It was a wrenching week of the familiar and the unfathomable for American chess.
The breaking news of the death of popular GM Daniel Naroditsky at the age of 29 cast a heavy pall over the U.S. national and women’s championship tournaments, which wrapped up late last week at the St. Louis Chess Club.
Participants were clearly rattled, with many visibly moved as they remembered Naroditsky not just as a strong classical and rapid player but also as a personable and hugely popular presence for chess online, one of the best explicators of the game with a massive fan base on both YouTube and Twitch.
Complicating the narrative were the still-unexplained circumstances behind his death and what role, if any, Naroditsky’s ugly feud with former world champion Vladimir Kramnik over unsubstantiated charges of online cheating played in the tragedy. Authorities in North Carolina, where Naroditsky lived, say they are investigating the death as a suicide or possible drug overdose, but no official cause of death has been released as this is being written.
Back at the chessboards in St. Louis, a far more normal scenario was playing out. GM Fabiano Caruana captured his fourth consecutive American title and fifth overall, with his undefeated 8-3 score edging second-seeded GM Wesley So by a half-point.
The U.S. Women’s Championship also had a familiar face at the top: Massachusetts GM Carissa Yip took her third straight women’s crown and fourth in five years, scoring 6½ points in the final seven rounds to nip IM Anna Sargsyan with an 8-3 score.
Caruana, who missed a clear win against So in the sixth round, proceeded to win three of his next four games to outpace the field. Key to that streak was a dismantling of GM Hans Moke Niemann in Round 7 from the Black side of a trendy Giuoco Piano line.
In chess, sometimes the simplest plans are the best. Black here sets his sights on a kingside attack and Niemann never generates enough counterplay elsewhere to divert him. It’s not clear where White missed his chance, but after 10. d4 g4 11. Ne1 h5, it already seems clear that Black will get in the first punch.
By 16. Nc4 Be6 17. Ba3? (too slow; White already had to keep on keeping on with 15. bxa7 Rxa7 18. Nb6 Bxa2 19. Rxa2 to give his opponent at least something to think about) Bxc4 18. Bxc4 f3 19. g3 h4, the engines already give White little chance of surviving the coming onslaught against his king’s position. The fact that Black’s queen’s rook has the time to make the clunky journey all the way to the beckoning h-file is just one sign of White’s desperate straits.
The attack (almost) plays itself as Caruana lines up his major pieces on the h-file. It’s over after 26. Qb3 hxg3 27. Qxb6 Qh4 (the famous “Alekhine’s gun” formation with the queen and both rooks locked and loaded on the file) 28. Qb8+ Ke7, and White resigned as the checks run out after 29. Qc7+ Kf6 30. Qd8+ Be7 31. Qxh8+ Nxh8 32. h3 Qxh3 33. fxg3 Qxg3 mate.
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Yip, who announced this year she was taking a break from her Stanford studies to play chess full-time, fueled her comeback surge with a fine Round 6 win over veteran GM Irina Krush, whose eight U.S. women’s titles leave her just one short of the record nine won by the late Gisela Gresser.
Krush is one of the women’s game’s most lethal attackers, but here she finds herself on the wrong end of powerful offensive launched by her younger rival in this Classical King’s Indian line. White’s risky decision to keep her king in the center inspires Yip to launch a promising pawn sacrifice with 19. Qxd3 e4! (the e-pawn was gumming up both the file and the long diagonal, and now Black’s pieces get considerably more scope) 20. Nxe4 Qe5 21. Rb1 Bd7.
The pressure leads to some fatal mistakes by the defender: 22. Ke2? (trying to prepare f2-f3 to bolster her center, but better was 22. f4 Qe7 23. Kf2! Rae8 24. Nd2 Be5 25. Nf3, with much better chances to hold) Rae8 23. f3? (here 23. Ng3 c6 24. Kd1 offered at least some survival chances; now the Black queen penetrates with decisive effect) Qh2+, when 24. Bf2 would be met by 24…Rxe4+! 25. Qxe4 (fxe4 Rxf2+ 26. Ke1 Qxg1+) Re8 and wins.
