“Danya” Naroditsky died unexpectedly at age 29; The Grandmaster, considered a prodigy and much loved in the chess community, was a specialized streamer and tireless promoter of the board.
Mexico City, October 21 (However).– The Grand Master Daniel Naroditsky and one of the stars of chess in the world, as well as a tireless sports promoter and one of the most beloved in the chess community, died this week in the United States (EU) unexpectedly to the 29 years. His family has not detailed the cause of death.
“The Naroditsky family shares the sad news of Daniel’s unexpected passing. Daniel was a talented chess player, educator and a beloved member of the chess community. We request privacy as the family grieves,” it said in a statement published Monday by the Charlotte Chess Center, where the Grandmaster belonged.
“It is with great sadness that we share the unexpected passing of Daniel Naroditsky. Daniel was a talented chess player, commentator and educator, and a much-loved member of the chess community, admired and respected by fans and players around the world. He was also a loving son and brother, and a loyal friend to many,” the family message noted.
The Naroditsky family shares the sad news of Daniel’s unexpected passing. Daniel was a talented chess player, educator, and beloved member of the chess community. We ask for privacy as the family grieves. pic.twitter.com/otNdUxDKtL
— Charlotte Chess Center (@CLTchesscenter) October 20, 2025
“We request privacy for Daniel’s family during this very difficult time. Let us remember Daniel for his passion and love of chess, and for the joy and inspiration he brought us every day,” the Naroditskys asked.
Social media messages posted by other chess grandmasters, as well as amateur and community players, show the affection they had for Daniel Naroditsky, known as “Danya.”
“A light in the world who dedicated his life to sharing his wisdom with others. He seemed like a charming and kind young man. He helped me so much in my chess career that it is difficult not to consider him a friend. This is an indescribable and unimaginable loss. Chess will never be the same,” said a social media user.
“He cared deeply about ensuring everyone had access to high-quality instructional content for free, and he dedicated himself to that mission more than anyone. It’s very difficult to process,” another person wrote. “Danya was a wonderful person, as well as a great player and educator. His comments were full of passion for words and chess, and most importantly, he was always very kind,” said another.
“Danya” Naroditsky, a precocious prodigy
Naroditsky was just over three weeks away from turning 30 and was recognized as one of the most talented chess players in the United States. He was a Grandmaster since he was 18 years old and became one of the best ranked players in his country, a sporting power, in the last decade.
Their statistics confirm the general feeling. His ranking was within the top 150 in the world and in the top 20 of the best in the US. In addition to being Grandmaster, “Danya” Naroditsky had a streaming channel on the Twitch platform, popular among those who broadcast chess games, and also on YouTube, where he analyzed games.
The American Grandmaster had a large community: more than 340 thousand users followed him on Twitch until this week (there is no longer any video available on the platform) and on YouTube he still has half a million followers (498 thousand). His most viewed videos range from 120 thousand to 200 thousand views.
“Danya” Naroditsky was born in San Mateo, California, on the west coast of the United States. He was the son of Jewish immigrants who had arrived from Ukraine and Azerbaijan. He was a Grandmaster since 2013. He studied history at Stanford University, where he graduated in 2019, but his passion for chess brought him fame since he was a child.
Utterly devastated. pic.twitter.com/ZhVbitY79R
— Sam Shankland (@SamShankland) October 20, 2025
He is the youngest player to win the Northern California K-12 Chess Championship and remained among the top 200 in the world in classical chess throughout his career. Among his most memorable games, experts remember his victories against great masters such as the Russian Dmitry Jakovenko and against Fabiano Caruana, considered one of the best chess players of his time. Naroditsky beat him when his compatriot was number two in the world.
Among her triumphs, “Danya” won the US Under 20 Youth Championship, when she was 17 years old, and even published a book, Mastering Positional Chess (“Mastering Positional Chess”, in Spanish) at 14 years old. He won the gold medal in the Under-12 Open section of the 2007 FIDE World Junior Championships.
