US chess superstar Daniel Naroditsky was incoherent, rambling in concerning final video before his death
US chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky was incoherent, rambling, and half asleep in a concerning final video before he died, as he addressed the baseless cheating accusations against him.
The 29-year-old chess superstar from Charlotte, NC, looked gaunt and distracted as he recorded himself playing chess in a livestream shared with subscribers just days before his sudden death was announced.
Naroditsky — whose death was announced Monday in a joint statement by his chess club and family — had been feuding with Russian former chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who had accused the American of cheating.
Daniel Naroditsky was incoherent, rambling, and half asleep during his final livestream on Oct. 17. David Naroditsky/YouTube
Naroditsky strenuously denied the accusations.
“Ever since the Kramnik stuff, I feel like if I start doing well, people assume the worst of intentions,” Naroditsky griped in his final stream made in the early hours of Oct. 17.
At another point, he appeared to suggest that the stream would be his final one, after reading out a comment from a subscriber addressing the cheating allegations.
“This will not be the last time he faces criticism or trolling,” Naroditsky read, before answering the comment, “Oh, it actually will be.”
At another stage, his voice cracking, he discusses an event happening the following morning with someone off camera.
“Be healthy, be well, be safe,” he said in his send-off to viewers. “I’ll see you guys win or lose after the match.”
Naroditsky had been feuding with Russian former chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who had accused the American of cheating. AP
So far, no cause of death has been announced by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).
“We cannot comment or speculate as this is an active investigation,” a CMPD spokesperson told The Post.
Kramnik has been involved in various disputes with players and with Chess.com, the world’s largest online platform for the game, accusing it of facilitating cheating in the game.
“Over the past several years, we have suspended Mr Kramnik multiple times from our site for his repeated violations of our community policy,” a Chess.com spokesperson told The Post.
“Despite our many warnings, he continued to push baseless conspiracy theories about other players. We have no information about the lawsuit because it hasn’t been published in Swiss courts, but as soon as we do, we will vigorously respond.”
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Naroditsky started playing chess at age 6, winning the Under 12 section of the World Youth Chess Championship in 2007.
In 2013, he won the US Junior Championship before becoming a Grandmaster later that same year.
He regularly competed in the US chess championships and was frequently ranked in the top 200 players worldwide.
Naroditsky also authored two books — 2010’s “Mastering Positional Chess” and 2014’s “Mastering Complex Endgames.”
