What Is It About Daniel Naroditsky?
The “Danya”, Our Sensei.
Although many beginner and intermediate chess players are aware of the rise of International Master Levy Rozman of Gothamchess and see him as the Internet’s chess teacher, Daniel Naroditsky takes the cake in that category.
In a world filled with grandmasters and even super grandmasters with the likes of Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, Daniel “Danya” Naroditsky might not be ranked as a super grandmaster but I doubt Magnus would refer to him as ‘decent’.
Sorry, Hikaru.
Daniel Naroditsky is an American grandmaster, author, commentator, streamer, and an outright chess celebrity. He is also a former World Youth Chess Champion who tied for first place at the 2014 Millionaire Chess Open and reached his peak FIDE rating of 2647 in May of 2017.
Danya, as he is so fondly called by his peers and frankly the rest of the chess world, is a beast in bullet, rapid, and blitz time controls. He spends time playing in Chess.com’s Titled Tuesday events and spends the rest of his time creating content on YouTube to teach and educate the upcoming chess enthusiasts.
The reason I’ve been hooked on Daniel recently is because I had been trying to passively up my rating points by watching Hikaru Nakamura and Gothamchess and that had helped in its own way. But after watching Danya for a while, I can safely say that his content is the real meat and potatoes necessary for growth and development.
His style and pace whilst talking and explaining the reason behind his moves is unmatched and second to none. He delves into difficult openings like the Ruy Lopez and the Alapin Sicilian and cuts them to pieces like a trained executive chef.
So, if you’ve been thinking about picking chess up and attempting to learn the basics and climb up the rating ladder, I would recommend Daniel Naroditsky. If Gotham and Hikaru are more your speed, you can start there. I know I did. But all roads lead back to Naroditsky.
And, why shouldn’t they? He’s the Sensei, after all.
