'It's NOT my fault': Chess bully who accused tragic grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky of cheating says he feels 'no guilt' over shock death at 29 in bombshell interview

Former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik has argued that it is 'not his fault' and that he feels 'no guilt' in the wake of the passing of grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky - after the 50-year-old spent recent years publicly accusing the younger player of cheating. 

Two friends of Naroditsky, grandmaster Oleksandr Bortnyk and Peter Giannatos, found him dead in the early hours of October 19 after Naroditsky had been taking part in a marathon livestreaming session. 

Both Bortnyk and Giannatos had pleaded with Naroditsky to finish playing with his online opponents and end the stream amid his increasingly emotional and distressing behaviour as the losses mounted up. 

The chess world has been plunged into grief in the wake of the tragedy, with many in the community - including one of the sport's biggest star's Magnus Carlsen - condemning Kramnik's behaviour towards Naroditsky, who was frequently the focus of the Russian grandmaster's online attacks. 

As Daily Mail Sport reported last week, last year Kramnik began a sustained campaign of unsubstantiated allegations against Naroditsky that, although few in the sport took seriously, took hold in the player's mind. 

But in a new interview, not only did Kramnik insist that he have nothing to do with Naroditsky's death, the older man, who said he had been labelled a 'villain', also stressed that he had never directly accused his younger rival of cheating. 

'Unfortunately, the atmosphere last year in the world of chess is becoming very toxic,' Kramnik told Al Arabiya in a live television interview. 'But in any case, I can state very clearly that there are major falsifications of my position which is happening. 

'I never accused Daniel of cheating. What I did, I collected very, very serious material which clearly, and I will stand by it, and I will prove it in any commission or whatever is needed, that it definitely shows that it has to be examined. That's all what I wanted. I collected documents. There were many strange things happening, and I just wanted it to be examined. 

'Unfortunately, it didn't happen. And instead of simply examining it and giving the opinion, I started from the very beginning to be accused of misconduct.

'It was not baseless accusations, as they pretend, and that will be a subject of my legal case because I said many times publicly, that it's not accusation and I asked many times (for the International Chess Federation and Chess.com) to consider it, but it was not done.'

Kramnik admitted that Naroditsky's death was very 'tragic and shocking and really heartbreaking' but doubled down that he had no guilt, and that an 'organised PR campaign' against him was being made after the 29-year-old's passing. 

The 50-year-old went on to allege a widespread cover-up in world chess, and claimed that because he had spoken up, he was being made a scapegoat for both FIDE and Chess.com. 

Kramnik added that the 'authorities are trying to do everything in their power to cover this issue' and that a 'whole industry of creating special cheating programs' had emerged which governing bodies and chess platforms were not able or perhaps unwilling to properly control.  

He also alleged that, although he did not file an official complaint about his belief that Naroditsky was cheating, he had offered up information to both FIDE and Chess.com but that they had not 'touched the issue'. 

'We lost a brilliant person, a very young player,' Kramnik said of Naroditsky. 'But it was not my fault. I was not hiding away. I was always responsible with my words, and I can always prove my words.'

Instead of believing the blame sat with pressure Naroditsky felt after being publicly accused of cheating, Kramnik instead hinted that Chess.com 'firing him from the position of main commentator' and his alleged disqualification in July from a Chess.com competition may have loomed large in his mind. 

Kramnik was insistent that he had been concerned for Naroditsky's welfare, appealing for public help to his social media followers on Instagram as he unraveled on his livestream - and even offered to help the Charlotte police force with 'non-public information' which could help their ongoing investigation into Naroditsky's death. 

As Daily Mail exclusively reported, police believe that Naroditsky may have either taken his life at his North Carolina home or died from an accidental overdose. Daily Mail understands there were no pills or alcohol near his body. 

As well as Carlsen, world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura condemned Kramnik, saying that he could 'go f*** himself and rot in hell', and Kramnik has been accused by the chess community of bullying Naroditsky. 

A petition was even launched by players in a bid to ban Kramnik and revoke his titles in the wake of the tragedy.  

Earlier this week, FIDE announced that Kramnik will be the subject of an investigation into bullying and harassment, but Kramnik claimed he had not been contacted since, even arguing instead that he himself had been the victim.

Kramnik shared that he had received hate messages and 'direct physical threats' to himself and his family, and alleged that he was planning on opening legal proceedings against Nakamura following his comments after 'months' of bullying. 

He added that he was not afraid for his life, but acknowledged that due to the information he has - which he said was keen to share with the mainstream media, the FBI, or police in Switzerland where he is based - he was aware he is 'at risk'. 

'The rabbit hole is very deep there, I can assure you,' Kramnik added, hinting at the scale of the conspiracy he sees at the heart of chess. 

In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Sport, fellow grandmaster Benjamin Bok said that he had never seen his friend Naroditsky suffer as he did during his final hours playing on the livestream. 

'Chess players can definitely experience a lot of stress from playing,' Bok said. 'But then baseless cheating allegations can cause even more strain.

'I think he definitely went too far,' he said of Kramnik. 'There was never any evidence. I think he should face some kind of punishment.'