Daniel Naroditsky

Chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky passed away recently. He was 29. 29!

Naroditsky, a son of Soviet emigrants, was not only one of the best American players and a one-time age-group world champion. He was one of the most popular chess Youtubers, explaining the game to both beginners and advanced players. (There will be no snark in this profile, even related to Youtubers. Seriously, parents: of all the possible things your children could watch, you'd be delighted if they watched chess streams. Moving on.) 29!

Yes, there is something very sinister going on here, because a seemingly-healthy person rarely dies at 29. And it all hearkens back to former world champion Vladimir Kramnik.

About two years ago, Kramnik decided to put an end to cheating in chess. He did so by publishing a list of players who, by some undisclosed metric, he believed to cheat. Naroditsky was on that list, despite absolutely no real evidence. But Kramnik didn't stop there. He kept pushing and attacking, especially in the Russian press. Naroditsky, as a Russian speaker, felt that he needed to clear his name. He even debated Kramnik face-to-face, thinking that would end the hostilities. It did not.

Another player, Czech grandmaster David Navara, openly spoke how Kramnik's bullying drove him to the verge of suicide. At the time of this writing, it is not clear how Naroditsky died, but... 29!

As for Kramnik, he is doubling down, blaming Naroditsky's friends for not supporting him and claiming that he did not engage in any personal attacks. Kramnik is a piece of shit.

RIP, Danya.