India, July 3 -- Every so often, Nihal Sarin pulls up a Chess.com profile and waits, hoping to find its owner online. He knows he's in for disappointment.

It has been roughly eight months since Nihal last played American grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky. Last October, the 29-year-old was found dead at his home in Charlotte. The final games Naroditsky ever played online were against the 21-year-old Indian grandmaster.

The two had never met in person, but over the years they had played more than 2000 games online against each other, forging an unlikely friendship built almost entirely through blitz and bullet chess.

Last weekend, after becoming the first Indian to win the Bullet Chess Championship, Nihal's thoughts drifted immediately to Na...