The biggest drama in the chess world has taken another turn, after it was revealed that Hikaru Nakamura previously accused a young prodigy of cheating.
Grandmaster Nakamura dismissed “garbage” claims that he had cheated recently after being accused following an impressive winning streak.
Vladimir Kramnik was one of the prominent voices in the game to stir the pot – although he deleted his initial post, leading Nakamura to hit out at him for spreading the accusations.
Now, it’s emerged that Nakamura himself once accused a young player of cheating.
In a Twitter/X post by Chess Rumours, an anonymous social media user claimed that Nakamura once threatened to track down Andrew Tang, a future grandmaster who was 14 at the time, after he took him on in a match and scored 20 per cent.
It was also claimed that he had done this to GM Arjun Erigaisi – and now grandmaster Srinath Narayanan has posted to confirm those allegations.
“Can confirm that – true story about Arjun,” Erigaisi tweeted. “Young Arjun was obviously rattled by the baseless accusation and felt bad about it, but thankfully it did not break his confidence or deter his progress.”
It’s just another development in one of the most eye-catching sports stories of the year to date.
It comes after Nakamara recently posted a YouTube video hitting out at Kramnik, saying: “Someone doesn’t get to say these things without actual proof. They don’t get to falsely accuse people over and over again without having to pay a price.
“It’s very disrespectful and to me, it shows that Kramnik simply has no respect for anybody at the end of the day. You don’t get to make false accusations when you are not an expert. You don’t get to make false accusations when you do not have data to back yourself up.”
He went on to say: “I’m very proud of my record playing online, very proud of it, and I have nothing to hide.”
indy100 has reached out to Hikaru Nakamura for comment
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