When a user said that Norway Chess encourages racism against Indians, the organisers copy pasted the same message with an additional “WE ABSOLUTELY NOT!”.
Bengaluru: Norway Chess, one of the world’s most prestigious chess tournaments, finds itself embroiled in controversy after they failed to address racist comments against World Champion and Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh. The organisers issued a statement condemning the racist abuse aimed at Indian grandmaster D Gukesh—then quietly deleted it without explanation.
The controversy began after Gukesh defeated former world champion Magnus Carlsen in Round 6 of the tournament, prompting a flood of racist comments on social media. The comments targeted a stereotype associated with how Indians smell of curry, throwing shade at Gukesh.
Norway Chess, in a now deleted post, had written on X, that they do not tolerate racism or hate speech in any form. “We want to take a moment to address something important. We’ve seen the incredible reach of Gukesh’s historic win over Magnus, and we’re proud to celebrate moments like these that bring the global chess community together. However, we're also aware that among the thousands of comments across platforms, some hateful and racist remarks have appeared,” it read.
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They further added that the team actively moderates and removes harmful content. “But with the volume of engagement, it's a challenge to catch everything immediately. We are working to strengthen our moderation efforts and continue creating a space that respects all players and fans,” it added. Several users questioned why the post was deleted.
Questions over moderation
Following the post, several users pointed out that Norway Chess had ample time to delete the post. One woman asked why Norway Chess slept on the comment, stating that it had gained 30k likes. “It is surprising that you have to scroll a comment with 31k likes,” another user said.
“Totally understand your point. The video went viral really fast, and with our team across time zones, it took us about 12 hours to fully realise how big it had gotten. As soon as we saw the comment, we deleted it, reported it and blocked the user,” Norway Chess came in defense, adding that screenshots of the comment are still being shared on Twitter and Reddit.
When a user said that Norway Chess encourages racism against Indians, the organisers copy pasted the same message with an additional “WE ABSOLUTELY NOT!”.
