D Gukesh makes his stance clear on Kramnik's cheating allegations against chess Grandmasters: 'I'm against unethical play but...'

Reigning world champion D Gukesh has slammed former world champion Vladimir Kramnik over his claims of cheating in chess. Kramnik has consistently made allegations on social media about online cheating in chess, but he has not been able to bring up any solid evidence to back his claims.

Kramnik had famously levelled allegations of cheating, without proof, against Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, who died last year at just 29. In his last chess stream, an emotional Naroditsky had also spoken about the unsubstantiated allegations.

Many big names, including world No 1 Magnus Carlsen and Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, had criticised Kramnik for his unsubstantiated allegations against players.

Gukesh says he's against cheating but...

Gukesh, who became the youngest world chess champion in 2024, has said that, although he is against unfair play, people are talking too much about it.

“Obviously, I’m against any kind of unfair or unethical play," Gukesh said at a press conference before the start of the Prague International Chess Festival. “It’s a kind of problem that we have been seeing lately.

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"Many people over the last couple of years have been very paranoid about cheating. People are making it a bigger problem than it actually is.”

“I don’t support most of Kramnik’s allegations. I’m against any kind of unfair or unethical play. I’ve never done that, and I really hope nobody does that," he added.

Gukesh: 'I am not supporting Kramnik'

He also clearly stated that he does not stand with Kramnik on this issue.

“About Kramnik, what he has been doing, I’m obviously not supporting that," Gukesh said.

The 19-year-old will now be in action in the Prague International Chess Festival, where he is among the top attractions. The world champion is seeded second behind Vincent Keymer, with Hans Niemann and Nodirbek Abdusuttarov also being strong contenders.

After a lukewarm last year and a poor start to the year at the Tata Steel Masters, Gukesh will be hoping for a turnaround in form in Prague.