Justice for GM Daniel Naroditsky - a video by WGM and IM Anna Rudolf

A few hours ago, WGM and IM Anna Rudolf posted a brave and emotional video about the cheating accusations against GM Daniel Naroditsky in October 2024, despite the lack of substantial evidence!

Back in 2007, she was falsely accused of cheating, which is still causing her emotional pain! 

Yea

But, without substantial evidence, all accusations stand invalid. Whoever accuses someone without substantial evidence also stands invalid.

Some accusations can be true...only the problem is that it can't be substantiated with evidence.

If you look at his last stream you will see he wasn't thinking straight. This had nothing to do with Kramnik. Not saying Kramnik's persistence is justified, but Danya had some major mental problems. He was blitzing for his match with Matthias Blubaum the next day. Need to look at the facts here. Accidental overdose most likely, and the two that found him apparently had access to his apartment. He never got up to let them in.

Do you mean that someone accessed his internet and then did some malpractices?

It's true that we shouldn't jump to conclusions.

But ... those who knew Danya and spoke to him near the end (at least those who have spoken up about it) have all said that the Kramnik issue caused him significant distress ... and this seems to be the only issue that they've spoken about.

Bortnyk said some of his last words to Danya were reassurance about the Kramnik issue ... the Kramnik issue was one of the last things that Danya spoke about in his erratic final stream ... Nihal played against Danya in his last chess games, and spoke to him online - and they spoke about the Kramnik issue there, as well ... It sounds (at least to me) that Kramnik's accusation was one of the last things on Danya's mind.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/i-stand-with-vladimir-kramnik?lc=1#last_comment

Its sad that so many people are endorsing Kramnik on the matter. ...

I am not saying it's not an issue. I don't know your age, but it is legal to drink after a certain age. Even drinking alcohol can get you worked up. If you are home alone and you drink, you are likely to sleep it off. If you are doing something active, like playing chess, and people come around you are going to act differently. More importantly, you are going to act upon your beliefs/philosophy.

Those that commit terrorist or serial murder acts often do it under the influence of something. This is not "Sane Daniel sat down long and hard, contemplated what to do, and why to do it. And then he committed a bad act."

This guy got worked up, was not in a good state of mind, and probably overdosed. This by itself was most likely accidental. Daniel was not debating Kramnik, "Well, if you say that, then I am going to...." They were not talking.

By the looks of it, players were intentionally not moving their piece after he played e4. They were hoping he would just stop and go to bed. Then, they came in. Maybe not the same people, but I think they worked together to try to contain Daniel. That in itself is also a problem. You can't put people in a capsule and protect them all the time.

I think if anything I would not have threatened to pull the plug, just hang out for the night and let him work off whatever he had in his system that took terrible effect on him at the end of his last stream.

Again, this had nothing to do with Kramnik. This had to do with his mental state. Kramnik should also be dealt with but for different reasons.

It's not trolling. Did you watch his last stream? He was obviously on something.

I know people want to find a culprit, and it makes you feel better but this is not news. Michael Jackson died from an overdose, Whitney Houston, and the list goes on where people are found dead in a hotel room or home due to an overdose.

Why can't Kramnik's wrong be a wrong and Daniel's overdosing also be a wrong?

Doubt it - narcissists generally don't have the required empathy.

A valid point ...

Kramnik's is definitely wrong.

We don't at this stage what happened with Naroditsky - whether it was an overdose (deliberate or accidental), whether it was a stroke, whether it was heart failure. So that's basically just gossip and speculation, whereas Kramnik's has a great deal of public statements and actions (let alone what he might been saying in private to people)

It appears people are using that logic to take sides which is the ultimate folly of everyone.

What does "definitely wrong" mean? If you ran into someone on the street spewing nonsense like this, what would you do?

I wouldn't go to every store or person and say, "He is definitely wrong."

In this social climate we have with Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, X/Twitter, TikTok, etc... people are replacing basement slideshows of their first baby's poop and dogs and posting their political agendas across all platforms. If someone supports you 98%, that is not good enough. You are ostracized. But on the streets, we walk on by these nutters and don't ban them, don't speak out against them, and don't blame them for the death of someone else.

You can play the CNN card if you want, "We will not state Danya was definitely wrong yet, but we will say Kramnik was definitely wrong." Ok, and what does that get you?

No, based on his last stream, Danya was DEFINITELY wrong. He should have turned off the computer earlier and gone to sleep. Others should not have had to come in to tell him that.

Now, as I understand it, he did play Matthias Blubaum in some "Comet" event. But what happened after that? I had my chronology backwards I think, and I thought he died the night of the stream. Was he later accused of cheating against Blubaum?

If not, I find it hard to use Kramnik as a cause for Danya's "definitely wrong" acts. Face it, Daniel made mistakes. As much of a perfect saint as you want to paint him, and I know it hurts you to core to think a good guy shouldn't play chess 24/7, this is what happened and it didn't happen because of Kramnik.