As White desperately tries to keep her center intact, Black’s pieces take up dominating positions. It’s over on 28. Rbd1 Qe5 29. Ne4 Bxe4 30. fxe4 Qxb2+ 31. Rd2 Qc3 e5 (desperation, but on 32. Rd3 Qc2+ 33. Bd2 Qxc4 34. Rg4 c6, White’s position just collapses) Qxe5 33. Rg3 Rf4!, and Krush resigned as her queen is trapped and 34. Rg4 allows 34…Qxe3+.
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Naroditsky’s passion for explicating the game he loved was evident from an early age. He published a fine full-length study on “Mastering Positional Chess: Practical Lessons of a Junior World Champion at the astonishing age of just 14, making him one of the game’s youngest published authors.
The book, which includes dozens of well-chosen illustrative games by players throughout history, holds up well and also includes a small sampling from Naroditsky’s own play. For his chapter on “prophylaxis” — or the art of frustrating an opponent’s plans before he even starts to implement them — Naroditsky lucidly explains his thinking in a game from 2005.
Starting with today’s diagram, Naroditsky as White is trying to justify a piece sacrifice with a mating attack. Realizing Black’s goal is to get his king out of danger via d7 and e8, White ignores the attack on his own bishop to wrap up the game with 1. Ra7!! (the author acknowledges that 1. Bxd4 Kd7 2. c4! bxc4 3. bxc4 Qf5 4. Ra7+ Ke8 5. Ra8 Qf4 6. g3 Qc7 7. Rxd8+ Qxd8 8. Rxe4 also does the job, but argues the game move is the more principled choice) Qc6 (dxe3 2. Qa6+ Kb8 3. Qb6+ Kc8 4. Rc7 mate) 2. Bxd4 Nf6 (Nd6 3. Ra6 Qd7 4. Ra8+ Kc7 5. Qa7+ Kc6 6. Qb6+ Kd5 7. Re5 mate) 3. Re5 Nd5 4. Ra6! Qb7 5. Ra8+ Kd7 6. Ra7, and White went on to win.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Niemann-Caruana, 2025 U.S. National Championship, St. Louis, October 2025
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. c3 f5 5. d3 Qf6 6. O-O f4 7. b4 Nge7 8. a4 g5
9. b5 Nd8 10. d4 g4 11. Ne1 h5 12. Na3 Ne6 13. b6 c6 14. Ba2 Ng5 15. Nd3 Ng6 16. Nc4 Be6 17. Ba3 Bxc4 18. Bxc4 f3 19. g3 h4 20. Qc2 axb6 21. Rae1 Rd8 22. d5 Rd7 23. dxc6 bxc6 24. Bc1 Rdh7 25. Bxg5 Qxg5 26. Qb3 hxg3 27. Qxb6 Qh4 28. Qb8+ Ke7 White resigns.
Krush-Yip, 2025 U.S. Women’s Championship, St. Louis, October 2025
1. c4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. d5 a5 8. h3 Na6 9. Bg5 Qe8 10. Nd2 Nd7 11. g4 Ndc5 12. Rg1 Kh8 13. Nf1 f5 14. Qd2 Nb4 15. Be3 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 fxe4 17. Ng3 Nd3+ 18. Bxd3 exd3 19. Qxd3 e4 20. Nxe4 Qe5 21. Rb1 Bd7 22. Ke2 Rae8 23. f3 Qh2+ 24. Nf2 Bh6 25. Qd4+ Kg8 26. g5 Bg7 27. Qh4 Bf5 28. Rbd1 Qe5 29. Ne4 Bxe4 30. fxe4 Qxb2+ 31. Rd2 Qc3 32. e5 Qxe5 33. Rg3 Rf4 White resigns.
• Got a hot chess tip or a cool game to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.
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