ARPORA (NORTH GOA): In one of Arkady Dvorkovich's first public utterances since Daniel Naroditsky's death and the subsequent microscope on Vladimir Kramnik's alleged role, the FIDE president acknowledged that 'Vladimir is a good friend and we had good relationships for many years' but 'we just all feel that it went in the wrong direction'. FIDE has already asked the former world champion for documentary proof but Kramnik has yet to provide them with any. In a near 30-minute interaction on Day 1 of the World Cup, the former Russian politician also spoke about India's growing influence in the world of chess, the probe into Naroditsky's death and the FIDE's recent tie-up with Norway Chess. Excerpts:
On FIDE's recent relations with India
The real jump was when Chennai hosted the Olympiad in 2022. That's when we started building close ties with the All India Chess Federation (AICF), federal government and the local governments. We do believe that such a big country and a chess powerhouse like India should be able to host one major event per year, that's normal. Of course, we were happy to see a new generation of players coming to the stage and competing for top positions.
On Naroditsky's death and FIDE's probe
We all at FIDE are really sorry about Daniel's death. He was really a personality that influenced the chess world in a positive manner by being a great player, commentator and educator. For me, it's personal. On the other side, it's also an institutional issue. We all understood that he was affected by hints, sometimes aggressive hints, related to potential cheating. Even if those weren't direct accusations, he felt like those were real accusations against him and some other players, like David Navara. At the moment, it's in the hands of the Investigation and Ethics Commission. I cannot pre-empt the findings. I'm not accusing anyone at this point. Having said that, I need to mention that I tried to persuade Vladimir Kramnik informally that he should be less aggressive before but not after what had happened since I felt that's a bit too much. I also asked him to provide the full methodology that he's using to bring his hints or accusations. I mean a clear scientific foundation for the statistics and we didn't receive it. We know for sure that Daniel was affected. I repeat we do not accuse anyone.
On the issue of cheating in chess
We always took it seriously. The question is how the whole community feels about that, since we do need support from the whole community to deal with the issue. Online component is the most difficult one, of course, and here the collaboration with platforms is essential. They do have their approaches. They share those partially, not fully. I understand that.
On the Total World Chess Championship (FIDE, with Norway Chess, announced this as a new competition to come in place from 2027)
Firstly, we do believe that our Classical Championship title is the most important one. That's chess tradition and history. We also know that from talking to people, from opinion polls, from viewership data that the Classical title is the most important. People believe that that is the best player in the world. We do hope that it will remain the same. But the reality is that still life is faster, Classical chess is getting faster. The Classical time control at the World Cup is, for instance, faster than the World Championships or the Candidates. But it came as a co-incidence because we were thinking about something like that (the tournament will combine Fast Classic, Rapid and Blitz and announce a winner after four annual events beginning in 2027) and that's when Norway Chess came to us with this. So why not?
Select results (Rd 1, Game 1): Yagiz Erdogmus bt Nagi Abugenda, Ediz Gurel bt Igor Efimov, Nils Grandelius bt Mohamed Allam, V Pranav bt Ala Boulrens, P Iniyan bt Dylan Berdayes, Raunak Sadhwani drew with Daniel Barrish, Faustino Oro drew with Ante Brkic, Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis bt Divya Deshmukh
(in the second game of the first round, players play with different colours)
