Daniel Naroditsky’s Death Exposes an Existential Threat to Chess |
In July, the American grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky played a speed chess game against the Swedish chess master and popular streamer Anna Cramling. Three months later, after Naroditsky was found dead at 29—a tragedy that has shaken the chess world—a video of the game went viral.
To even the odds, Naroditsky had accepted half as much time as his lower-ranked opponent to make all his moves. He also agreed to play blindfolded.
As the players set up the board, the grandmaster seems introverted, a little awkward, but the moment the clock starts, he is at home. After each of Cramling’s moves, which she announces in the algebraic language of chess, Naroditsky responds instantaneously: “d4,” “knight bd2,” “queen a4.” Though his eyes are covered, he can perfectly picture the rapid movement of the pieces across the board. No wonder so many of his friends and fans shared the video: It shows a one-in-a-billion mind in full flow.
Growing up in California, Naroditsky was often the country’s top-ranked player in his age group. When he was 11, he won the World Youth Chess Championship in Turkey, earning a master title along the way. At 14, he became the youngest published chess author, releasing a book on positional play—slow, maneuvering chess of the sort most prodigies eschew in favor of spectacular sacrifices and pyrotechnic attacks. In his final years, he came to be widely seen as America’s greatest chess educator, and—his penchant for puns notwithstanding—a commentator of unmatched wit, warmth and charm.
Yet for all his talent, Naroditsky’s legacy is inevitably being shaped by the tragic circumstances of his death. No official cause has been released, though police say they are investigating the case as a possible suicide or drug overdose. What’s certain is that Naroditsky spent his last months trying to convince the world he wasn’t a cheater. And many chess players feel the game’s governing body failed to protect his reputation or hold his accuser to account. In its grief, the chess world is finally confronting a digital-age crisis that threatens the future of an ancient game.
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