American Grandmaster Daniel “Danya” Naroditsky, a celebrated chess player and one of the game’s most popular online educators, has died at the age of 29. His “unexpected passing” was confirmed by the Charlotte Chess Center, where he was head coach.
A chess prodigy, Naroditsky won a World Youth Championship, earned the Grandmaster title at 17, and later graduated from Stanford. He gained widespread acclaim for his popular Twitch and YouTube channels, where his enthusiastic teaching style brought chess to hundreds of thousands of followers.
His death has left the chess community in shock, with many, including GM Hikaru Nakamura, calling it a “massive loss.”
The news comes after a distressing year for Naroditsky. He was the target of a sustained public harassment campaign by former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, who repeatedly and baselessly accused him of cheating online. Naroditsky had publicly stated that the accusations were an “unhinged attempt to destroy my life,” and friends noted the immense stress and visible toll the ordeal had taken on him.