Aaron Rodgers isn’t looking for “revenge” when the Steelers face the Packers, just a victory

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) rolls out looking to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers knew this game might be coming five years ago.

Maybe it’s why he appears to be at peace with what will be the very jarring visual of the four-time MVP standing on one side of the line of scrimmage and the team he long defined being on the other when Pittsburgh (4-2) hosts Green Bay (4-1-1) on Sunday night.

Asked this week if his first-ever meeting with the Packers was about revenge, Rodgers simply shook his head.

“What do I got to be avenging here?” Rodgers said this week, 2 1/2 years after his remarkably successful run with Green Bay ended with a trade to the New York Jets so the Packers could hand the keys to the franchise to Jordan Love. “They made me a ton of money. I grew up there, spent some of the best years of my life there. I’ve got nothing but love for the organization.”

And nothing but love for the man who replaced him.

The moment NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced Love’s name near the end of the first round of the 2020 draft, Rodgers understood his time in Green Bay was on the clock.

In a perfect world, Rodgers would have guided the Packers to another Super Bowl title and headed off into the California sunset while gracefully ceding the spotlight to Love.

Yet Rodgers learned long ago that things rarely wrap up so tidily. And they didn’t.

While Rodgers fended Love off for three years — a third and fourth MVP season helped — by early 2023, Love looked ready to take over, and the Packers were ready to move on. Somewhat begrudgingly, so was the quarterback who helped bring “Titletown, USA” its fourth Super Bowl.

So no, Rodgers is not bitter. If he were, why has he stayed in contact with Love since his departure? The two swapped texts last week, exchanging notes on what they’ve seen from common opponents. Their “student/teacher” dynamic has been replaced by something that sounds an awful lot like friendship.

“(Love is) one of the real good guys in the league,” Rodgers said. “I’m sure his leadership has continued to grow over there, but I like the way he’s playing. He’s super accurate. He’s taking care of the football. He’s been opportunistic, making great throws down the field and using his legs as well.”

All words that have been used to describe Rodgers through the years. There is a symmetry to that, and maybe that’s the point. While Love was initially wary when he arrived in Green Bay, knowing his job was to eventually replace a future Hall of Famer, there was never the edginess that defined the relationship between Rodgers and Brett Favre, whom Rodgers replaced in 2008 much in the same way Love took over for him 15 years later.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for how he handled it, the way he went about me coming in and like I said before, he welcomed me with open arms,” Love said.

Those arms have remained open through the years.

Yes, Rodgers is enjoying his time in Pittsburgh. Yet he knows there is only one team he will be forever associated with. And it’s not the one he’ll be playing for under the prime-time lights this week.

“Regardless of when I hang it up, that’s the bulk of my career,” Rodgers said, “I’ll retire a Packer and see what happens after that.”

Portugal beats United States’ women’s soccer team for 1st time, 2-1 in Alex Morgan’s farewell

(File Photo: Source for Photo: United States’ Alex Morgan stands during her retirement ceremony before an international friendly women’s soccer match between the United States and Portugal, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Chester, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — The U.S. women’s team stumbled Thursday in its first game since July, allowing a goal in each half that sent Portugal to its first win against the Americans, 2-1 on a night two-time World Cup winner Alex Morgan was feted with a star-studded farewell.

Portugal not only beat the U.S. for the first time in 12 matches, it scored its first goals against the Americans in international play.

U.S. coach Emma Hayes said she could tell at practice ahead of the match the nearly four-month layoff could affect the team.

“It felt to me like we just hadn’t played together for a long time,” Hayes said. “I just didn’t recognize us.”

Rose Lavelle scored only 33 seconds into the friendly for the Americans, only for Inês Pereira to shut them down the rest of the game.

Lavelle electrified the crowd that included retired Eagles great Jason Kelce inside Subaru Park — the home field for the MLS’ Philadelphia Union — when she scored before many of the more than 17,000 fans had even settled into their seats following a pregame ceremony for Morgan.

“Sometimes, you can start the game like that and you think to yourself, I hope we don’t sit back and be passive,” Hayes said. “That’s what we did.”

Portugal’s Diana Gomes scored her eighth international goal when she got a header past Phallon Tullis-Joyce that tied the game 1-all in the first half. Portugal had been outscored 40-0 by the United States in the previous 11 matches between them, plus Lavelle’s goal.

Fatima Pinto scored her fifth international goal from atop the box through traffic late in the second half for the winner that gave Portugal its landmark victory.

