Famous chess grandmaster and YouTuber Daniel Naroditsky dies ‘unexpectedly’ aged 29

He found fame online for his chess videos

The news was announced in a statement by his club, the Charlotte Chess Center on Monday (20 October).

The statement read: "It is with great sadness that we share the unexpected passing of Daniel Naroditsky.

"Daniel was a talented chess player, commentator and educator, and a cherished member of the chess community, admired and respected by fans and players around the world."

As well as being a chess grandmaster, Naroditsky had a dedicated fanbase of online fans after he started streaming live chess matches on Twitch and YouTube.

Under the name GM Naroditsky, he had 340k followers on Twitch and 491k subscribers on YouTube under a channel under the name Daniel Naroditsky.

Hundreds of thousands of viewers would tune in to his regular video tutorials and livestreams against competitors.

He was often praised for his knowledge and love for chess, endearingly referring to him by the nickname 'Danya'.

Tributes poured in for the popular chess grandmaster from around the world after the news of his death.

Both the US and International chess federations paid tribute to Naroditsky.

Meanwhile, American world number two Hikaru Nakamura said he was "devastated" by the news.

"This is a massive loss for the world of chess," Nakamura said in a social media post.

Naroditsky became interested in chess aged six after his older brother Alan introduced the game to him to help keep a group of children entertained at birthday party.

His skills quickly developed as his father and coaches started to take notice of his talent.

He became a youth sensation, gaining international attention after winning the under-12 boys world youth championship in Antalya in 2007.

He would go on to become one of the youngest ever published chess authors, writing a book titled Mastering Positional Chess at the age of 14 in 2010.

Just three years later he was awarded the title of grandmaster, the highest rank of chess competitor, after he won the US Junior Championship as a teenager.

Naroditsky later graduated from Stanford University and worked as a chess coach in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In 2022, Naroditsky was invited by the New York Times to become its "new chess columnist" while also contributing a series of chess puzzles to the paper's games section.