Daniel Naroditsky, a chess grandmaster who started as a child prodigy and quickly became one of the most influential American voices in the sport, died Monday. He was 29.

Axar.az informs, citing AP, the Charlotte Chess Center in North Carolina, where Naroditsky trained and worked as a coach, announced his death on social media, calling him “a talented chess player, educator, and beloved member of the chess community.”

“Let us remember Daniel for his passion and love for the game of chess, and for the joy and inspiration he brought to us all every day,” his family said in a statement shared by the center.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

Naroditsky became a grandmaster, the highest title in chess aside from World Chess Champion, at the age of 18.

Years earlier, the California-born player won the Under 12 world championship and spent his teenage years writing chess strategy books as he climbed the world rankings.

He was consistently ranked in the top 200 worldwide for traditional chess and also excelled at a fast-paced style called blitz chess, maintaining a top 25 ranking throughout his adult career. Most recently Naroditsky, known to many as Danya, won the US National Blitz Championship in August.

Daniel (‘Danya’) Naroditsky was born on 9 November 1995 in San Mateo, California. He is the son of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union. His father, Vladimir, is a mathematician from Ukraine, and his mother, Lena, is a pianist from Azerbaijan. He learnt to play chess from his father at the age of six and quickly progressed, achieving success in school chess tournaments.