“There is a standard of winning, and it kind of exceeds all those things, whether it’s the time apart or the age of the team or experience. We have a choice now of how we respond,” midfielder Sam Coffey said.

The U.S. women returned after a 113-day layoff for the start of a true ramp-up toward World Cup qualifications. There’s another match scheduled against Portugal and one against New Zealand to close out the three-match window at the end of the month.

The team needs the work before the results truly matter.

“We didn’t look like the team that we’ve been working on but that’s what happens when you’ve got 113 days apart,” Hayes said.

With Morgan in the house, the stadium underwent a makeover in honor of her big night.

Her greatest moments (such as her four-goal game for the U-20 women’s World Cup team) were recognized in stand-up cutouts that lined outside the stadium. Girls lined up at the Alex Morgan pre-wrap station to get their hair “game-day ready” and T-shirts and banners with her name on them were the hot items at merch stores. Fans everywhere raised signs showing Morgan love in her national team send-off.

Even national team members who couldn’t take the field wouldn’t miss Morgan’s night. The 36-year-old Morgan retired from soccer last year when she became pregnant with her second child.

American forward Trinity Rodman was on hand for Morgan’s celebration but did not play as she recovers from a knee injury. Rodman has only played for the Americans once since they won the 2024 Olympic gold medal in France. Abby Wambach, Kelley O’Hara and Megan Rapinoe also attended the game.

Besides World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, Morgan also won an Olympic gold medal in 2012. She played in 224 matches for the U.S. — and was honored with a framed jersey with that total as the number — with 123 goals and 53 assists. She was chosen the U.S. Soccer Player of the Year in 2012 and 2018.

Morgan also played in 150 NWSL matches over her career, which included stints with the Portland Thorns and the Orlando Pride. She rejoined the Wave in May as a minority stakeholder.

Hayes only had Morgan for one game during her tenure. But the former Chelsea coach has been around the sport long enough to appreciate Morgan’s impact on the game — and for her to be feted at the same stadium where she scored her first national team goal in 2010.

“There was nothing she didn’t achieve,” Hayes said a day earlier. “She was a player that epitomized everything this program is about. She’s an unbelievable credit to her family because her drive, her desire, her determination to prove herself at the highest level is second to none.

“You can’t go anywhere in this country without them talking about Alex Morgan, and I think the sport should show a lot of gratitude to that, because it’s important for our players to be recognizable. And she is, without question, in recent times, one of the most recognizable faces in our sport.”

Dedication ceremony in Wampum for mural depicting hometown baseball player, the late Richard “Dick” Allen

(Photo Courtesy of the Wampum Community Revitalization)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Wampum, PA) There will be an official dedication ceremony for the mural of the late baseball player Richard “Dick” Allen tomorrow in Wampum at 4 p.m. Allen, who played nine seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies, was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame of Cooperstown, New York on July 27th, 2025 and the mural located on 331 Main Street depicts him. The artist of the mural, Ernel Martinez, the son of Allen, Richard, Jr. and the brother of Allen, Ron will be among the guests at this ceremony set in Allen’s hometown. There will also be a digital paranormal investigation event following the mural dedication ceremony tomorrow starting at 6 p.m. and ending at 9 p.m.

L.C. Greenwood, the late Steelers defensive lineman, in consideration for Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026, seniors category

(Photo Courtesy of Getty Images and Focus on Sport, JANUARY 20: American professional football player L.C. Greenwood #68 of the Pittsburgh Steelers during Super Bowl XIV against the Los Angeles Rams at the Rose Bowl on January 20, 1980 in Pasadena, California. The Steelers defeated the Rams 31-19. (Photo by Focus On Sport/Getty Images)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The late Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman L.C. Greenwood is still in consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 in the seniors category after a recent second round of voting from people from the museum located in Canton, Ohio. Greenwood and thirty-three others were considered as candidates for this honor. Greenwood was a four-time Super Bowl Champion who played all thirteen of his NFL seasons with the Steelers. 

NBA head coach, player and former player charged in sprawling sports betting and Mafia-backed poker schemes

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – This combo of images shows, from left, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers’ Damon Jones. (AP Photo/File)

NEW YORK (AP) — The head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and a player for the Miami Heat were arrested Thursday along with more than 30 other people in a takedown of two sprawling gambling operations that authorities said leaked inside information about NBA athletes and rigged poker games backed by Mafia families.

