Chess publisher New in Chess (NiC) announced that 14th World Champion Vladimir Kramnik has filed a lawsuit against them. Kramnik accuses 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.

The legal proceedings are set to begin in Amsterdam on August 18. NiC calls on the chess community to support the project financially. NiC notes the approaching expensive legal costs.

New in Chess is an international chess magazine and book publisher. NiC was founded in 1984 and is owned by Scottish GM Jacob Aagaard. From 2026, NiC reduced the number of issues from 8 to 6 per year. They cited the need to reduce costs for international shipping.

Credit: Anna Shtourman / FIDE