A Beginner-to-Expert Chess Course
Remembering Daniel Naroditsky (1995–2025)
Daniel Naroditsky — known to millions simply as “Danya” — was an American chess grandmaster and one of the most gifted teachers the game has ever known. Born in San Mateo, California on 19 November 1995, he learned chess as a young child and rose quickly: he won the World Youth Chess Championship (Under-12) in 2007, earned the International Master title in 2011, and became a Grandmaster in 2013. A Stanford University graduate and the author of the acclaimed books Mastering Positional Chess — written when he was still a teenager — and Mastering Complex Endgames, he paired deep classical understanding with a rare gift for explaining it.
It was as an educator that Naroditsky reached the widest audience. Teaching and streaming from Charlotte, North Carolina, his lessons — above all the celebrated Speed Run series, in which he begins from a modest rating and climbs the ladder while narrating every decision — became a rite of passage for improving players. Calm, precise, and endlessly patient, he had a gift for making grandmaster ideas feel reachable to an ordinary club player, and he was a familiar, generous voice in the commentary booth at the Saint Louis Chess Club and other major events.
Daniel Naroditsky died on 19 October 2025, at the age of 29. His games, commentary, and lessons remain some of the finest instructional chess material ever produced, and they continue to guide players from their very first moves all the way to master level. This page gathers that teaching into a single learning path.
How to use this course
The ladder below is organised by strength, not by date. Begin at the tier that matches your current level and work upward — each stage builds on the last. Naroditsky’s lessons anchor the path, blended with classic teaching from other master coaches such as GM Ben Finegold, GM Yasser Seirawan and IM Dina Belenkaya, so that every rung — from your first tactics to expert-level play — has clear, trustworthy guidance. Work through a tier, play and review your own games, then move up when the ideas feel natural.
1 · Beginner
Rated up to ~10006 lessonsStart here. The fundamentals — how the pieces cooperate, basic checkmates, simple tactics, and the opening principles that stop the early blunders that decide beginner games.
![Beyond Basic Opposition [Lecture 3]](https://chessterra.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/V0kcK-Tkzoc-300x169.jpg)
![300 Rated Almost Takes Down Sasha - Friday Knight Blitz at the Club [7-30-21]](https://chessterra.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/KTtBxP0YQS4-1-300x225.jpg)
2 · Intermediate
~1000 – 1600127 lessonsThe improver’s core. Real opening understanding over memorisation, pawn structures, simple plans, and the recurring tactical patterns that win most club games.
![The Pleasures of a Knight [Lecture 8]](https://chessterra.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/UBfFv-o8Y3U-300x169.jpg)
![All King & Pawn Endgames are Confusing! [Lecture 8]Part 2](https://chessterra.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/RhzkZvotYdw-300x169.jpg)
![All King & Pawn Endgames are Confusing! [Lecture 8] Part 3](https://chessterra.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/wQsi4MnrfKQ-300x169.jpg)
![The Principle of Two Weaknesses [Lecture 8]Part 2](https://chessterra.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/3lcXlbucrCw-300x169.jpg)
![Cat and Mouse or The Art of Doing Very Little as Slowly as Possible [Lecture 8]](https://chessterra.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/s0ThZlyOTiQ-300x169.jpg)
3 · Advanced
~1600 – 200030 lessonsSharpening the saw. Deeper calculation, positional judgement, prophylaxis, and the endgame technique that turns small edges into full points.
4 · Expert
~2000+253 lessonsMaster-level ideas. Complex middlegames, subtle strategy, and elite decision-making — watch how the strongest players convert understanding into wins.
5 · Master / GM Level
Elite play40 lessonsThe summit. Grandmaster games and the highest-level concepts, for absorbing the very best chess has to offer.
Videos are hosted on YouTube and remain the property of their respective creators. ChessTerra organises them here as a free study guide in tribute to a beloved teacher of the game.