Portland coach Chauncey Billups was charged with participating in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes card games tied to La Cosa Nostra organized crime families that cheated unsuspecting gamblers out of at least $7 million. Heat guard Terry Rozier was accused in a separate scheme of exploiting private information about players to win bets on NBA games.

The two indictments unsealed in New York create a massive cloud for the NBA — which opened its season this week — and show how certain types of wagers are vulnerable to massive fraud in the growing, multibillion-dollar legal sports-betting industry. Joseph Nocella, the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York, called it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”

“My message to the defendants who’ve been rounded up today is this: Your winning streak has ended,” Nocella said. “Your luck has run out.”

Both men face money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy charges. Also charged was former NBA assistant coach and player Damon Jones, who stands accused of participating in both schemes.

“The fraud is mind boggling,” FBI Director Kash Patel told reporters. “We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multiyear investigation.”

The alleged fraud, however, paled in comparison to the riches the athletes earned on the court. Billups, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year, had about $106 million in earnings over his 17-year career. Rozier made about $160 million in his stops in Boston, Miami and Charlotte.

Billups and Rozier have been placed on leave from their teams, according to the NBA, which said it is cooperating with authorities.

“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said in a statement.

Hours after his arrest, Rozier appeared in a federal court in Orlando, Florida, wearing a Charlotte Hornets sweatshirt, handcuffs and shackles. Billups appeared before a judge in Portland, Oregon. Both men were ordered released from custody on certain conditions.

Billups’ attorney, Chris Heywood, issued a statement Thursday evening denying the allegations, calling his client a “man of integrity.” “To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his Hall-of-Fame legacy, his reputation and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game,” Heywood said.

Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, said in a statement that his client is “not a gambler” and “looks forward to winning this fight.” Trusty criticized authorities for not allowing his client to surrender on his own and accused officials of wanting “the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk.”

Messages were left Thursday at a phone number and email address listed in public records for Jones.

Roughly 20 other defendants appeared in federal court in Brooklyn, where most of them pleaded not guilty. Many of those charged with violent crimes or with lengthy criminal records and ties to organized crime were detained.

Mafia families profited off gambling scheme, officials say

The poker scheme lured unwitting players into rigged games with the chance to compete against former professional basketball players like Billups and Jones. The games were fixed using sophisticated cheating technology, such as altered card-shuffling machines, hidden cameras in poker chip trays, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table to read cards, authorities allege.

The scheme often made use of illegal poker games run by New York crime families that required them to share a portion of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonnano crime families, according to court papers. Members of those families, in turn, also helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success of the operation, officials said in court documents.

Athletes accused of leaving games early

In the sports betting scheme, Rozier and other defendants are accused of accessing private information from NBA players or coaches that could affect a player’s performance and giving that information to others so they could place wagers. Players sometimes altered their performance or took themselves out of games early to rig prop bets — a type of wager that allows gamblers to bet on whether a player will exceed a certain statistic, such as a total number of points, rebounds or assists, according to the indictment.

In one instance, Rozier, while playing for the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, told people he was planning to leave the game early with a supposed injury, allowing gamblers to place wagers earning them tens of thousands of dollars, authorities said. That game against the New Orleans Pelicans raised eyebrows at the time. Rozier played the first 9 minutes and 36 seconds of the game before leaving, citing a foot issue. He did not play again that season.

Posts still online from March 23, 2023, show that some bettors were furious with sportsbooks that evening when it became evident that Rozier was not going to return to the game after the first quarter, with many turning to social media to say that something “shady” had happened regarding the prop bets involving his stats for that night.

The indictments contain the descriptions of several unnamed NBA players whose injury status and availability for certain games were the source of betting activity. Those players are not accused of any wrongdoing, and there is no indication that they would have even known what was being said about their status for those games.

Those players include LeBron JamesAnthony Davis and Damian Lillard. Their identities are clear based on a review of corresponding injury reports surrounding games mentioned in the indictment. The indictments show that certain defendants shared information about the availability of those players in a game on March 24, 2023, involving the Portland Trail Blazers, and two games in 2023 and 2024 involving the Los Angeles Lakers.

The NBA had investigated Rozier previously. He was in uniform as the Heat played the Magic on Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, in the season opener for both teams, though he did not play in the game.

