NEED TO KNOW
- Peter Giannatos, a friend of chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, has spoken out about cheating accusations against the star before his death
- Naroditsky was found unresponsive at his home, days after telling Giannatos that recent cheating accusations had taken a toll on him
- Giannatos spoke to The Washington Post about how the allegations affected the late chess star
A friend of chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky has spoken out about cheating accusations against the star in the year before his death.
On Oct. 20, Naroditsky, 29, was found unresponsive at his home in Charlotte, N.C., by his friend and colleague Peter Giannatos, who was conducting a wellness check after not hearing from him for roughly 24 hours. Naroditsky was later pronounced dead by authorities, and police are investigating his death as a possible suicide or drug overdose, per an incident report obtained by PEOPLE.
Naroditsky was a world-renowned chess player who maintained a large online following on YouTube and Twitch for his chess commentary and instructional videos. Over the last year, he was also publicly accused by Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik of cheating during his online gameplay, which evidently took a toll on Naroditsky in the final months of his life.
“It’s hard to equate what somebody says to somebody dying,” Giannatos told The Washington Post. “What I can tell you is that Kramnik’s accusations caused Daniel immense emotional pain, for a prolonged period of time, that he could not easily get over.”
In Naroditsky’s since-deleted final livestream, per the Post, he appeared drowsy as a friend off-camera told him, “Daniel, you need to get off.”
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“I feel like if I start doing well, people assume the worst of intentions,” he responded. “You know what I mean?”
Giannatos told the Post that — even after logging off his final stream — he stayed up until early the next morning with his friends, telling them how much the cheating accusations had been weighing on him.
On Oct. 22, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) announced that it was investigating “public statements” made by Kramnik “before and after” his death, and a subsequent Change.org petition calling for FIDE to ban Kramnik has garnered over 50,000 signatures.
In an Oct. 25 statement, Kramnik denied that he had ever “made any personal attack or insult towards Daniel Naroditsky” and said that he was open to assisting any criminal investigation into his death.
“To my profound regret, this tragic event has become an opportunity for some to exploit it for their own interests and to launch an unprecedentedly cynical and unlawful campaign of harassment against me and my family,” wrote Kramnik.
Kramnik’s legal counsel did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Naroditsky was born and raised in the Bay Area, first learning to play chess at age 6. In 2007, he won the Under 12 section of the World Youth Chess Championship, and he never slowed down.
He won the U.S. Junior Championship and achieved his grandmaster title in 2013, and he continued to regularly compete in the U.S. Championships for chess, remaining a globally top-ranked player until his death. He also authored two books, 2010’s Mastering Positional Chess and 2014’s Mastering Complex Endgames, and was an occasional chess columnist for The New York Times beginning in 2022
On Oct. 17, the chess star acknowledged a brief hiatus he had taken from posting to his YouTube channel.
“You thought I was gone forever, but little do you know, I’m actually back and better than ever,” he told his viewers in what would be his last video on the platform. “I know that the episodes have been few and far between. I’ve been sort of taking a kind of creative break, deciding future avenues of content. I won’t delve too much into it now because I know everybody’s excited for some chess games.”
In the comments of the video, he also liked several positive messages from viewers who were thrilled by his return to the platform, including one that read “look after yourself mate, there is so much love for you out in the world!”
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.
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