more than half a year. Given that I do not have social media, I was unable to find the details of GM Kramnik’s statistic. In the initial eight days after seeing GM Kramnik’s tweet I was feeling awful. I wrote many e-mails to FIDE, bringing arguments in my defence, thinking up possible arguments against me (as I had neither the data nor a feedback) and arguments against such arguments, refining them from time to time. (Having studied logic, I consider a proof by contradiction a natural method.) I believe that my messages were factually correct, yet when I looked back at one of them, I found uncharacteristically many typos, an indication that I was not feeling well.

Then I played the French League and put this aside. After the league I was already feeling better and out of curiosity looked at some comments on one server, focusing on comments of people whom I like. Alas, they were sometimes reacting to some annoying nonsense.

I think that I also saw something like that: Kramnik is against cheaters, Navara is against Kramnik, so maybe he is cheating?

I am against cheating. I complained against a duly banned player who was publicly spreading doubts about many players, honest ones and dishonest ones alike.

There were other nasty comments as well, even from a player whom I had respected a lot for his playing and analytical skills.

Total silence

After reading these comments I got very depressed. I had to contact a psychiatrist and a psychoterapeutist soon after reading GM Kramnik’s tweet, as it put me completely out of balance. In a striking contrast, GM Kramnik got invited to a very well-paid and very controversial match against José Martínez Alcantara and later to a rematch.

Almost from the very beginning, I asked for an examination of GM Kramnik’s statistic, but neither FIDE nor GM Kramnik cared to reply to my messages.

When players complain about getting banned, they often want to know the reason, but the chess servers understandably cannot tell them details, as this would help cheaters to avoid the punishment next time. Contrary to this, GM Kramnik’s “piece of stats” quoted above contains a concrete description of what is measured and very concrete numbers as well, just the metric in the right column remains a mystery.

Grandmaster Kramnik got rewarded for his controversial statistics by playing two very well-paid matches, but when I asked for an examination of his suspect statistic, there was a complete silence. Interesting…

It only supports my belief that his “piece of stats” is just wrong.

On June 10, I wrote to many FIDE officials. At first I politely apologized for having written too many e-mails earlier because of the initial shock and then I gave many arguments against GM Kramnik’s metric and (again) asking for its investigation, but did not get any reply. If you wonder why I wrote to many FIDE officials, I had not been given instructions from FIDE with whom I should discuss the matter and with whom not.

On June 12 I corrected some detail and ended with the following sentence:

I also find it weird that GM Kramnik gets a plenty of money for a scandalous blitz match organized because of his accusations, while some victims of his tweets (like me) suffer a lot from his tweets without deserving such an insult at all.

Again no reply from FIDE.

On June 13 I wrote the following e-mail to chess.com staff and FIDE officials:

Dear chess friends,

 sorry for disturbing you again, but there has been an almost complete silence on the FIDE side. I find it understandable in many respects, yet unpleasant in others.

 Dear FIDE officials, would you be so kind and tell me whether GM Kramnik's statistic from his controversial tweet will be open to scrutiny? And if I will be able to see the detailed calculations concerning me, given that I am on the third place of the list for some mysterious reasons, although my results in Titled Tuesdays are pretty normal and my OTB results are rather slightly better?

 If the statistics will not be open to scrutiny (or not shared with me), why not? If I will be able to see it, when approximately?

About three weeks have passed, and there is complete silence in this respect, which is one of the key issues of the case. Obviously my criticism of GM Kramnik's play under the Krakozia account and some of his less founded earlier public accusations (including some accusations of minors) can be dealt with without this particular statistic, but it seems to me that seeing the detailed calculations would shed a lot of light on the table from the tweet, its origin and credibility, or rather a lack thereof.