Sidney Crosby’s two goals and an assist lead Penguins to 5-3 win over Panthers

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates with right wing Rickard Rakell (67) after scoring his team’s first goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sidney Crosby had two goals and an assist for his fourth multipoint game of the season, Erik Karlsson and Evgeni Malkin each added two assists and the Pittsburgh Penguins topped the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Thursday night for their fourth consecutive win.

Crosby now has five goals in a four-game goal-scoring streak, his longest since a four-game stretch late in the 2021-22 season. Ben Kindel, Rickard Rakell and Connor Dewar also had goals for the Penguins, who improved to 6-2-0 and are off to their best start since 2019-20.

Brad Marchand had two goals and Sam Reinhart also scored for Florida, which got two-assist nights from Seth Jones and Mackie Samoskevich.

It was the first time that Crosby and Marchand both had two or more goals in the same game. Crosby is now two points away from joining Detroit’s Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman, along with fellow Penguins legend Mario Lemieux, as the only players with at least 1,700 career points for one franchise.

Both of Crosby’s goals were on the power play. It was his first two power-play goal game since Oct. 13, 2023 and the 11th such regular-season game of his career; the Penguins are 11-0-0 in those contests.

Tristan Jarry made 34 saves for Pittsburgh. Sergei Bobrovsky gave up five goals on just 16 shots in the Florida net.

The game marked just the second time that the Jones brothers — Pittsburgh’s Caleb and Florida’s Seth — went head-to-head in a regular-season game. Caleb Jones is now 2-0-0 in those games; he was with Colorado for a 5-0 win over Chicago, when Seth Jones played there, in 2024.

Florida outshot Pittsburgh 31-9 in the final 40 minutes — but the Penguins outscored the Panthers 4-3 in that span.

Up next

Penguins: Host Columbus on Saturday.

Panthers: Host Vegas on Saturday.

Former Steelers players Hines Ward, James Harrison, Maurkice Pouncey and Gary Anderson advance in Pro Football Hall of Fame voting process

(File Photo: Source for Headline Photo and First Photo Below: FILE – In this Dec. 2, 2018, file photo, Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, right, and his brother, Los Angeles Chargers center Mike Pouncey pose after playing against each other in an NFL football game in Pittsburgh. The twin brothers announced their retirement from professional football on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Don Wright, File)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Four former Pittsburgh Steelers football players have recently advanced in the voting process for the Pro Football Hall of Fame located in Canton, Ohio. They are kicker Gary Anderson, linebacker James Harrison, center Maurkice Pouncey, and wide receiver Hines Ward. These four players are now in further consideration along with forty-eight others for election as members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026

(File Photo: Source for Second Photo Below: FILE – In this July 29, 2016, file photo, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, left, talks with head coach Mike Tomlin during a practice at the NFL football team’s training camp in Latrobe, Pa. Former NFL linebacker James Harrison says Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin did not offer a bounty for an illegal hit on a member of the Cleveland Browns. Harrison told former teammate Willie Colon on a podcast that Tomlin handed him an envelope shortly after Harrison was fined in 2010 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massqoui. Harrison declined to specify what was in the envelope, but posted on Instagram that Tomlin never offered a bounty on opposing players. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

(File Photo: Source for Third Photo Below, Courtesy of Getty Images, PITTSBURGH, PA – NOVEMBER 22: Gary Anderson #1 of the Pittsburgh Steelers kicks a field goal during a NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts on November 22, 1992 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

(File Photo: Source for Fourth Photo Below: FILE – Hines Ward, at the time the New York Jets’ offensive assistant coach, walks on the field during the NFL football team’s training camp in Florham Park, N.J., July 25, 2019. Ward is getting his first opportunity to be a head coach with San Antonio in the new XFL. The league relaunches in February 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steelers lose special teams ace Miles Killebrew to season-ending knee injury

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Steelers safety Miles Killebrew (28) is helped off the field after an injury in the first half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Miles Killebrew’s season is over.

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Killebrew is done for the year after undergoing knee surgery.

Killebrew, a two-time Pro Bowler as a special teamer and a 2023 All-Pro, injured his knee in a victory over Cleveland earlier this month at Acrisure Stadium on what some of his teammates described as an unplayable field.

The 10-year veteran and longtime special teams captain who occasionally moonlighted at safety had five tackles this season.

“Our heart aches for Miles,” Tomlin said. “Obviously he’s a significant component of what we do, particularly in the special team space.”

Veteran safety Jabrill Peppers filled in for Killebrew as the personal protector on punts, though Tomlin isn’t quite ready to hand the job to Peppers on a full-time basis.

