Today I learned of the death of Daniel Naroditsky, a chess grandmaster, teacher, and Youtuber who I really liked. I haven’t watched much chess content for a little while now, but he was always my favorite and I learned so much from watching his videos. He became a grandmaster at 18, the highest title you can earn in chess, and is currently ranked 151st in the world in classical chess, and 23rd in the world in blitz (a quicker time format). It is hard to explain how unimaginably good he and the other top players are at the game of chess, and how much they have studied and practiced to obtain their skill. He is likely better at chess than I will ever be at anything, ever. On top of that, he had such a knack for breaking down complicated positions and explaining common mistakes, why certain moves were right/wrong, and explaining the thought process that leads to coming up with the best move. His channel was and still is a goldmine for anyone trying to improve.

I first heard of him while I was in high school during the pandemic, when I first started getting into chess. He was a coach for the popular PogChamps tournament and was very entertaining. His impersonations of other chess players and commentators were so funny. A lot of them have very idiosyncratic, sarcastic, direct ways of speaking which are very entertaining. I remember I used to stay up and watch his livestreams where he streamed his online blitz games, and he was so instructive and funny while also competing against other people that were at his level. He once went over his senior thesis from when he was a history major at Stanford, which was about the role of smiling in Russian culture. Despite being a topic I would never think about, his passion and expressiveness was just so contagious. I watched his instructional videos for years while I was trying to get better, and they were so articulate, eloquent, and informative.

Over the past years, he’s been under attack from the baseless cheating accusations of former world champion Vladimir Kramnik. It only takes a single minute of seeing Daniel’s personality to see that cheating is so out of his character. Kramnik has been attacking many popular players, and despite never supplying any evidence and his accusations being dismissed by all the top players, Kramnik’s supporters attack anyone who he accuses. These top chess players have spent their whole life studying chess, and to accuse them of cheating is to attack their whole reputation. Daniel’s friends have said that it’s been difficult for him.

Here are some links to see what Daniel has accomplished. He was an incredible player and teacher, and the news of his death made me extremely sad.

Here's him beating a very strong player, while blindfolded and with half as much time.

A compilation of his impressions. This probably won't be that funny if you don't watch chess and you don't know the people.

A demonstration of his teaching abilities. Check out in the beginning how he solves the puzzles before you can even see all of the pieces. After so many years of experience his pattern recognition is just instantaneous.

An interview with Daniel where he talks about the stress of playing, and the cheating accusations he's been facing.

An analysis of a game between Naroditsky and Ivanchuk from the 2024 World Blitz Championship. I remember watching this live, one of the most intense games I know.