American chess grandmaster and popular online streamer Daniel Naroditsky has died at age 29.
The Charlotte Chess Center in North Carolina, where Naroditsky served as head coach, confirmed the news Monday, describing him as “a talented chess player, educator, and beloved member of the chess community.”
His family said he should be remembered “for his passion and love for the game.”
No cause of death was provided.
Known to fans as “Danya,” Naroditsky streamed regularly on YouTube and Twitch.
“He loved streaming, and he loved trying to be educational. The chess world is very grateful,” said fellow grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura on a livestream Monday, The Guardian reported.
Born on Nov. 9, 1995, in San Mateo, California, Naroditsky was the son of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
His father was a mathematician from Ukraine, and his mother a pianist from Azerbaijan. He learned chess at age 6 from his older brother.
“It wasn’t love at first sight,” he told The New York Times in 2022. “It was a gradual process. A lot of my best memories are just doing stuff with my brother.”
By age 9, Naroditsky was the top-ranked player in the United States for his age group.
He won the Under-12 World Youth Championship in 2007 and published “Mastering Positional Chess” at 14, becoming one of the youngest published chess authors in history.
He earned the grandmaster title at 18 after winning the U.S. Junior Championship, later graduating from Stanford University in 2019 with a degree in history.
Naroditsky remained among the world’s top 200 classical players for much of his career and was especially successful in blitz chess, ranking in the world’s top 25 and winning the 2024 U.S. Blitz Championship with a perfect 14–0 record.
His YouTube and Twitch channels together drew more than 800,000 followers, making him a prominent chess streamer.
He also contributed to The New York Times as a columnist and puzzle designer.
“Even at my level,” he said in 2022, “I can still discover beautiful things about the game every single time I train, teach, play or commentate.”
Naroditsky was known for his generosity with fans, often staying after tournaments to talk and sign autographs.
In 2021, he recorded one of his best career victories by defeating world No. 2 Fabiano Caruana at the U.S. Championship.
Tributes from across the chess community described Naroditsky as both gifted and kind.
Danny Rensch, chief chess officer at Chess.com, said he was “more than an amazing, inspirational face of our game, he was a friend and brother.”
Grandmaster Oleksandr Bortnyk, a close friend, said on his livestream, “He was a very good guy. A very kind guy.
“My last words to him were, ‘Danya, don’t worry about anything. I love you so much.'”
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