“It’s probably a collection of men that have to step up when you’re faced with a challenge like that,” Tomlin said. “Pep did a nice job as a personal protector on our punt team last week, but there’ll be no exhale there. That’s something that’s got to be earned over a long period of time.”

Outside of Killebrew, the Steelers (4-2) are relatively healthy heading into a Sunday night visit from Green Bay (4-1-1). Pittsburgh wide receiver Calvin Austin III could return to play after sitting out the last two games with a shoulder injury.

Tomlin dismissed concerns about the state of the field at Acrisure, which came under criticism from Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and longtime defensive captain Cam Heyward among others for the condition it was in against the Browns.

The field will see plenty of action this weekend. The Pittsburgh Panthers, who share the stadium with the Steelers, host North Carolina State on Saturday afternoon, with that game wrapping up a little over 24 hours before the Steelers and Packers kick off.

“I am not a grass expert,” Tomlin quipped. “I haven’t cut my grass in a long, long time. I coach football. I’m going to stay in my lane. I don’t even know who cuts my grass.”

Crosby scores, Letang reaches 600 career assists as Penguins breeze past Canucks 5-1

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates his goal with Rickard Rakell, left, and Parker Wotherspoon (28) during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored his fourth goal and Kris Letang became the 20th defenseman in NHL history to reach 600 career assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Crosby beat Kevin Lankinen from the slot in the later stages of the second period to extend his goal streak to three straight games. It also gave Pittsburgh’s longtime captain 1,896 career points combined between the regular season and the postseason, moving Crosby past Penguins icon and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and alone into seventh place in NHL history.

Letang set up Tommy Novak’s first goal with the Penguins 14:21 into the second period to reach 599 assists. Letang picked up No. 600 in the third period when he was credited with the secondary assist on Justin Brazeau’s fifth goal of the season. The 38-year-old Letang is just the 10th defenseman in league history to reach 600 assists with a single team.

Brazeau added two assists for the Penguins. Anthony Mantha and Connor Dewar also scored as Pittsburgh won its third straight.

Arturs Silovs, in a competition with two-time All-Star Tristan Jarry to become Pittsburgh’s No. 1 goaltender, allowed Vancouver’s Conor Garland to beat him on the first shot of the game but settled down from there and finished with 23 saves.

Lankinen stopped just 20 of the 25 shots he faced as Vancouver saw its three-game winning streak end.

Pittsburgh broke a tie game in the second period when Novak, Crosby and Mantha each scored in a span of just over three minutes to put the Penguins comfortably ahead as Pittsburgh improved to 5-2-0 under first-year coach Dan Muse.

Up next

Canucks: finish up a five-game road trip in Nashville on Thursday.

Penguins: visit two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida on Thursday.

American chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky dies at 29

(File Photo: Source for Photo: This undated photo released by Charlotte Chess Center shows Daniel Naroditsky playing chess on the board. (Kelly Centrelli/Charlotte Chess Center via AP))

(AP) 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.

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 U.S. National Blitz Championship in August.

Fellow grandmasters credited Naroditsky with introducing the sport to a wider audience by livestreaming many of his matches and sharing live commentary on others. Thousands of people regularly tuned in on YouTube and the interactive streaming platform Twitch to watch Naroditsky play.

“He loved streaming, and he loved trying to be educational. The chess world is very grateful,” Hikaru Nakamura, an American grandmaster, said on a livestream Monday.

In a final video posted to his YouTube channel on Friday titled “You Thought I Was Gone!?” Naroditsky tells viewers he’s “back, better than ever” after taking a creative break from streaming. He talks viewers through his moves as he plays live chess matches on the computer from a cozy home studio.

Other elite chess players from around the globe took to social media to express their shock and sadness.

Dutch chess grandmaster Benjamin Bok reflected on his lifelong friendship with Naroditsky, who he said he’s known since the Under 12 world championship that Naroditsky won in 2007.

“I still can’t believe it and don’t want to believe it,” Bok said on X. “It was always a privilege to play, train, and commentate with Danya, but above all, to call him my friend.”

Naroditsky was the son of Jewish immigrants to the U.S. from Ukraine and Azerbaijan. He was born and raised in San Mateo County, California, and was described by his parents as a very serious kid with an impressive attention span and memory. He went on to study history at Stanford University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 2019 after taking a year off to play in chess tournaments.

After college, he moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he coached the area’s top junior chess players.