U.S. chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky had a mix of deadly drugs in his body when he died under mysterious circumstances last year, according to a medical examiner’s report. The report, obtained by The New York Post on Tuesday, paints a troubling picture of what was found in Naroditsky’s system at the time of his death.
The 29-year-old chess prodigy had taken methamphetamine and amphetamine before he was found dead in his North Carolina home in October. Investigators also found mitragynine — the main active compound in kratom, a substance known for its opioid-like effects. The report also mentions that there was presence of a small amount of 7-hydroxymitragynine, another kratom-related compound.
Dangerous Drugs Killed Him
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The 29-year-old chess star was found by fellow grandmaster Oleksandr Bortnyk, who went to check on him after growing worried when he couldn’t get in touch. At the time, local police said they were looking into the death as a possible suicide or the result of a drug overdose.
In the days leading to his death, Naroditsky had been involved in a heated dispute with a rival player who accused him of cheating. One of Naroditsky’s last opponents later claimed that his rival may have played a role in his untimely death.
Naroditsky earned the title of Grandmaster at just 18 years old. In 2024, a year before his death, Naroditsky had been embroiled in a bitter feud, facing accusations of cheating from former world champion Vladimir Kramnik.
Kramnik, 50, suggested that his American rival was using footage of Naroditsky’s online games to imply that Naroditsky was consulting a second screen running a powerful computer program capable of calculating millions of moves per second.
Naroditsky consistently denied any wrongdoing and had not faced similar accusations from any other top-level players.
After making these claims, Kramnik deleted his chess.com account and launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for his stated mission of “trying to clean modern chess from cheating,” though he did not specify exactly how the money would be used.
Mystery Still Unsolved
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In a final Twitch stream, later deleted, Naroditsky was seen repeatedly falling asleep while playing, talking about the toll of Kramnik’s accusations, and appearing visibly distressed, according to El País.
After Naroditsky’s death was announced, Kramnik posted a cryptic message saying, “Don’t do drugs,” and also referenced a “strange recent stream” from the American chess star.
Kramnik’s seemingly indifferent reaction drew widespread outrage across the chess community. “He [Kramnik] has kind of literally taken a life,” Indian chess Grandmaster Nihal Sarin told the Indian Express.
Sarin, the last player to compete against Naroditsky online before his death, said the American seemed visibly troubled during their final match.
“He said he was under immense stress due to a lot of baseless accusations — headed by Kramnik, of course. Apparently, unfortunately, quite a few others also seem to have joined in,” Sarin said.
