3 min readFeb 24, 2026 07:21 PM IST World champion D Gukesh has finally spoken out about the unsubstantiated — but widespread — cheating allegations that have clouded the sport of chess over the last few years. The 19-year-old world champion believes that people have made cheating a “bigger problem than it is”. The youngest world champion in the sport’s history also criticised former world champion Vladimir Kramnik for his allegations about cheating in recent years. In recent times, Kramnik has rebranded himself as an anti-cheating crusader of sorts, levelling accusations on social media about online cheating in chess. Kramnik’s claims have involved lots of finger pointing at multiple players such as grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky. But there has been little actual evidence to back those allegations. Recently after the untimely death of Naroditsky, who was one of the most popular content creators in the sport, Kramnik was roundly criticised by everyone from Indian GM Nihal Sarin to FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich besides legends of the game like Viswanathan Anand and Levon Aronian also speaking out …