US chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky dies at 29

American chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, 29, passed away unexpectedly, his family announced on Monday in a statement from his Charlotte Chess Center.

The family expressed their shock at the untimely passing of Daniel Naroditsky.

Daniel was a devoted member of the chess community and a gifted chess player, commentator, and educator.

Not immediately known what caused the death.

At the age of 18, Naroditsky achieved the highest ranking in chess, the other highest position in the game, surpassing World Chess Champion.

The California-born player won the Under 12 world championship in the early 1990s and spent his teenage years drafting chess strategies books as he rose up the global rankings.

He consistently placed in the top 200 in the world for traditional chess, and he also excelled in blitz chess, a fast-paced game that lasted his entire adult career.

Most recently, Naroditsky, also known as Danya, won the August edition of the American National Blitz Championship. In the previous year’s blitz world championship, he also placed ninth.

Daniel’s unexpected passing has sad news to the Naroditsky family. Daniel was a gifted chess player, a respected educator, and a devoted supporter of the game. As the grieving family gets worse, we ask for privacy. pic. twitter.com/otNdUxDKtL

Naroditsky, one of his fellow grandmasters, livestreamed many of his matches and shared live commentary on others, giving the sport the credit of opening it up to a wider audience. Naroditsky’s play was frequently streamed on Twitch and the interactive streaming platform Twitch.

He adored watching educational videos and trying to be. American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura stated on a live stream on Monday that the chess world is “very grateful.”

You Thought I Was Gone!, his final video was posted to his YouTube channel on Friday. After taking a break from streaming, Narditsky declared to his audience that he was “back, better than ever.” As he played chess matches live on a computer from his home studio, he explained his moves.

Other world-class chess players took to social media to express their shock and sadness.

Viswanathan Anand, the five-time World Chess Champion and grandmaster of Indian chess, described Naroditsky as “an excellent chess commentator and educator” and “a genuinely nice person.”

Benjamin Bok, the Dutch grandmaster of chess, described his lifelong bond with Naroditsky as he said he has known him since Naroditsky won the Under-12 world championship in 2007.

On X, Bok said, “I still can’t believe it and don’t want to believe it.” “It was always a privilege to play, train, and commentate with Danya, but most of all, I referred to him as my friend.”

Naroditsky was the child of Ukrainian and Azerbaijani Jews who immigrated to the US. His parents described him as a very serious child with an impressive attention span and memory, and he was born and raised in San Mateo County, California.

After taking a year off from chess tournaments, he transferred to Stanford University to study history. In 2019, he received a bachelor’s degree.