 Please take into account that I do not use social networks, mostly cannot follow them and cannot defend there against counterarguments or misinterpretations of my words. Understandably different people might understand some of my statements in different ways. If you needed a clarification of what I mean, what I claim and why, I am ready to provide it to you at times when I am not playing anything important. (I am mostly not playing anything important these days, but really do not want to discuss the issue during the Olympiad, when I will be busy playing.) This is another aspect where silence from the FIDE side might cause unnecessary problems.

 Thank you in advance for your quick reply! Have a good day!

 Yours sincerely,

 David Navara

No reaction from FIDE followed. On the very next day I was very depressed, crying for three hours. I am not the most mentally stable person since the childhood. I had serious problems at the age of 15, including regular suicidal thoughts. They fortunately disappeared, but were returning from time to time in very difficult situations. This very case again induced my suicidal thoughts and caused me a lot of pain. There was a real danger that I could commit a suicide in mid-June 2024 because of the circumstances described above. I want to stress that I firmly believe that a suicide is a wrong decision in a vast majority of situations, including mine one. I do not write this to criticize people who were desperate and saw no other solution, I just stress this to discourage depressed people from damaging themselves in an irrevocable way. The human life has a great value. It is a gift and gifts should not be given back.

 The help came from an unexpected side, at a class reunion. A former schoolmate with whom we had not been big friends supported me a lot with his words, whereas people from FIDE, including my friends and people whom I respect a lot, did not care to write a single sentence like „Dear David, we cannot show you GM Kramnik’s statistics.“ Even that would have helped me a lot. (In fact, some of them simply did not read those messages and I cannot blame them for doing so, but if the whole FIDE ignores such messages, it feels very odd.)

Then I wrote the following message on July 2:

Dear FIDE officials,

 I hope you are doing well.

 Would you be so kind and reply to my previous message from June 13th? Since that unfortunate tweet of GM Kramnik, I have been suffering from various psychosomatic problems (obviously including insomnia, it is 2:25 a.m. now) and depressions (or at least big oscillations of mood), struggling to regain the balance. I had to consult specialists because of that.

 I understand that I wrote too many messages in the first week, but getting no reply from FIDE does not exactly help me to feel better. I am pretty sure that the infamous statistic by GM Kramnik is wrong, but it is hard to prove that when I do not know its details and do not know where to find them. (I am afraid that a random search of the videos by GM Kramnik could further deteriorate my mood.) I have no access to Twitter/X and do not plan to create an account there any soon.

 Thank you for your understanding. Have a good day!

 Yours sincerely,

  David Navara

{In a postscript I mentioned one of my argument against GM Kramnik’s statistic.}

I made it pretty clear in my messages that I was suffering a lot, basically calling out for help.

One recipient (S.) replied with some words of support, adding that she did not have a formal position within FIDE and was thus unable to answer my question. All the FIDE officials ignored my question and my message. I should mention that Prof. Regan was communicating with me, whereas the rest of FIDE stayed silent.

On July 22 I added GM Kramnik’s address from the FIDE website to the list, just clarifying some things. I repeated my reservations against his statistic. He could have defended it, but stayed silent. (Around that time his address disappeared from the FIDE website, but my message was not marked as undelivered.)

A shocking conclusion

On December 12 I wrote to FIDE once again, and my message ended with this:

 In my opinion, it is very logical to ask for these data, and I did so twice, at the same time apologizing for having written too many messages after being shocked by GM Kramnik's tweet.

 The reaction of FIDE felt very disrespectful, as FIDE (or its officials) did not care to write me even a single sentence like "Sorry, we cannot show this data to you.", whereas I was struggling with strong depressions iniciated by this GM Kramnik's weird tweet and fueled by its repercussions in the online sphere. I have been suffering for 6 months for no reason. (Luckily by far not all the time, but I occasionally still get very angry or very sad when thinking about it.)

 I apologize for opening this topic now, before Christmas. I had been playing almost all the time since the Olympiad and had no time to write this earlier. Personally I would prefer to deal with it in the second half of January as it is an explosive topic, but at the same time I do not understand why should I suffer from all of this for so long.

