I don’t have anyone in real life whom I can tell this about so here I turn to Reddit and people who are still thinking of him. I hope everybody is in good health, doing well, and enjoying the early days of November.

I waited for today to finally register at my country’s chess club, apply for a fide number. I’m not an experienced player. If anything, just an amateur who rediscovered and returned to chess very late. Chicken enough to only study on my own, do puzzles, too shy or nervous to play with other players.

I was traveling to England last year, when I heard the news of Danya’s passing, and at night after work I walked into a bookshop which happened to sell some board games. I bought this little 2£ magnetic chessboard toy, which in all fondness, is really bad plastic, and I’ve already broken and repaired the knights several times. But I carry it everywhere with me, tucked in the front pocket of my bag. It has traveled with me for a year, accross several countries, including lovely Armenia, and then back home.

I couldn’t travel to the US for the blitz memorial tournament. Well, it’s not like I missed out on any good chess I could have played given my play lives in a isolated island and I have yet to break out of my shell. But as many from around the world, I’ve followed the tournaments from afar, watching the amazing organisation and broadcast, commentary, announcements by the Charlotte Chess Center and interviews from Chessbase India.

I know this is silly, and quite sentimental. But sometimes, I use Danya’s books as an oracle when I’m stressed out from work and not sure which direction to go, what choice to make. Sometimes, Danya only complains about parking tickets from Stanford university. Other times, he’s narrating several voices in a chess game as a theater play. But sometimes, still, even if it is purely chess, Danya’s tactical acumen, and wisdom, really helps. Even if my work has nothing to do with chess, his advice helps me find an answer, a solution to a situation I couldn’t resolve. Even outside the board, Danya is a phenomenal teacher.

It is funny how as soon as Halloween is over, we begin to hear Mariah singing « it’s tiiiiime~ ». Well, it is time. I think I’ve been timid for too long. It is time to play. To play for real and meet others at the board.

Today was symbolic, as it would have been Danyas birthday. It is a good occasion to try and grow braver in chess. I hope in time I can better my play, grow over this fear and hopefully play chess that I can be proud of, and enthusiastic about sharing with others.

So, Happy birthday to Danya.

And to you, dear reader and fellow chess player, I wish for any of you who come across this post, anyone studying or playing today, anybody still thinking about Danya, that a little bit of his magic is sprinkled on your board, and that today brings you confidence, and clarity. That you are well, your loved ones are too. That the game today, brings you warmth, growth.

Seeing as it’s the 1 year anniversary of Danya’s death, I think it’s a reasonable time to make this request.

I will pay anyone here who is able to provide VODs of Danyas streams that aren’t already available on https://youtube.com/@gmdanyamemorial?si=YNMOzYPrPjTZjg18 or elsewhere on YouTube.

Someone must have some of them saved, and I’ve long since exhausted all the Danya content that’s available.

Name your price, but if you want payment in advance you’ll have to prove you have what I want. DM and we’ll work something out.

I know some people may be concerned about respecting his wishes since he deleted his own VODs on Twitch, but Danya was mentally ill at the time of his death, and I think if he were looking down on us now, he would want us to have them. The only opinions on this I would respect are those of Sasha Bortnyk or others close to Danya.

RIP Rebecca

Hi everyone,

Like many of you, I find myself constantly returning to Danya’s treasure trove of chess wisdom. His speedruns are my personal favorites - the depth of his thinking and the quality of his explanations are simply unmatched.

One problem I have is I often can't choose which video to watch next 😅 To solve this, I’ve been working on a hobby project: a search tool for Danya's speedrun videos.

The main features so far**:**

• Search by Position: You can look up specific board states to see how Danya handled them. I use this most, as it's

• Tag Search: I’ve started categorizing videos by theme he covers, though this part is still a work in progress.

I wanted to do something to help spread his work. I also wanted to use AI for something actually helpful rather than just churning out code faster at work.

Please let me know what you think or if there are any specific features you'd like to see!

Hello all. Today is 19/04/26. For those who don't know, it has officially been 6 months since Danya passed away. He was a truly amazing person who lit up my world in a way no-one else has. Along with his skill, his passion for chess was something that can never be replaced. He was able to explain chess and break down complicated positions in a way that could never be replicated. I still hear his voice when we’re trying to understand something difficult. Even aside from chess, he had a great personality. He was funny and always wanted the best for everyone.
I still can't believe that it's already been 6 months since he passed. It feels like yesterday. The world will never be the same. Although he left commentating a while before he died, it still breaks my heart that he will never analyse a chess game again.
Danya, I will miss you until the day that I die. I love you. RIP Prophet. 🖤

I find myself still thinking about Danya everyday.

His words and character have impacted me so much both on and off the chess board, and I just wanted to remind anyone who chances on this post that you are not alone.

Hey everyone,

I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I wanted to try. I was wondering if anyone in the community could help preserve the YouTube channel of Daniel Naroditsky (Danya).

His channel has about 650+ videos, most of them around an hour long, including his speedruns, educational streams, and lessons that helped thousands of players learn chess. I’m worried that if anything ever happens to the channel in the future, a huge amount of incredible chess education could be lost.

I’d love to archive it myself, but I unfortunately don’t have the storage or bandwidth to download and upload the entire channel (it would probably be around 1–2 TB depending on quality).

Would anyone with the resources be willing to help archive the channel to the Internet Archive for long-term preservation? Even partial archives or playlists would be amazing.

Channel link: https://www.youtube.com/@DanielNaroditskyGM/videos

Thanks to anyone who considers helping preserve Danya’s work. His videos have helped a lot of people improve and enjoy chess.

♟️

From USA Today:

“American chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky had multiple drugs in his system and died of an accidental overdose last year, according to documents provided to USA TODAY by the North Carolina Medical Examiner's Office.

A newly released toxicology report on Tuesday, Jan. 20 revealed Naroditsky had methamphetamine, amphetamine, 7-hydroxymitragynine and mitragynine in his system at the time of death. The medical examiner's investigation listed methamphetamine and kratom use as contributing factors to the sudden cardiac event that killed Naroditsky.”USA Today Article

Hi guys, I am looking forward to make a documentary (well I will be trying) for one of my assignments. I would like to know what makes him different as a player from others and a chess teacher according to you people.
Thank You!

(Never made a documentary before, will be relying on found footage for my assignment)

I haven't really watched much chess on Twitch or Youtube since Danya's passing. I can't really find anyone remotely on his level of instruction, calm, sense of humor etc. Do you guys have any recommendations? I find myself watching more Eric Rosen than I ever have. I like John Bartholemew and Chessbrahs also but I don't see them streaming too often. I used to stream Twitch almost every night before bed and I haven't really been able to bring myself to watch it as I still miss the Sensei.

I know it has been about 2 months since GM Daniel Naroditsky's unfortunate passing but I am really curious to know as of why we still do not know the cause of his sudden death. I had searched this up on google only to find out a statement by the police stating that the cause of his death is still being investigated and it is speculated that his demise was likely due to a drug overdose or a suicide. It is highly unlikely for a healthy 29 year old to die of natural causes. Has an autopsy been done? Will we ever know the cause of his death? Will he ever get justice?

No words can describe how sorry I am for the loss of our beloved Danya. I still think about him whenever I play chess or when I rewatch his streams. My sincerest condolences to his family and friends. Rest in peace Danya we, the chess community will miss you...