Daniel Naroditsky, 1995-2025

A wordsmith, a chess genius, and most importantly a kind person

Danya Naroditsky, Photo STL Chess Club/Austin Fuller

Today brought the worst news I can remember for chess. Danya Naroditsky, just a few weeks shy of his 30th birthday, died. One of the most popular chess Grandmasters in the World, he was known for his educational YouTube videos and streams, his genre-defining commentary and for being an exceptionally kind person.

I’ve known Danya since he was a little kid. The first time I interviewed him, he was only 14 but it felt like interviewing a professor. He had just published his first book, Mastering Positional Chess and he already had such a deep knowledge of chess, its history and the process of improvement. He told me, “I think handwriting immerses you in your subject more than typing. After handwriting your analysis, you learn the lines better.” Back then, his favorite Grandmasters included popular choices like Karpov, Petrosian and Fischer, along with Leonid Stein and Bay Area friend Vinay Bhat. In another early interview, I asked him what he thought of my city, Philadelphia.

He could see the good in anyone and any place.

In more recent years, I had the opportunity to work with him many times. Whenever we were paired on commentary, I felt like a kid in a candy store. Beyond learning so much about chess, I loved the way he put words together. Players of all levels felt the same way, like popular YouTuber Charlie “Moistcr1tikal”, who posted a heartfelt video this morning on his love for Danya.

Danya was Charlie’s coach for the first edition of the online celebrity tournament called PogChamps, in which many players like Charlie, were beginners. The first PogChamps was held in the summer of 2020, and helped ignite the chess boom, which further surged after the Queen’s Gambit released that same autumn. Danya was responsible for what may be the most viewed checkmate of all time, when he correctly predicted and coached Charlie to a six-move mate for Black in the Scotch. This earned him the nickname “The Prophet.”

While becoming a strong Grandmaster and beloved chess personality, Naroditsky graduated Stanford with a degree in history. A voracious reader, Levy Rozman called Danya the “most well spoken person he ever met”, an eloquence always on display in Danya’s commentary.

Danya was also so respectful. Even with sky-high ratings in all formats, he didn’t judge chessplayers by numbers. He loved to see the passion for the game, its history and its practice, no matter what the level. He was always enthusiastic to call a women’s event, or an offbeat event like one all-IM event that my brother played in, “IM Not a GM.” And of course, PogChamps. He’d find insights in any chessplayer’s style and repertoire, even if he’d never face them over the board.

I’ll never forget when I was having a difficult time in the public eye, and popped by one of his streams. I type something generic in the chatbox like “great analysis.” He erupted into a huge smile, and he said something like “the legendary Jennifer Shahade has entered the chat”, then spent a minute uplifting me. We weren’t close, but that was his way. When he saw someone who might be hurting, he would do what he could to make them feel a little better.

Take the viral video from earlier this year at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships, where Ivanchuk was devastated after losing. Danya gave him space—he even looks pained to have won. The empathy in this video is so vivid. To be so good at chess, and also so sensitive is a beautiful combination.

I’ve rarely heard anyone say anything bad about Danya, but what’s really unusual is that I’ve rarely even heard anyone be neutral. This is of course even more true on this horrible day, but it was also true before. You’d be likely to hear phrases like “Amazing”, “made me fall in love chess”, “GOAT commentator” or “my favorite chess teacher of all time.”

There is one notable and very public exception.

In recent years, Danya had become a target of a former hero, Vladimir Kramnik. The majority of the chess world has been livid at Kramnik for these types of online attacks for a while, which targeted many, including Grandmaster José Martínez, who quashed the accusations when he agreed to play in full view of a camera crew. Or the even more alarming case involving the universally respected Grandmaster David Navara, who is currently being sued by Kramnik, an action which FIDE harshly denounced.

Unfortunately, despite Naroditsky’s vast popularity, and Kramnik’s lack thereof, the accusations still really got to Danya. You can see a video from just a few days ago where he talks about this¹.

Along with his many accomplishments in online blitz and streaming, Danya also reached great heights as an over-the board player: a World Youth gold medalist and a US Junior Champion with a peak FIDE rating of 2647.

Here is one of his proudest victories, against Fabiano Caruana with Black in the 2021 US Chess Championship.

Rest in peace to Daniel Naroditsky (November 9, 1995 – October 19, 2025), a Grandmaster who proved that kindness and greatness go hand in hand. May we all be a little more like you every day.

Update: The Daniel Naroditsky Memorial Fund was established in November 2025 at https://givebutter.com/naroditsky

1. Please note that the cause of death is unknown and while I am keeping comments open for positive memories, I will delete speculation.