Vladimir Kramnik commented on the New in Chess’s (NiC) statement about the result of the court hearing between them. Kramnik believes that the judge sided with NiC. Vladimir states that he is almost finished with an appeal against the result.

Vladimir Kramnik

Vladimir Kramnik

14th World Champion

“It seems that New in Chess continues to enjoy privileged treatment from the court.

During the hearing, they were provided over 20 minutes to present their position, while my legal representative was only allowed 10 minutes, without any adequate justification for this.

I was cut off by the Judge exactly when I started getting into concrete factual fabrications in the other side’s submissions, and was requested to talk about something else instead.

Since I have still not received anything from the court, nor has the decision been published on its official website, I am unable to provide comments for now. When, and if, I am formally informed, I will provide my opinion.

An appeal is almost ready. Most of it was prepared in advance, especially after the experience at the hearing. Still, the document must first be finalized in text form, if it ever comes to that.”

NiC announced the result of the court hearing between them and Vladimir Kramnik on September 1. NiC’s lawyer reported that the Dutch court decided to dismiss Kramnik’s claims. The court stated that Vladimir must tolerate strong criticism.

14th World Champion Vladimir Kramnik filed a lawsuit against NiC on August 3. Kramnik accused NiC of defamation in their August 2025 issue.

The August issue featured Leon Watson’s article ‘A Very Public Feud’. In the article, Kramnik was accused of cyberbullying Daniel Naroditsky. Watson suspected Vladimir of using alt accounts to spread public comments, cited a critical comment from a friend of Kramnik, and more.

New in Chess is an international chess magazine and book publisher. NiC was founded in 1984 and is owned by Scottish GM Jacob Aagaard.

Credit: Maria Emelianova / FIDE