CHESS MATE Chess influencer & Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky dies at 29 leaving gaming community gutted over loss of ‘genius player’

The Sun ^ | 15:16, 20 Oct 2025 | Updated: 15:45, 20 Oct 2025 | Arshi Qureshi ,

[Tell It Right]

My all-time favorite photo of a chess match (hat tip to FReeper pookie18 and his morning Today's Toons post):

[rlmorel]

Died unexpectedly. Family wants privacy. That is always hard with a young upcoming player.

It will come out eventually.

[libh8er]

ELO 2691, Rank < 200. Not a genius by any means but a decent player.

[libh8er]

2619, not 2691

[sjmjax]

I like it.

Might be even better if the board was modified to show Trump playing chess and Chuck playing checkers.

[Jim W N]

Maybe he realized that while you can win at playing chess, there is no ultimate solution to chess - it is an endless rabbit hole (you come out the other side somewhere around China).

[Tom Tetroxide]

He died safely and effectively.

[bray]

He had zero chance of dying from Coup-19

[ChessExpert]

I have a vague memory of reading an interview of Daniel. He came across as balanced and intelligent, not just about chess. At his young age, his death is quite a shock. I am curious about the cause of death.

[mairdie]

Never seen the photo. WONDERFUL!!

[Tell It Right]

Thanks. Almost every morning after I pray and read the Bible I go to Pookie's posts on FR to see if he posted his early morning Today's Toons. I get tons of laughs from the memes. LOL

https://freerepublic.com/tag/by:pookie18/index?tab=comments;brevity=full;options=no-change

[No name given]

Rest In Peace, Daniel.

[decal]

Schumer - Trump, 2025.

Final position.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fool%27s_mate

[cpdiii]

I would not play poker with Trump. I wish not to lose my money. Chucky Schummer I would play poker with and take his money.

[mairdie]

I’ve never heard if Trump plays any games. Anyone else heard anything?

[Right_Wing_Madman]

He came across as balanced and intelligent, not just about chess.

The young Daniel Naroditsky was the best chess commentator in the game.

Here is a classic segment of Daniel Naroditsky and Robert Hess in shock after Magnus Carlsen blunders a bishop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nljrZq-MlSs

[rfp1234]

Shocking. RIP.

Daniel was an expert in blitz (3 minutes or less for the entire game). He would regularly challenge World Champion contenders like Hikaru Nakamura in Chess.com tournaments and often won.

[Hot Tabasco]

Rank < 200. Not a genius by any means but a decent player.

You obviously know nothing about chess and what it takes to even reach a 2600 level.

Magnus Carlsen, arguably the world's best chess player, has a rating of 2839....

Players of this level are indeed chess genius's

[Right_Wing_Madman]

Died unexpectedly. Family wants privacy.

When a 29-year-old dies suddenly, it's usually one of three things: suicide, drug overdose, or car accident.