Chess is in shock after the death of Daniel Naroditsky, one of the most respected grandmasters of his generation.
The American, just 29 years old, was found dead in his home in Charlotte, North Carolina. His family did not reveal the causes of death, although the context surrounding his life in recent months was marked by persistent public harassment.
Victim of the “defender of purity”
Naroditsky He had been the target of the insinuations of former world champion Vladimir Krámnik, who repeatedly accused him—without presenting evidence— of computer-assisted cheating. In recent years, The Russian became a controversial figure within the circuit: he defined himself as a “defender of the purity of chess”, but many point to him as the main person responsible for a wave of defamations that has already left deep wounds in the community.
The Charlotte Chess Center shared a statement from his family confirming his “unexpected death.” While the official cause of death has not been revealed, the news has left fans and other players stunned.
Naroditsky, popular on Twitch and other social media, recently explained in a YouTube video why he took a few weeks off. According to People, his death shocked the chess community. In addition to being a great teacher, Naroditsky was a writer.
“They thought I was gone forever, but they don’t know that I’m back and I’m better than ever.”he said on October 17.
“I know the episodes have been few. I’ve been taking a creative break of sorts, deciding what content I’ll create in the future. “I won’t go into it too much now because I know everyone is excited about the chess games.”he added.
Just three days later, Naroditsky’s family confirmed just three days after his last YouTube video that the chess champion had died.
The statement from his family
The Naroditsky family shares the sad news of Daniel’s unexpected death. Daniel was a talented chess player, educator and a beloved member of the chess community. We request privacy during the family’s grief, the center wrote in X.
The statement, dated October 20, says: «With great sadness, we share the unexpected death 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 statement continued: “We request privacy for Daniel’s family during this very difficult time. Let us remember Daniel for his passion and love for chess, and for the joy and inspiration he gave us every day.
The former chess prodigy, who became Grandmaster at just 18 years old. Over the past year, Naroditsky faced harsh cheating accusations from former world champion Vladimir Kramnik.
Allegations of AI cheating
Kramnik, 50, suggested his American rival was cheating, using images of Naroditsky’s online games to claim that he was looking at a second screen on which he had a sophisticated computer program that could calculate millions of chess moves per second.
Naroditsky sHe always vehemently denied cheating and had never received any other accusations of misconduct from other players.
Kramnik later deleted his account on the chess.com website after launching a GoFundMe to crowdfund his unspecified goal of “try to clean modern chess of cheating.”
In a final stream shared on Twitch, later deleted, Naroditsky repeatedly fell asleep while playing, discussed the impact of Kramnik’s accusations, and appeared deeply distraught.
After learning of his death, Kramnik wrote: “Don’t do drugs” in a post before referencing to a “strange recent transmission” from the American star.
The next day, he responded to a post with a screenshot of Naroditsky’s latest video, writing: “I’m not a doctor, but it seems like something very different from sleeping pills. I hope that, if anything, some of my friends actually care.”
They are cold reaction in insensitive insensitive unleashed fury fury in the chess world.
“A shame for chess”
“He [Kramnik] “It literally took a life.”Indian chess grandmaster Nihal Sarin told the Indian Express.
Sarin, who was the last player to face Naroditsky online before his death, said the American seemed worried during his last game.
He said he was under enormous pressure due to a bunch of unfounded accusations, led by Kramnik, of course. Apparently, and unfortunately, many others also joined the accusation, Sarin said.
“Why would someone like Naroditsky cheat? And that’s a question that guys like Kramnik can easily ignore,” he added. “I can’t take in how deranged some of these minds are. I don’t understand what they get out of this. What do they get out of ruining someone’s life?” he sentenced.
Hikaru Nakamura, Naroditsky’s partner in the chess world and third-ranked American streamer, also criticized Kramnik after his friend’s death.
“This guy is a disgrace to chess”he said in a live broadcast. “I repeat, Kramnik can go to hell. He can go to hell and rot in hell.”
