One of America’s brightest chess prodigies — a mind once hailed as unstoppable — has died far too soon.
Daniel Naroditsky, the beloved chess grandmaster and online educator who inspired millions with his brilliant play and teaching, has passed away at just 29 years old.
Cause of death
Daniel Naroditsky, the 29-year-old chess grandmaster who brought the ancient game to life for a new generation online, has died — leaving fans, students, and fellow players heartbroken.
The Charlotte Chess Center in North Carolina, where Naroditsky served as head coach, confirmed the tragic news Monday, calling him “a talented chess player, educator, and beloved member of the chess community.”
His family urged that he be remembered “for his passion and love for the game.” No cause of death has been revealed.
To hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide, he wasn’t just Daniel — he was “Danya,” the calm, witty voice who could make even the most complex chess puzzles feel like an adventure.
On YouTube and Twitch, Naroditsky streamed late-night matches with patience, humor, and rare generosity.
“He loved streaming, and he loved trying to be educational,” said fellow grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura during an emotional livestream.
“The chess world is very grateful.”
Learned chess from his older brother
Born in San Mateo, California, in 1995, Naroditsky was the son of Jewish immigrants — a mathematician father from Ukraine and a pianist mother from Azerbaijan. He first learned chess from his older brother, Alan, at age six.
“It wasn’t love at first sight,” he once told The New York Times. “It was a gradual process. A lot of my best memories are just doing stuff with my brother.”
That “gradual process” turned into genius. By nine, he was already the top-ranked U.S. player in his age group. At eleven, he captured the World Youth Championship (Under-12) title in Turkey. By eighteen, he had become a grandmaster and one of the youngest published chess authors in the world with Mastering Positional Chess.
After graduating from Stanford University in 2019, Naroditsky moved to Charlotte to teach full-time — quickly becoming a cornerstone of the modern chess boom.
He was ranked among the top 200 classical players globally and dominated faster “blitz” formats, where lightning reflexes are key.
Just this past August, he won the U.S. Blitz Championship with a perfect 14–0 record — a feat few have ever achieved.
800,000 followers
But it wasn’t only his brilliance that set him apart — it was his warmth.
He made chess fun, approachable, and human. His YouTube and Twitch channels, which drew over 800,000 followers, transformed him into one of the game’s first true digital stars.
“He could explain the game to an ant,” joked international master Levy Rozman (GothamChess). “He existed at the perfect crossroads of playing brilliantly and explaining brilliantly.”
Outside the streaming world, Naroditsky contributed puzzles and columns to The New York Times, always eager to share his lifelong fascination with the game. “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.”
His colleagues and friends described him as endlessly kind and humble. Danny Rensch of Chess.com called him “more than an amazing, inspirational face of our game — he was a friend and brother.”
”A very kind guy”
Grandmaster Oleksandr Bortnyk, one of his closest friends, broke down during 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.’”
Naroditsky’s final YouTube video, posted just days before his passing, was titled “You Thought I Was Gone!?” Smiling into the camera, he told his fans: “I’m back, better than ever.”
The U.S. Chess Championship in St. Louis began its eighth round Monday with a moment of silence in his honor. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) called his death “a devastating loss.”
Daniel Naroditsky is survived by his mother, Lena, and his brother, Alan. His father, Vladimir, passed away in 2019.
