Guest Author
As one of the most active chess affiliates in the United States, the Charlotte Chess Center (CCC) will bring prestige to both chess and the city of Charlotte by hosting the Naroditsky Memorial Rapid and Blitz over the Fourth of July weekend. This tournament, in memory of the Center’s Grandmaster-in-Residence Daniel Naroditsky, will bring together some of the world’s top players such as Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Jovhokir Sindarov, in conjunction with top content creators like GothamChess, the Botez Sisters, Dina Belenkaya, and Sagar Shah.
A Vision Come to Life
In 2013, Charlotte Chess Center owner and founder, Peter Giannatos had a vision: to build a vibrant, professional chess community in his home of the Queen City. Now Charlotte is considered one of the largest and most active chess cities in the country. In 2025, the CCC held 375 rated tournaments, with over 2,700 unique players from all over the world attending them. With 60 school programs filled with 2,000 students, 400 students in the Academy Class program, and monthly adult meetups averaging 80-100 attendees, the CCC has created an ecosystem that impacts thousands of chess players both near and far.
That growth didn’t occur on its own. Giannatos began by doing what many chess organizers do: running small tournaments in shared spaces. It wasn’t until 2014 that Giannatos decided to get a physical location that would become the first home of the Charlotte Chess Center, raising over $30,000 to do so. And with that, the Charlotte Chess Center was born.
The Next Level
With physical space came room and need to grow. And it did: in 2018, US Chess declared Charlotte “Chess City of the Year.” In 2019, the CCC became US Chess’s “Chess Club of the Year.” A true grassroots effort, Giannatos began to see his vision come to life.
There was still room for improvement, particularly by providing greater support to higher-rated players. The next step was the introduction of the CCC’s permanent Grandmaster-in-Residence, GM Daniel Naroditsky.
Naroditsky’s Impact
He was a wunderkind. A World-Youth Champion, the youngest published chess author at 14 years old, a Grandmaster at 17, and a Stanford graduate. He was sharp, quick-witted, and incredibly kind–the perfect sort of Coach for an organization full of fledgling chess players. Naroditsky, a California native, met Giannatos through Emory’s Castle Chess Camp, where they were both instructors. Giannatos saw something in Naroditsky that Charlotte needed, which is a constant, guiding force that would serve as an aspiration to students. Under Giannatos’s encouragement Naroditsky made the move to Charlotte.
Naroditsky marked the second phase in the CCC’s history, one where not only the number of players in Charlotte grew, but so did their ratings. Naroditsky and Giannatos created the CCC’s Elite Team, a subsidized program where students rated 1500 and above receive access to GM-level instruction at low-cost. It became the goal for many of the CCC’s students, and today there are over 100 CCC students who qualify for Elite Team, with an additional Super Elite team for students rated over 2000. Naroditsky also attended National and State tournaments, providing game analysis to all CCC students between rounds.
Local Coach, International Talent
When COVID happened, Naroditsky began what many others did–streaming and content creation. But unlike many others, he had an effortlessness and child-like enthusiasm when discussing chess, and his content exploded. It was rare to find such a well-spoken, elite player, who could simplify concepts to the masses. Naroditsky became popular, joining Chess.com as a commentator and becoming a columnist with the New York Times. His “speedrun” streams and videos became the pinnacle of what positive, educational content should look like, and even after COVID ended, he maintained his online platforms while continuing his work for the CCC.
Beyond being an unparalleled educator, he was an elite-level player in his own right. He had been the number one bullet player in the world and was amongst the world’s best for blitz. In fact, he famously pulled all-nighters playing bullet. In 2022, while GM Alireza Firouzja was in the middle of the Candidates tournament, they played a whopping 337 bullet games. But despite all of this, Naroditsky had his detractors: some believed his talent was only online, some believed he was a cheater, and some believed that he wouldn’t be able to replicate his results over the board and away from Charlotte. Driven to quell the rumors in late December 2024, Naroditsky played in the World Rapid and Blitz Championship, tying for first place.
A Tragedy for the Charlotte Community
In early 2025, Naroditsky continued working with the CCC’s student population, attending the NC State Championship in March, Super Nationals in May, and teaching the Elite Team throughout.
However, on October 19, 2025, Naroditsky passed away alone in his home from complications related to sarcoidosis, a form of inflammation, leaving his friends, colleagues, and students in immeasurable grief. Less than a month before he was to turn 30, Naroditsky’s death came as a shock and triggered a global news cycle–with Charlotte at its center.
A Tribute to Greatness
Giannatos was not going to let Naroditsky’s name fall out of the annals of time. He was determined to support Naroditsky’s legacy. And so, he took the CCC’s dormant nonprofit, the Charlotte Chess Center Foundation (CCCF) and used it to house what would become known as the Naroditsky Fund.
The Naroditsky Fund was created to finance two initiatives that speak to the two sides of Naroditsky: education and blitz competition. And so the Naroditsky Memorial Fellowship and the Naroditsky Memorial Rapid and Blitz (NMRB) were born.
The Fellowship aims to support promising young chess players in their pursuit of a career in chess. This is, in part, inspired by the Samford Fellowship, a fellowship Naroditsky received in 2014. It also continues Naroditsky’s love of education and supporting young, gifted talent. Through this initiative, Naroditsky’s dream of cultivating the first Charlotte-born grandmaster may still come to fruition.
The NMRB is a tournament as unique and unprecedented as its namesake. An annual event bringing together the world’s top players and content creators, this open tournament will be the strongest open tournament in the United States. Despite its strength, it has lower rated sections so that the Charlotte–and global–community can come play chess alongside greats like Nakamura, Caruana, and Sindarov. Naroditsky provided education to all both in-person and online, and this tournament will similarly reach all players–from beginners to the world’s best.
The Naroditsky Fund started with $100,000 donations from chess.com and the Charlotte Chess Center, as well as additional donations from popular streamers and elite players. Giannatos opened a Givebutter page with an ambitious goal: raise $4 million to create an endowment where he would not need to fundraise again. While falling short of the initial goal, the over 3,000 founding sponsors raised over $1.1 million!
On July 3 – 5, 2026, the Naroditsky Memorial Rapid and Blitz will be held at the Charlotte Marriott Center City. Whether you want to play, spectate, or volunteer, options are available for you to be a part of Naroditsky’s legacy.
To learn more about the Naroditsky Fund, Fellowship, and Tournament: cltccf.org.
To learn more about the Charlotte Chess Center: charlottechesscenter.org.
To donate to the Naroditsky Fund: givebutter.com/naroditsky
