“We’ll see if ‘certain players’ choose to keep having Kramnik as their coach…” — Nakamura on Kramnik’s Ban

Hikaru Nakamura

World's No. 3, streamer

“It’s good that something happened.

I don’t really have a strong opinion on the topic. I think that the damage is done. Not just to Daniel, but to so many other players certainly. But it’s good that there is at least some recognition that something that happened wasn’t right.

To give an example, if you look at one of the players at Naroditsky Memorial 2026, Ethan Sheehan, I’m sure that so many players in the past if you saw him play online, you would automatically assume there’s cheating — ‘He’s just some National Master and he has 3100 rating’. That’s like in the old days you would assume that.

I think, if there’s any silver lining — it’s that, with all of the notoriety and all sorts of speculation around players, you actually see a lot of these players who are basically known for playing online, and now when they play over-the-board they’re playing at the same levels.

Another good example would of course be Denis Lazavik as well. There’s also Bluebaum and others — this list is countless as we all know.

But I think it’s good that something happened. And, I guess, we’ll just see if certain players choose to keep having Kramnik as their coach going forward.”