American chess grandmaster and commentator Daniel Naroditsky died on Monday, aged 29.
The Charlotte Chess Club in North Carolina, where Naroditsky taught, announced his death on social media.
“The Naroditsky family shares the sad news of Daniel’s unexpected passing,” the club said. “Daniel was a talented chess player, educator, and beloved member of the chess community. We ask for privacy as the family grieves.”
The cause of the death was not immediately known.
“Let us remember Daniel for his passion and love for the game of chess,” the Naroditsky family said in a post on X, “and for the joy and inspiration he brought to us all every day.”
Naroditsky was born in 1995 in North Carolina, the son of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
Growing up in San Mateo County, California, he was a child chess prodigy who quickly rose to become a World Chess Champion at the age of 18, and a grandmaster in 2013.
One of the most recognisable chess figures in the US, he consistently ranked within the top 200 worldwide at traditional chess and maintained a top 25 ranking throughout his adult career at fast-paced blitz chess.
Most recently, he won the US National Blitz Championship in August with a perfect score.
“Daniel enjoyed everything about chess, whether it was playing, studying or learning about the history of the game. He was a voracious reader of chess literature,” the US national team coach, John Donaldson, said.
Naroditsky was also a popular chess commentator and an online educator, who regularly streamed games on platforms like Twitch and YouTube, gaining a huge following due to his humorous personality and entertaining style.
The grandmaster published two books on chess, becoming one of the youngest published chess authors ever.
He summed up his views on sport and life in 2022: “At the end of the game, both the king and the pawn go into the same box.”
“He loved streaming, and he loved trying to be educational. The chess world is very grateful,” Hikaru Nakamura, fellow American grandmaster, said in his livestream on Monday.
Top chess players from around the world took to social media to express their shock and sadness at Naroditsky’s passing, with many praising him as a skilled player and a gifted educator.
“I still can’t believe it and don’t want to believe it,” Dutch grandmaster Benjamin Bok said on X.
“It was always a privilege to play, train, and commentate with Danya, but above all, to call him my friend.”
Armenian grandmaster Levon Grigori Aronian said: “It’s heartbreaking. I knew Danya quite well and I can say he was always a good friend and a nice guy.”
