Bay Area chess grandmaster had methamphetamine, active ingredients of kratom in his system at time of death

Caelyn Pender, The Mercury News on Jan 21, 2026

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A chess grandmaster from the San Francisco Bay Area who died in October was found to have methamphetamine and the active ingredients of kratom in his system at the time of his death, which was ruled to be an accident, authorities said.

Daniel Naroditsky, 29, a Foster City native who became one of the most influential voices in the sport of chess, died Oct. 19 at his North Carolina home.

A postmortem toxicology report conducted Oct. 23 found methamphetamine, amphetamine, mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine in his system, according to documents obtained from the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine are the two active components of kratom, which is sourced from a tree in Southeast Asia and is a stimulant in low doses and a sedative in high doses, according to a fact sheet from the Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration. Kratom is not federally regulated and has not been approved for medical uses by the FDA.

In January, an investigative report listed Naroditsky’s pending probable cause of death as cardiac arrhythmia and cardiac involvement in systemic sarcoidosis. Methamphetamine and kratom use are listed as contributing conditions. The medical examiner also listed the manner of Naroditsky’s death as an accident.

On a separate page, dated in October, the fatal injury or illness is listed as “Kratom and/or illicit substance toxicity vs. Pneumonia.” Naroditsky also had clusters of contusions on both thighs that were in various stages of healing, according to the report.

A few days after Naroditsky’s death, the International Chess Federation announced an disciplinary and ethics investigation into Vladimir Kramnik, 50, a chess grandmaster who accused several chess champions, including Naroditsky, of cheating.

Kramnik alleged that these grandmasters used artificial intelligence on a separate computer screen to suggest chess moves, pointing to shifting eyes as evidence. Naroditsky denied the allegations and had the support of other chess grandmasters who painted them as baseless. After Naroditsky’s death, Kramnik called for a police investigation but also defended himself as a whistleblower.

The chess federation, known by its French acronym FIDE, filed an official complaint against Kramnik to its Ethics & Disciplinary Commission in November, outlining a “pattern of conduct” over two years that included harassment and “the insulting of an individual’s dignity” directed toward Naroditsky and another player, according to a press release from FIDE.

Naroditsky was raised in Foster City, where he first won a children’s chess world championship title as a sixth grader in 2007. He competed in his first chess tournament in Fremont at age six. He went on to earn the title of grandmaster at the age of 18.

Naroditsky studied at Hillsborough’s Crystal Springs Uplands School, then attended college at Stanford University, where he studied history. At the time of his death, Naroditsky was working as a coach at the Charlotte Chess Center in North Carolina. He also streamed videos of his chess games and commentary of other games on his Twitch and Youtube channels.

Naroditsky was ranked in the top 200 worldwide traditional chess players and won titles for blitz chess, a faster-paced game in which he ranked in the top 25. His most recent win was in August 2025, when he won the U.S. National Blitz Championship.

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