Remembering Chess Trailblazers Who Died Last Year
Several important chess champions, coaches, innovators, authors, and thinkers died last year. This blog post has tributes to them, which aren’t obituaries so much as explorations of brilliance lost.
- Oldest Living World Chess Champion
- Multitalented Grandmaster
- Oldest Living Candidate
- Legendary “Adult Improver”
- Linguistic Genius
Oldest Living World Chess Champion
Boris Spassky, the oldest living world chess champion, died in February at the age of 88. He gained the world title in 1969 by defeating GM Tigran Petrosian in their rematch by a score of 12½–10½.
Spassky's victory against GM David Bronstein at the 1960 USSR Championship is generally considered to be his best chess game. In this game, Spassky’s brilliant rook sacrifice initiated a crushing attack that inspired the chess scene in From Russia With Love.
The 10th World Chess Champion held the title until 1972, when he lost to GM Bobby Fischer in the “Match of the Century” that propelled chess into the mass media spotlight. Game six in that match is considered the major turning point of the 1972 World Chess Championship. After the game, Spassky famously joined the audience in applauding Fischer on the win.
Recognized as a chess prodigy early in life, Spassky earned the grandmaster title at 18—the youngest in the world at the time—and made his Candidates tournament debut in 1956 at 19. A two-time USSR Champion, he played for the Soviet team in seven Chess Olympiads (1962–1978). Because he felt constrained by the Soviet system, he emigrated to France in 1976, became a French citizen in 1978, and later represented France in three Olympiads (1984–1988). He returned to Russia in 2012. For more information on his life, see his obituary on Chess.com here.
Multitalented Grandmaster
Daniel Naroditsky, known for his gifted chess play, writing, coaching, streaming, and broadcasting, died in October at age 29. In the words of FM Mike Klein, Naroditsky was a talented grandmaster, a precocious author, a sesquipedalian commentator, and an erudite historian. In January, a toxicology report indicated that he had died from “probable cardiac arrhythmia" caused by an inflammatory disease and ruled his death an accident.
An exceptional blitz and rapid player, he was popular with players of all levels because of how easily and simply he explained the game. His magazine and newspaper columns were informative as were his books beginning with the first one, Mastering Positional Chess, which he published at the age of 14. He was also instrumental in popularizing chess content online and had gained a huge following on his Twitch channel (340,000 followers) and YouTube (482,000 followers).
His life and legacy are being honored by the Daniel Naroditsky Memorial Rapid & Blitz that brings elite players and celebrated streamers together. The inaugural event will be held July 5-7 in Charlotte, N.C, where he was the “light of the Charlotte chess community,” as expressed by FM Peter Giannatos.
The over-the-board tournament, organized by the Charlotte Chess Center, marks the official launch of the Naroditsky Memorial Fund, an endowment with the goal of raising $4 million to ensure his influence on the game remains permanent. For more information, see his obituary on Chess.com here and a Chess.com report on the cause of death here.
Oldest Living Candidate
Fridrik Olafsson, the oldest living candidate for the world chess championship and a former FIDE president, died in April at the age of 90. He was Iceland’s first grandmaster, a two-time Nordic champion, and a six-time Icelandic champion.
At the peak of his playing career, he established himself among the world’s elite by defeating Fischer, Petrosian, and GM Mikhail Tal—each on two occasions. While serving as FIDE president, Fridrik defeated reigning World Champion Anatoly Karpov in 1980 in Buenos Aires. The win gained him membership in the “Mikhail Chigorin Club”—players who defeat a sitting world champion but never become one themselves.
In 1978, he succeeded Max Euwe as FIDE president. During his term which ended in 1982, he focused on obtaining commercial sponsorships for FIDE and improving relations between the Soviets and the rest of the chess world. For more information on his life, see his obituary on Chess.com here.
Legendary “Adult Improver”
Jonathan Hawkins, a two-time British Champion, died at the age of 42 in December after losing a battle with cancer. He was renowned for his statement: “I just studied the endgame, and that’s how I learned to calculate and got better.”And better he got.
An average club player in his teenage years and early twenties, he was an inspiring example of an "adult improver" for many players, particularly in an era of younger and younger titled players. Hawkins didn’t reach grandmaster level of play until relatively late in life and did not obtain the GM title until 2014 when he was 31.
In his book Amateur to IM: Proven Ideas and Training Methods, he wrote about his motivation to improve in chess: “Being a (relatively) weak chess player wasn't for me. I committed a large portion of my time to studying chess.” For more information on his life, see his obituary on Chess.com here.
Linguistic Genius
Robert Huebner, a four-time world championship candidate, died in January at the age of 76 after a long illness. He became Germany's youngest grandmaster in 1971 and was considered to be the best German chess player since GM Emanuel Lasker. At the Chess Olympiad in 1972, Huebner won the gold medal for Germany's board one and eventually represented Germany 11 times between 1968 and 2000.
A linguistic genius, Huebner could speak 22 languages. Among his contributions to chess literature is 55 Fat Blunders in 1990 that features only losses by him. His motto, "Those who say they understand chess, understand nothing," inspired many to study chess but also realize that chess in all its richness cannot be fully grasped.
Those who say they understand chess, understand nothing.
—Robert Huebner
In the strangest finish to a Candidates match in chess history, Huebner lost in the quarterfinals in 1983 to former world champion GM Vasily Smyslov when the match was decided by fate at the roulette table in a local casino. For more information on this match and on his life, see his obituary on Chess.com here.
Other Notable Players
Finally, other grandmasters who died in 2025 include the following:
- Peter Enders, a German grandmaster who won the 1994 German Chess Championship, died in February at the age of 62.
- Vlastimil Hort, a Czech-German grandmaster who was a former world number-six, died in May at the age of 81.
- Jacob Murey, a Soviet-born Israeli grandmaster who is the namesake of the Murrey [sic] Variation of the Modern Attack in the Petrov's Defense, died in September at the age of 84.
- Tigran Nalbandian, an Armenian grandmaster who played a central role in the rise of chess in his nation over the last two decades, died in June at the age of 50.
- Petr Neuman, a Czech grandmaster who was one of the most active grandmasters (he had more than 3,300 rated games), died in April at the age of 47.
- Mihai Suba, a Romanian and Spanish grandmaster who was joint winner of the 2008 World Senior Chess Championship with GM Larry Kaufman, died in October at the age of 78.
How well do you remember the last few years? Here are my recaps for the following years:
What other chess personalities who died last year were important and meaningful for you? Please add how they inspired you in the comments section.
Ray Linville’s high point as a chess player occurred when he swiped the queen of GM Hikaru Nakamura in a 60-second bullet game in 2021. This game was reported in a “My Best Move” column of the Chess Life magazine, published by the U.S. Chess Federation.
At Chess.com, he has been an editor (part-time) since 2019 and has edited news articles and tournament reports—including those of the Candidates and World Championship Tournaments and other major events—by titled players and noted chess writers as well as Game of the Day annotations by leading grandmasters. He has also been a contributing writer of chess terms, e-books, and general interest articles for ChessKid.com.
He enjoys “top blogger” status at Chess.com. His blog has won the award for Best Chess Blog from the Chess Journalists of America for several years. In addition, he has also been the recipient of first-place CJA awards for feature article, humorous contribution, online review, and educational lesson as well as honorable mention in the categories of personal narrative and historical article.