For those who don't follow chess, what were the allegations? This article is intentionally vague on all the details.

He basically accused many players of cheating without any real evidence. His proofs are notoriously bad. The most notable examples are Daniel Naroditsky who was under immense psychological stress due to the allegations and died due to an accidental kratom overdose (kratom is used to self-medicate anxiety). Another prominent example are his allegations against Jose Martinez (aka Jospem) which resulted in them playing a grudge match which Jospem won. Kramnik was struggling with the tech in the online portion of the game. Basically he cannot accept that younger players beat him in quick formats and flings around ridiculous stuff. He's also feuding with Hikaru who is obviously really good at blitz.

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Aurornis 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> (kratom is used to self-medicate anxiety)

As a side note because I don’t want anybody to get the wrong idea: Kratom is an opioid and it is not an anxiety treatment. Some people with anxiety try to self-medicate with opioids because they can provide a temporary feeling of well being and euphoria, but they leave the person in worse condition when the effects wear off. This is what leads to the addiction and following dose escalation.

So without passing any judgment on anyone in this story, I would warn anyone else reading this that Kratom is decidedly a very bad way to try to cope with an anxiety condition and the false and fleeting feelings of calm that come from opioids will only bring more problems on top of a difficult mental health situation.

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BetterThanSober 20 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> accidental kratom overdose

You cannot overdose on plain leaf kratom

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prmoustache 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

How can one cheat in chess?

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Arainach 7 hours ago | parent [-]

By using computers.

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prmoustache 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Aren't tournaments either held in person or with at least some judge/referree witnessing both parties?

	▲	Arainach 6 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Many games are held online. In person, computers get smaller all the time (and there are bathroom breaks etc.). The history of trying to cheat at chess, casino games, and more with concealed computers is far too large a topic for one reply.
	▲	pdpi 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		We had that story[0] a couple of years back, about the guy who supposedly cheated by using vibrating anal beads. 0. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37657925
	▲	tetha 6 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		That didn't prevent Anna Rudolf being accused that she hid a supercomputer in her lip balm box made of tin sheet metal in 2007 and cheated with it in the bathroom. Some parts of the chess community are very ridiculous.

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TurdF3rguson 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Oh, I didn't hear that he died from kratom, maybe chess should be sanctioning Joe Rogan instead.

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moomin 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I’m not a follower either, but inference from the article tells me: Krammik has come up with some sort of cheat detection method, has loudly accused some others of cheating, and FIDE are both unconvinced of the truth of the allegations and very unhappy he didn’t do this through proper channels. He also doesn’t appear to have co-operated with the investigation.

	▲	arvyy 9 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		one of the players he persistently harassed, Daniel Naroditsky, ended up dying, which surely gave an extra push
	▲	rendall 8 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		His "cheat detection method" mostly consisted of playing someone online and then reporting them for cheating if he lost.

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lvRa 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

He posted mathematically unsound methods that accused online players of cheating. Including Naroditsky, who is no longer with us (draw your own conclusions).

This is a case of a Kramnik being a crank whom most people did not take seriously, but he still had an impact on the victims.

Fro Kramnik this is a mild penalty.