Daniel Naroditsky Dies After Cardiac Arrhythmia
Daniel Naroditsky, a 29-year-old US chess grandmaster, died on Oct 19, 2025, due to cardiac arrhythmia.
He was found unresponsive on his living room couch by friends who had performed a wellness check.
They had become concerned when Naroditsky missed a scheduled flight to Colorado.
A medical examiner's report revealed that Naroditsky had taken kratom and meth, which contributed to his accidental death.
The report also mentioned that friends had confiscated around 40 pills believed to be Adderall from his home two days earlier.
Naroditsky had been under significant stress due to cheating allegations leveled against him by prominent international chess figures, including former chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik.
His mother, Elena, said that her son was desperate to return to professional chess to dispel the false accusations.
Naroditsky had been eager to prove he wasn't cheating, and the majority of the chess world did not believe Kramnik's accusations.
The last person to see Naroditsky alive was a DoorDash delivery driver who brought food to his address at around 3 p.m. the day before his death.
The partially-eaten food was still on his dining room table when emergency responders arrived.
Naroditsky's death was a result of probable cardiac arrhythmia due to probable cardiac involvement of systemic sarcoidosis.
The presence of methamphetamine and kratom in his system both contributed to his accidental death.
Kratom is a supplement sold as an energy booster, pain reliever, and mood lifter, but the FDA warns it can cause trouble breathing, high blood pressure, liver damage, depression, hallucinations, and, in a small number of cases, death.
Elena said her son had been planning to visit his family in the Bay Area the week after his death.
Naroditsky's death has sent shockwaves through the chess community, with many paying tribute to the young grandmaster.
The chess world will deeply miss Daniel Naroditsky, a talented player who had so much to offer.