'You've gotta go to sleep': How Daniel Naroditsky's friends tried to save American chess star shortly before his death

It’s been more than a week since the news of Daniel Naroditsky's sudden demise at the age of 29 left the chess community across the world shell-shocked, with tributes pouring in from across the world including from some of the most iconic players in the history of the game.

Naroditsky’s sudden demise three weeks before his 30th birthday has put the spotlight on Russian chess icon Vladimir Kramnik and his controversial campaign against cheating in the sport. The American GM, known popularly as ‘Danya’, was among the players who had been accused of cheating by Kramnik for over a year and had even opened up on being affected by the allegations.

Naroditsky’s death has also put the spotlight on the state of his health towards the end of his life, with the 29-year-old appearing visibly distressed in his final live stream on Twitch two days before his death. The blitz specialist appeared incoherent and half asleep while playing online games of chess during the stream, and even brought up the allegations Kramnik had leveled against him.

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Giannatos and Bortnyk heard during Danya’s final stream

Peter Giannatos, founder of the Charlotte Chess Center where Stanford graduate Naroditsky worked as a trainer, and GM Oleksandr Bortnyk were at his residence during the live stream without appearing on camera, and were heard talking to him during the stream that lasted over two hours long.

And concerned by his physical and mental state, Giannatos and Bortnyk – who were close friends with Naroditsky – repeatedly urged him to log off and get some rest, with the former even threatening to unplug his setup.

“You’ve gotta go to sleep, man,” Giannatos was heard telling Danya at one point during the stream. “I know, just give me a few more games and I’ll go to sleep. I set a 2am curfew; what’s the matter?” Naroditsky responded. Giannatos would then ask Naroditsky what his plan was, to which the latter replied that he intended to play a few more games before calling it a day.

Later in the stream, Naroditsky brought up the cheating allegations and how Kramnik’s public attack against him has maligned his image forever.

“The problem is, since the Kramnik stuff, I feel like if I start doing well, people assume the worst of intentions,” Naroditsky added during the stream, to which Giannatos replied, “You don’t have to prove anything to those people.”

In a cruel twist of fate, it was Giannatos and Bortnyk who found him lying unconscious on his couch at his residence on Sunday after deciding to check on him at his residence, having grown worried over their friend not returning their calls.

While the chess community mourns the loss of the chess star who was a prodigy growing up, it has also been directing its ire at former world champion Kramnik, with leading players such as Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Arjun Erigaisi slamming him for his controversial cheating crusade.

Also Read | Danya's mother breaks silence, hits out at Kramnik over cheating allegations: ‘He cared most about his dignity’

The outrage of Kramnik’s allegations, for which he never provided credible evidence, has forced FIDE to sit up and take notice with the governing body’s president Arkady Dvorkovich referring the Russian GM to its Ethics and Disciplinary Commission for a review. If found guilty, Kramnik faces penalty ranging from a fine to a life ban.

At the same time, an online petition which calls for FIDE to revoke his GM title and other norms has gone viral on social media and had gained over 20,000 signatures on Saturday.

Kramnik, however, has claimed that his family is being subjected to “threats” because of his anti-cheating campaign, and has even threatened to file lawsuits against leading players who have linked him to Naroditsky’s death.