Chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky has died
60 comments
·October 20, 2025greedo
colechristensen
You might not ever get titled, but a 1400 online is very much good enough to join your national chess federation and be middle of the pack competitive in local rated chess tournaments and the like.
RandomBacon
Regarding the flagged/dead comment that links to concern about Daniel Naroditsky's health a few days ago, I don't think burrying our heads in the sand is correct approach now.
It might have been wise to respect his privacy and not talk about him publicly and while he was alive and could read it, but now that posting it cannot affect his mental health, perhaps mental health awareness is important to talk about.
(A side note, I still think the privacy of those who pass away is important, but I think talking about mental health is also important.)
greenavocado
Could have been an adverse reaction to Benadryl or his sleep disturbances could have been a warning sign.
"BeccaHarris: I took a Benadryl to make sure I got 8+ hours of sleep, it hit me a lot faster and harder than expected. before I knew it 15+ mins had passed and I nodded off a few times, and suddenly poeople were freaking ou"
https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1obo71s/comment/nkhb...
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2017/06/sleep-disturb...
JohnLocke4
I suggest we stop speculating about the cause of death and instead wait for an official announcement to be made. Please respect the family at this time.
mynameisvlad
I get respecting the family while grieving but let’s be real here, is anyone from the family realistically going to even find let alone care about random strangers speculating on a random internet platform that isn’t even related to chess?
The chance of this even reaching them is infinitesimally small. We’re not standing around talking about it with them in the room, we shouldn’t be pretending like we are.
colechristensen
Morbid curiosity is maybe natural but I think it's bad form for a bunch of online speculation into cause of death by armchair researchers. He's a real person and his family and friends are real people and they deserve freedom from that kind of speculation running wild across the Internet. There's no benefit for anyone, it's just curiosity that shouldn't be engaged in.
programjames
I would prefer you refer to it as "courtesy" or "consideration" rather than "freedom".
DuperPower
its not mórbid wanting to know if a Young person commited suicide
colechristensen
morbid curiosity literally curiosity about disease and death
I'm not sure what you think "morbid" means.
janalsncm
Really devastating. He was my favorite chess streamer and such a genuine person. I remember distinctly every time his opponent was suspected of cheating he was adamant in giving them the benefit of the doubt.
No matter what we find out in the next few days, I wish authorities had taken Kramnik’s cyber bullying more seriously. It’s a stain on chess that this is allowed to continue.
To take the conversation in a more technical direction, there are pretty clear parallels with “AI detector” technology which also could be (and I’m sure has been) life ruining. For both writing and chess, there are no authenticity detectors, only circumstantial evidence.
y-curious
Yes, Kramnik’s BS was a large stressor on Danya and just a damn shame. Today is a dark day.
dak1
Danya was such an incredibly positive influence on the chess community, a tremendous teacher whose YouTube content I’m sure will remain popular for years to come, and my personal favorite chess commentator.
He was also only 29 years old.
I’m actually in tears right now struggling how to break this news to my son, who absolutely loved Danya and had a chance to play him OTB last year.
amrrs
It's heartbreaking and sad. His video a couple of days back was literally titled "You thought I was gone! Speedrun retruns"
The comments on that video was so kind and heartwarming where people wished him well.
While we don't know the exact cause, we can all agree that he was subjected to extreme bullying and no one stood up for him - most importantly FIDE!
CalChris
Kramnick.
nomilk
From what I understand, Kramnick pointed out Danya's behaviour was erratic and suspected alcohol or drug use (everyone else broached it much more sensitively, saying drugs was a ridiculous notion, and giving him space/privacy but perhaps suspecting possible mental health, mental breakdown, or maybe narcolepsy).
Kramnick may have been forthright and lacking tact, but it was clear from Danya's behaviours that he sadly had an underlying psychological condition that could happen to any of us.
monooso
Kramnick repeatedly accused Danya of cheating, which prompted a lot of ongoing abuse from his acolytes. Danya spoke publicly about the stress this caused him several times.
Of course, as ever, Kramnick had nothing to back up his claims, a fact which in no way prevented him repeating them ad-nauseum.
That's not being "forthright" or "lacking tact". That's being an abusive asshole.
yuvadam
Literally yesterday my toddler son came into the room, saw me watching his last video - "You thought I was gone?! Speedrun returns!" - and asked me who that is.
I told him his name is Danya and he teaches people how to play a game.
</3
3ple_alpha
Even my local Swedish newspaper paid him respects. It may feel a bit better knowing that somewhere half way across the world, people knew him and considered him a celebrity.
beaker52
I am deeply saddened by Danya's passing. I'm not a massive chess player, but I regard him as one of the top 10 most awe inspiring individuals I've had the pleasure of witnessing through his YT channel. I was genuinely awed and impressed by the guy. As deeply as I am saddened, I am also angered by the context within which he has passed. Extremely angry. So extremely angry.
hans0l074
A sad day for chess and chess fans around the world. I smiled when I saw this news posted here - Danya would have loved being among the nerds (I always saw him as one). I will never forget the final game, game 14 of WC2024 between Ding and Gukesh commentated by Peter Leko and Daniel. His reaction[1] at 4:18:40, when Ding blundered with Rf2 is priceless. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqA9mvyI0j4
atannen
Ouch. Danya was a great player (world rank 151, USA rank 17). Popular player, teacher, streamer and chess event commentator. Studied at Stanford. The NY Times' current chess columnist. About to turn 30 years old.
greedo
I thought nothing could shock me this year, but Danya's death has shaken me to my core.
_dark_matter_
I was wondering why I knew his name - he published a series of chess puzzles based on actual historic games in the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/chess-puzzles.
They were fabulous, and I especially enjoyed his commentary. May he rest in peace.
I (like many) started playing chess online during COVID and despite being too damn old, I wanted to see how high I could climb in ratings. Soon I found Danya, then Gotham, then IMRosen. All who loved this damn game so much. Even found I liked Hikaru though as an oldster, so many of his memes went over my head.
I soon realized that no matter how hard I tried, I would never be ranked, and I was fine with that because lichess had become an outlet. An outlet from the horrors of COVID. An outlet from the shock of a brutal war in Europe. An outlet from my failing marriage. An outlet from the world turned upside down in the US. I could always find solace in a rapid game on lichess.
Danya... I plateaued around 1400 and often found it hard to follow his gameplay on his speed runs. He was thinking 4-5 moves ahead while I was trying to avoid simple blunders. But Danya was easy to listen to, humble, and he helped instill a love in me of being very honest in my game evaluation. He also seemed like an incredibly charitable player; when it was obvious someone was cheating, he always gave them the benefit of the doubt, even when stockfish made it clear what was happening. His charity and kindness was endearing.
The world is a much lesser place today.