 I understand that GM Kramnik's behavior might be undesirable but legal within the legal framework of FIDE, but I think that FIDE should investigate his statistics and make a statement on them. It feels wrong when GM Kramnik earns crazy money while playing controversial matches, while honest players suffer from his accusations and from FIDE's non-responsiveness.

Then a reply from the FIDE legal director came.

I understand that quoting him here might be controversial, but I have many good reasons to do so:

1. It shows that FIDE did not find my online games suspect
2. It confirms that FIDE indeed did not reply to my earlier messages, which otherwise could not be proved by quoting any number of mails.
3. The message is hard to understand and I do not want to misinterpret it.
4. It presents the reasons for not reacting, and those reasons are extremely controversial in my view.
5. I would understand if FIDE judged my complaint, would impose no sanctions against GM Kramnik and write that my results in TT were not extraordinary. But what happened is that FIDE hinted to me after almost 7 months that my complaint is formally wrong, without even caring to mention the reason.
6. The whole case topped by these two e-mails almost pushed me to a suicide, and I think that it is in a public interest to know the details.
7. Given that not a single word of apology from FIDE came, I have reasons to be worried that they could act in a similar way if a similar situation occurred again. Possibly with even worse consequences.

Here is the message from December 12:

Dear David, as FIDE Legal Director, I would like to clarify the following. 

As you know, the only body within FIDE that has the right to apply the disciplinary penalties is the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary commission (https://ethics.fide.com)

This body need a formal complaint fo every case, see art. 3.8. of the Code:

"3.8 The EDC has no power to investigate on breaches of this Code on its own initiative, but shall open a case, investigate and judge on it after receiving an admissible complaint by a person ...."

In the event that you believe that GM Kramnik violated the norms of the Code of Ethics, you have the right to file a complaint on your behalf (specifying specific charges and evidences).

The basic reqirements to the complaint may be found in the Code of Ethics (art. 5)

https://handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/EthicsAndDisciplinaryCode2022.pdf

Also norms of the Rule 8 of the EDC Procedural Rules are applied.

https://handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/EDCProceduralRules2022.pdf

Sincerely 

{position within FIDE, name}

It starts with „As you know“. When sending the complaint on May 18, I did not know whom should I have contacted, and wrote to a plenty of FIDE members from various commissions, using the addresses from the FIDE website. The list included Mr Francois Strydom, the head of the Ethics Commission back then, as well as Mr Dvorkovich, the FIDE president. And many other important people within FIDE.

FIDE did not inform me with whom I should communicate and with whom not, and had not suggested at all that there could be something wrong in this respect.

I looked at the FIDE Ethics Code and it contains many nice passages, including the following one:

6.1 The FIDE members undertake at all times to respect and ensure respect of the following values and principles:

a) Human dignity;

b) Equality;

c) Safety;

d) Integrity;

e) Good faith;

f) Loyalty;

g) Fair Play;

h) Responsibility;

i) Priority of interests of chess above personal financial interests;

j) Communication and Transparency.

I do not want to comment on all the points, just want to make one remark concerning some of them.

At the end of March it became publicly known that GM Kramnik had played at least one Titled Tuesday from the account of GM Khismatullin, which is a fair-play violation. As far as I know, GM Kramnik did not apologize for that. FIDE has power and with it responsibility comes. That said, GM Kramnik was listed as a FIDE committee member on the FIDE website even in July, more than three months later! FIDE had the opportunity to give a signal to him and to other players by dismissing him from that commission, thus stressing points b), d), g) and h) given above, and also demonstrating the neutrality, which is mentioned in the mail below.

 Here is my reply:

Dear Mr *** {surname}

 thank you for the information. 

 Not being a lawyer, I struggle with such documents. If I understand it properly (not sure at all), my appeal lacks some formal requirements. Would you be so kind and tell me which requierements are missing? Thank you in advance!

