A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Daniel Naroditsky earned the title of chess grand master at the age of 17. His videos on YouTube and Twitch were followed by hundreds of thousands of people. Naroditsky died this week at the age of 29. The cause of death is unknown. Now, for more on his legacy, we reached out to reporter David Cox, who has written for chess.com.
David, I mean, he was introduced to chess at 6 and then ranked No. 1 in the U.S. at the age of 9. How did he become so skilled at such a young age?
DAVID COX: Yeah. I mean, I think Daniel was just a pure natural talent, really, you know? Like, sort of he kind of went on, like, to meet, like, the world's top 200 players. And he became incredibly skilled at the shortest forms of the game on online platforms like chess.com, which had become hugely popular in recent years. For example, there's one form of chess known as bullet chess, where you have just one minute each for the game. And Daniel was literally probably, I'd say, one of the top five players in that, like, sort of kind of area. So he was just an incredible, like, sort of talent, both as an - a player and as a personality in the world of chess as well.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. It's just amazing to me how this makes sense to someone - when someone sees it, and it just totally makes sense. To me, it, you know, makes no sense at all. How was he able to amass such a big online following?
COX: I think it was a combination of things. He had this unique ability to combine both being an elite player and having that sort of deep knowledge with just this incredible passion for chess and this ability to explain complex concepts to absolutely anyone. And he was also very funny. He kind of became known for his, like, ability to kind of mimic the accents of, like, leading chess players. And just - so he just had this combination of communication ability. He had, like, sort of deep, like, sort of - an amazing reputation for being an elite player and just, yeah, a great all-round communicator.
MARTÍNEZ: So it sounds like he was made for the social media era - the social media chess era, right?
COX: He was. He was. And, you know, he became, like, one of the biggest names kind of in the chess boom, which kind of occurred, like, during COVID with "The Queen's Gambit" on...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
COX: ...Netflix and just a rise of the number of people playing the game. And he - yeah, he kind of became one of the faces of chess, really, in the last five years.
MARTÍNEZ: He was also the head coach at the Charlotte Chess Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. What are his students and fans saying about him and how he helped them learn?
COX: Yeah, I think everyone basically just says, you know, he was just such a patient coach. And he just had this ability to, you know, explain these kind of finer nuances of the game, which - you know, in a way which just was very, very accessible, which isn't easy in a complex game like chess, which takes a lot of patience, a lot of time to kind of grasp, like, all of these kind of subtleties about the game. And, yeah, he had the ability to just bring them to life. And there's people of, you know, all stages of chess ability from kind of complete beginners to masters themselves who've kind of spoken just very - so, so highly about his ability to kind of help anyone at any stage learn and improve.
MARTÍNEZ: And his nickname was Danya?
COX: That's right, yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: Any idea why that was?
COX: (Laughter) I think it stems from his roots. Like, so his...
MARTÍNEZ: OK.
COX: ...Father was, like, sort of Ukrainian, like, who emigrated to the States, I think, back in the '80s or the '90s. And obviously...
MARTÍNEZ: OK.
COX: ...You know - and he sort of, like, kind of took that, and that sort of kind of became, like, a popular moniker for him.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. David Cox is a freelance journalist who has written in the past for chess.com. David, thanks.
COX: Thank you so much for having me.
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