Bengaluru: Every so often, Nihal Sarin pulls up a Chess.com profile and waits, hoping to find its owner online. He knows he’s in for disappointment.
It has been roughly eight months since Nihal last played American grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky. Last October, the 29-year-old was found dead at his home in Charlotte. The final games Naroditsky ever played online were against the 21-year-old Indian grandmaster.
The two had never met in person, but over the years they had played more than 2000 games online against each other, forging an unlikely friendship built almost entirely through blitz and bullet chess.
Last weekend, after becoming the first Indian to win the Bullet Chess Championship, Nihal’s thoughts drifted immediately to Naroditsky. Dedicating the title to his late friend, Nihal wrote: “We have played endless bullet and hyperbullet games, which definitely contributed to my growth as a player.”
The days leading up to Naroditsky’s death remain difficult to revisit. Nihal says they had exchanged messages while Naroditsky was under scrutiny following cheating allegations levelled by former world champion Vladimir Kramnik.
On Friday, the Fide Ethics and Disciplinary Commission announced a two-year ban on Kramnik from participating in Fide events or acting in official chess functions for his online posts on Naroditsky and GM David Navara. The active suspension would be of one year with 12 months of unpaid service for the chess community as a supplementary sanction.
“They (allegations) were complete nonsense. Honestly. Danya would be the last person to even think of cheating. There was zero motive as well…I had messaged him the day before, kind of telling him everything would be fine. He was clearly under stress. I didn’t know it was that bad.”
Nihal was playing at the European Club Cup in Rhodes, Greece when he heard the news of Naroditsky’s passing. “I was shocked and devastated. It was horrible.”
For weeks afterwards, chess itself became difficult for Nihal.
“I don’t think I even opened Chess.com for a few weeks. Generally, I log in regularly.”
“Danya was the one guy I knew would always be up for a good match. It’s very hard to find a strong player to play against for a long period. He was like the one guy who would almost definitely accept and play a very good match. We played many 30-second games. He was an absolute monster in them. On his day, he was among the very best in the world. Generally, a challenge from Danya would always be there for me as soon as I would log in. Since his passing, many times I’ve opened his profile hoping to see him online.”
Nihal was supposed to play in the inaugural Naroditsky Memorial Rapid and Blitz tournament taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina, from July 3-5, but visa complications meant he had to withdraw. A three-day chess festival bringing together elite players, chess content creators, and the chess community at large, the tournament features a $50000 total prize fund and awards Fide Circuit points and US Grand Prix points. Apart from two of the world’s top three players, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, the 10-player line-up includes World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov and grizzled veteran Vasyl Ivanchuk, Aravindh Chithambaram is the lone Indian in the field.
“I would have absolutely loved to go. But I don’t have a US visa. There wasn’t enough time to get one processed for the tournament so I had to take the tough call to skip.”
Grandmaster, author, streamer, Danya was also one of the most prolific and loved commentators. “Him and (Robert) Hess were an amazing combination. Definitely, my favourite. Danya was just one of the smartest beings ever to play chess. He was a genius.”
Terming the impact the American GM had on him as “very, very big”, Nihal said: “I was really longing to meet him person, but that unfortunately never happened. We were definitely quite good friends. He was a very gentle soul. He was very, very nice to me. He was kind and supportive when I was having a tough time in classical chess, and was really struggling to break through. He kept believing in me.”
“If Danya was here, he would have been very, very proud of me,” Nihal says, referring to his recent Bullet Chess Championship title. Then, almost instinctively, adds with a smile, “But if he was there, he might have won the tournament.”