 I will look at it and probably take some time to decide what to do next and whether I am going to submit the appeal again, this time legally correctly. (After all, I am very busy these days, and I guess that so you are`, with one World Championship just ending and other two beginning soon. And not willing to spoil the festive atmosphere of the coming weeks.)

 That said, if my appeal was indeed formally wrong, I am wondering why FIDE tells me this only now, after keeping me struggling with occasional depressions (including severe ones) for 6 months. I asked FIDE about those statistics of GM Kramnik six months ago (and then once again), and got no reply at all until today. (Except for a display of solidarity from a former FIDE member.)

 Dear FIDE members, please think how would you feel if you were treated like this.  Thank you for your understanding.

 Have a good evening!

 Best regards,

  David Navara

And this was the reply:

Dear David, unfortunately, I have no formal right to comment or correct complaints to the Ethics commission, as I must be as neutral as possible, and the help of one of the parties will be considered a clear violation of neutrality. 

I will only allow you to add that I personally consider you as the most fair and correct player, and this is not only my opinion, but also of the entire chess world. 

Therefore, without going into the details of GM Kramnik's posts and calculations, I would just sincerely advise you to put this situation out of your mind, your reputation in the chess world is absolutely unambiguous, and all my colleagues agree with this.

Sincerely, Aleksandr

As far as I could understand the intriguing message by the FIDE Legal Director, I was also not allowed to complain about what GM Kramnik said about Tykhon Cherniaiev, nor about GM Kramnik playing Titled Tuesday(s) from GM Khismatullin’s account. While I understand that people from FIDE cannot tell me how to write a complaint, if they had told me these important facts in June, I would not have written another version, as these circumstances were the main reasons why I complained.

I should stress the FIDE Legal director‘s messages would be fine in themselves, but just added to my suffering after more than 6 months of painful silence. The legal director was not among the people whom I had addressed the previous messages, and who stayed silent then. In my opinion, one should maintain neutrality once there is a valid complaint. If my complaint was invalid, why would the whole FIDE have to stay silent?

The whole issue from the beginning to the end felt so unjust and painful that I planned to publish the whole story, submit an appeal against Mr Dvorkovich and commit a suicide soon afterwards. Being a religious person, I planned to wait until mid-January, as Western Christmas, Chanukah and Orthodox Christmas (as well as the World Rapid and Blitz Championships) were coming. Then I quite unexpectedly reached my second-highest blitz rating on Lichess. Given that my both December OTB blitz tournaments did not go well, I took no action, as I could appear suspect. Then I had some poor results on Lichess, but felt too tired to write. So I eventually gave up the vicious idea and continued playing as before. I am not sure what would happen if some circumstances were a bit different. Anyway, the correspondence is telling.

I do not plan to submit a new appeal, either. I just want people to know what happened. And if you wonder why am I writing now, I recently gave an explosive interview to New in Chess Podcast. I was hesitating till the very day how open and critical I should be, but when I read the correspondence with(out) FIDE again, I came to the conclusion that I had to speak out. This long text is an attempt to present the topic in a bit calmer and more structured way.

Because we care

When joining FIDE, Mr Dvorkovich used the slogan Because we care. I would like to thank him for the good things which he has done for FIDE.

In my opinion, Mr. Dvorkovich is personally responsible for the way how FIDE treated me. He was among the recipients of most of my messages on the topic, including the ignored calls for help. Given that he is the FIDE President, no other member could have forbidden him to reply. He could also have delegated it to someone. The actions of FIDE (or lack thereof) caused me a lot of suffering, although my games and results in Titled Tuesdays were completely in order. I was open about my health problems in my desperate calls for help, yet FIDE did not care at all to react and answer my questions, which were perfectly reasonable. Nor to send me a single word of apology. I firmly believe that Mr Dvorkovich should resign.

Postscript

I am very busy playing three tournaments in a row until June 16, so please do not write to me now unless at least one of the following options holds:

a) We are very good friends.

b) It is very important.

c) It is urgent.

d) You are a FIDE official who wants to apologize.