Daniel Naroditsky, a chess grandmaster who constructed a worldwide following by way of his accessible instructing type and blitz chess mastery, died unexpectedly at 29, his household introduced Monday. The California-born participant, who posted his first YouTube video after a nine-month absence final Friday, was discovered unconscious on a sofa at his Charlotte, N.C., residence on Sunday by membership founder Peter Giannatos and grandmaster Oleksandr Bortnyk. The reason for demise has not been disclosed.
Since his demise, many within the chess neighborhood, together with management within the Worldwide Chess Federation (FIDE), have pointed fingers at a chronic battle between Naroditsky and Russian former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who spent greater than a yr publicly accusing Naroditsky of dishonest in on-line chess with out offering substantial proof. In an October 2024 interview with the C-Squared podcast, Naroditsky referred to as Kramnik’s marketing campaign “a sustained, evil and completely unhinged try and destroy my life.” He added: “He’s making an attempt to destroy my life, he’s making an attempt to inflict emotional hurt, bodily hurt on me. He is aware of precisely what he’s doing.”
The accusations appeared to weigh closely on Naroditsky. In his ultimate livestream Saturday, he mentioned the lasting influence of Kramnik’s allegations. “Ever because the Kramnik stuff, I really feel like if I begin doing nicely, individuals assume the worst of intentions,” he stated. “The problem is simply the lingering impact of it.”
Indian grandmaster Nihal Sarin, who performed the final video games in opposition to Naroditsky on Chess.com, instructed The Indian Categorical Naroditsky had stated he was “underneath immense stress as a result of quite a lot of baseless accusations—headed by Kramnik, in fact.” Sarin stated Kramnik “has type of actually taken a life” and referred to as for sanctions in opposition to the Russian participant.
Naroditsky achieved the grandmaster title in 2013 when he was simply 18 years outdated. He received the Below-12 World Youth Chess Championship in 2007, and was persistently ranked within the prime 200 worldwide for classical chess, sustaining a prime 25 rating in blitz chess all through his profession. In August, he received the U.S. Nationwide Blitz Championship with an ideal 14-0 rating. His estimated internet price ranged between $500,000 and $1 million on the time of his demise.
Whereas he earned over $108,000 in documented prize cash from greater than 150 tournaments—together with $17,920 from a single 2021 on-line occasion—his aggressive winnings represented solely a fraction of his complete revenue. His true monetary success got here from diversifying into the burgeoning chess content material financial system.
With over 500,000 YouTube subscribers and 340,000 Twitch followers, Naroditsky created loads of additional income for himself by way of subscriptions, donations, promoting, and sponsorships. Trade information from 2024 estimated his month-to-month Twitch earnings between $10,000 and $30,000. He additionally authored two educational books—Mastering Positional Chess, printed when he was simply 14, and Mastering Complicated Endgames—that proceed to generate royalties. As head coach on the Charlotte Chess Middle and an everyday columnist for The New York Instances and Chess Life journal, his profession embodied the transformation of aggressive chess right into a viable digital enterprise mannequin, capitalizing on a worldwide on-line chess market valued at $1.2 billion in 2024 and projected to succeed in $3.6 billion by 2033.
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Naroditsky was extensively praised for his potential to clarify advanced chess ideas clearly. “Daniel was an unbelievable trainer and explainer of chess and ideas and concepts,” Daniel Weissbarth, co-owner of Silver Knights Chess Academy in Virginia, instructed the AP.
Kramnik, who turned world champion in 2000, has accused a number of gamers of on-line dishonest in recent times. Czech grandmaster David Navara revealed Kramnik’s allegations made him really feel suicidal and wrote to the Worldwide Chess Federation (FIDE) requesting sanctions, however no motion was taken. Chess.com suspended Kramnik from prize occasions in 2023 after he made accusations in opposition to a number of gamers, prompting Kramnik to assert the platform was making an attempt to “silence me.”
Following Naroditsky’s demise, Kramnik posted on social media platform X, writing “Don’t Do Medication” and calling for an investigation into what he described as “unusual latest stream” earlier than his demise. He claimed Naroditsky’s pals had been “hiding” alarming habits and erasing proof by eradicating latest Twitch movies. The feedback drew widespread condemnation from the chess neighborhood.
World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura stated he was “devastated” by the information and directed expletives at Kramnik on his livestream. Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, stated he had privately supported Naroditsky however “in all probability ought to have accomplished so publicly as nicely,” calling Kramnik’s pursuit of Naroditsky “appalling.”
FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky instructed Reuters the group was “wanting into” Kramnik’s year-long marketing campaign in opposition to Naroditsky. FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich stated the federation will set up a prize in Naroditsky’s reminiscence, describing him as “not solely a superb grandmaster, but in addition a tireless ambassador for chess, and above all—a sort, compassionate and actually good particular person.”
Naroditsky’s household requested privateness and requested he be remembered “for his ardour and love for the sport of chess, and for the enjoyment and inspiration he dropped at us all on daily basis.”
You may watch Naroditsky’s ultimate YouTube video beneath:
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to assist with an preliminary draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the data earlier than publishing.
