Naroditsky Memorial Honors Danya's Legacy as Sindarov Sweeps

In a typical summer, I would play in the National Open, in Las Vegas, the World Open, in Philadelphia, and other annual tournaments. This year I’m focusing less on chess, but I still wanted to play in the inaugural Naroditsky Memorial Rapid and Blitz, organized July 3-5 by the Charlotte Chess Center, where Danya was a GM-in-residence during the last years of his life.

I went to the Naroditsky memorial, though, primarily as a way to honor Danya, against whom I played in the 2024 U.S. Masters blitz (I lost, but it was still a good experience). There were three other reasons. 

First, I think rapid and blitz are more fun than classical. Based on the crowd at this tournament — almost 100 players in the Masters, over 200 in the Challengers, and that's not to mention the non-playing spectators  — I'm not alone. 

Second, a lot of strong players from all over the world were registered, including American GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, the World Championship challenger GM Javokhir Sindarov, and many others. 

The field also included a number of chess celebrities, including both streamers and top players of past generations. GM Aman Hambleton of ChessBrah fame, for instance, defeated Sindarov in Round 2 of the Blitz (below, top left), while fellow streamer IM Eric Rosen was unable to keep up with legendary GM Vasyl Ivanchuk in one of the round's most-watched games (middle right).

GM Boris Gelfand had an even more impressive showing in the Blitz, though, qualifying (via playoff over GM Ray Robson, see above gallery, top right) for the tournament's grand finale, even though the 58-year-old is relatively inactive in tournament chess these days. 

And the third reason I wanted to come to Charlotte? I wanted to have a chess vacation where I could just play for a couple of days. 

Rapid Swiss

The seven-round Rapid (G/10+5) was held Friday, July 3. After a very shaky start, I managed to score 4½/7 and tied for the top Under-2500 prize, the very existence of which goes to illustrate this tournament's strength.

There were lots of upsets: Fabi lost two games in a row, in rounds 4 and 5 against GMs Vasif Durarbayli and Steven Zierk, and Sindarov lost to the teenage American GM Andy Woodward.

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Andy Woodward, pictured here during the Blitz Final, was the only player to defeat Sindarov in the rapid event. (Photo courtesy Charlotte Chess Center/Kelly Centrelli)

But Sindarov won all of his other games to tie with GM Aravindh Chithambaram for first at 6/7, with Sindarov winning the playoff 2–0.

Blitz Swiss

The 11-round Blitz (G/3+2) was held Saturday, July 4. The top 10 players after 11 rounds would play a round robin on Sunday to determine the champion. This time, I never managed to fully recover from my shaky start and scored a very disappointing 5½/11. GM Wesley So and I had an interesting coincidence: We met in Round 4 of the Rapid and again in Round 4 of the Blitz, and I had black both times. (I also lost both games, which wasn’t as interesting.)

The Blitz had upsets basically every single round. In Round 1, Hikaru drew IM Irene Sukhandar in a game he had been losing. In Round 2, Caruana lost to GM Nico Chasin, Woodward lost to IM Gauri Shankar, and Sindarov lost the aforementioned game against Hambleton.

The player who had the best performance relative to his rating was probably Ethan Sheehan (rated 2416 FIDE blitz), who had an absolutely amazing run in blitz, scoring 8/11 including five wins and two draws in nine games against GMs for a 2720 performance and qualifying for the blitz round robin on Sunday. He seemed to be up on time in most of his games, as can be seen in his win against GM Awonder Liang:

Nakamura won the 11-round blitz Swiss with an undefeated 8½/11, despite his first-round draw. Here Nakamura solidly outplayed his GM opponent.

Blitz Round Robin

The Blitz Final was held Sunday, July 5. All of the boards were on a stage, and spectators could watch the games live on the stage or on a screen. I watched for a couple rounds. Here's one of my favorite games I saw, again from Woodward: 

Sindarov won the blitz round robin with 7½/9 and a 2870 performance. Hikaru scored only 5/9 in the round robin, while Sheehan once again performed well above his rating with 6/9 and a 2752 performance, earning him third place. GM Wesley So finished second.

Overall, I enjoyed playing in the Naroditsky Memorial and watching some of the top players in the world play chess in person. The tournament was a great way to honor GM Daniel Naroditsky, a speed chess specialist. Danya was also one of the best chess commentators in the world. His ability to explain ideas to players of all levels was unmatched. Danya’s voice in the chess world will always be heard.

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Chess.com's Mike Klein with Creator Invitational winner John Bartholomew. (Photo courtesy Charlotte Chess Center/Kelly Centrelli)

All standings for the rapid and blitz tournaments, including prize breakdowns, can be found here. The standings of the Creator Invitational, won by IM John Bartholomew with a 9/9 score, are here. Top boards for all events can be reviewed on Chess.com and Lichess. 

Look out for more coverage of this event on Chess Life Online, beginning with this week's tactics worksheets.