The chess community turns to “Danya”
The Naroditsky and chess community in general has poured out messages of love and affection for Grandmaster “Danya”, whom they have described not only as a brilliant chess player, but as a great person, generous and with a great sense of humor.
“The effusive expressions of affection for Danny and the countless testimonies about the impact of his friendship, kindness and passion for chess from so many people say more about the magnitude of this terrible loss than I ever could. A shining star forever in the sky. Rest in peace,” wrote Russian Garry Kasparov, one of the most famous chess players in history, on X (formerly Twitter). and considered the best of all time by some.
It’s difficult to come to terms with the news we heard yesterday. Danya was so loved in the chess world. He was incredibly talented, as a chess player and also as a teacher, writer, and commentator. His passion for chess shone through when he was commentating and when he was…
— Fabiano Caruana (@FabianoCaruana) October 21, 2025
Magnus Carlsen, considered the best in the world today and one of the best chess players in history, declared that “it is a great loss.” “It is very sad for all of us that someone who was such a valuable resource for the chess community and who also had high universal approval among everyone who knew him has reached the point he was at,” he said.
“It is difficult to assimilate the news we received yesterday. ‘Danya’ was very loved in the world of chess. He had an incredible talent, both as a player, teacher, writer and commentator. His passion for chess was evident both when commenting and when competing. He had an overflowing personality, he was incredibly intelligent, witty, funny and, above all, very kind and generous,” Caruana noted.
“It’s a great loss. It’s very sad for all of us that somebody who was such a resource to the chess community and also had a universally high approval rating from everybody he met was led to the place that he was.”@MagnusCarlsen on the passing of Daniel Naroditsky. pic.twitter.com/BQJ9Flbp0J
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) October 21, 2025
“This morning we received the tragic news of the death of Daniel Naroditsky. He was one of the most beloved chess players, creators, authors, coaches and commentators,” indicated the Chess.com site, one of the largest communities in the world, where thousands of players practice the sport daily from their computers or cell phones and at the same time create a strong bond.
“We have lost one of the brightest voices in chess, and his passing leaves a deep and painful mark on us. Few people will impact the game like Danya, and it is deeply tragic how much more he had to give. We are grateful for Danya’s presence and our hearts are with his many friends and family,” added the statement.
Grandmaster Peter Leko of Hungary, who shared several transmissions with Naroditsky, said he was shocked by the news. “With a total void… The chess world lost a brilliant mind and an incredibly humble man. My deepest condolences to his family. Rest in peace, Danya,” Leko told Chess.com.
Levon on the passing of Daniel Naroditsky: “It’s heartbreaking. I knew Danya quite well and I can say he was always a good friend and a nice guy.” pic.twitter.com/9Voxp8SGRz
— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) October 20, 2025
Oleksandr Bortnyk, Ukrainian Grandmaster and friend of Naroditsky at the Charlotte Chess Club, said during a Twitch stream on Monday that “Dany” was “a very talented chess player,” but, above all, “he was a very good person, a very nice guy. He was a good friend.”
However, in the last few hours the accusations – without evidence and denied time and again by Naroditsky – by the Russian Vladimir Kramnik against the American for allegedly cheating in games and using specialized software went viral on social networks. The community at large considered the accusations unfounded.
“When Kramnik started attacking Naroditsky so vehemently, I privately expressed to Naroditsky that I was sorry for what was happening and that I supported him. I probably should have done it publicly as well. The way Kramnik attacked him was horrible,” Carlsen said this week.
In his last video posted to YouTube last Friday, three days before his death, Naroditsky began by saying: “They thought I was gone forever, but I’m back better than ever. I know the episodes have been few and far between. I’ve been taking a bit of a creative break, deciding on, you know, future lines of content. So I won’t go into it too much now because I know everyone’s excited for some games of chess. So that we are going to pick up where we left off”, and then move on to his usual analysis of chess games.
Their transmissions had become more and more spaced out. In the last semester, he published just seven episodes on YouTube.
However, his last broadcast is from Saturday, two days before his death, on his Twitch channel. The video, like the rest of his content on that platform, has been removed. In that last program, he again denied the accusations against him.
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