The chess profiler was horrified by what she got in the mail – now a player has been banned for five years

– The sickest thing was that he sent the letter as if he were someone else. I opened the letter thinking it was from a friend. It’s sick. I was completely horrified and thought “why am I getting this”? That’s what Swedish Anna Cramling tells us in the latest episode of the podcast Sjakksnakk. news has not been able to speak to Cramling himself, but has received permission from the Sjakksnakk editors to quote extensively from the podcast. Cramling is a chess player and one of the world’s biggest streamers within the field. She is followed by over one million on YouTube and is an important voice in the chess world. Now the 22-year-old from Sweden reveals that she is one of several female victims who have been sexually harassed by a foreign player who holds the title of international master – the second highest title in chess. It was Cramling himself who took up the letter when he was a guest on the podcast. The Swede says that it happened when he was 17 or 18 years old. FIDE: Sending to minors In August, the male chess player was banned from chess for five years by the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The reason is that he is said to have sent letters to women, some of them children, with obscene content. He is also not allowed to be present at Fide events. It was the Russian exile newspaper Meduza that first revealed the news about the many letters two and a half years ago. According to the newspaper, at least 15 players must have received letters. Several of them are Russian women. The Swedish chess streamer does not go into what she received in the mail, but Meduza and FIDE write that several of the other women were sent pornography and used condoms. – FIDE will not tolerate any form of harassment or abuse within the chess environment, especially in cases where minors are involved, said FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich in connection with the case. MIGHTY PRESIDENT: Arkadij Dvorkovits, president of FIDE, strongly disagrees with the actions of the male player. Photo: MAXIM SHEMETOV / Reuters In FIDE’s decision, they write that the police traced letters to the foreign chess player using forensic evidence. It is not known to news whether the letter Cramling received is part of the investigations by FIDE, the police and Meduza. According to FIDE, the chess player wrote other sender names on the letters he sent. The Chess Federation wrote in the decision that the police in the player’s home country concluded that the actions were not punishable in accordance with their laws. The chess player admits to having sent letters to women. He is nevertheless critical of the exclusion. Read more from the chess federation’s decision further down in the case. Reacting to the punishment, Cramling believes that the ban from FIDE should be far stricter than five years. – This man had the addresses of all these people and sent something so disgusting to these young girls. It’s terrible. I think his punishment should be much stricter, she says in the Sjakksnakk episode and adds: – He should have received at least 30-40 years. Five years is far too short. I don’t understand what’s going on with it. news has sent an inquiry to FIDE with the criticism from Cramling, but has not received a reply. The Norwegian chess player Sheila Barth Stanford says that the case has shaken the chess community. NORWEGIAN PROFILE: Sheila Barth Stanford is one of the most experienced chess players in the country. Photo: Rune Stoltz Bertinussen / NTB scanpix – This was so gross that it was easy for everyone I spoke to to say that this is not legal at all. Nobody finds anything palliative about this, says Stanford to news. She agrees with Cramling that the punishment could well be stricter. At the same time, she boasted that the girls told about what had happened. – That is one of the most important things here. That one says so that others can also see that this may have happened to several people. If everyone is inside with their experiences, you can’t take them, she says. The alleged letter does not concern chess. news has not been able to get in touch with the banned player to ask how he views the allegations from the women, Cramling and the ban. The player has learned via an intermediary that news wants to contact him, something he has chosen to overlook. In the decision, FIDE nevertheless writes that the player believed that only one of the letters he sent could be a breach of the rules of the chess federation. He expressed that the other letters “had nothing to do with chess or chess competitions”. – The respondent further claims that the letter does not concern FIDE or the national chess federations, and furthermore the operations of these organisations. In fact, he claimed that FIDE has no jurisdiction over the matters in question, writes the association. The banned player is also said to have argued that it is not harassment to receive a letter every six months, according to the chess association. Askild Bryn and Odin Blikra Vea, the duo behind the Chess Talk podcast with Anna Cramling, have been linked to news as chess experts. Published 13.09.2024, at 13.20



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