Daniel Dardha (born 1 October 2005 in Mortsel, Belgium) ascended swiftly from chess prodigy to national champion and grandmaster. Coached by his father, FM Arben Dardha, he became Belgium’s youngest ever Chess Champion at 13 (2019) and earned the GM title at 15 in 2021.

By 2022 he had already clinched his third Belgian title, and in 2024 he secured his fourth national championship. In June 2025 he attempted a remarkable feat—playing a 50‑board “clock simul” in Deinze, where he scored 43.5/50 and awaited official recognition for a new world record. With a classical rating peaking at 2665 in March 2025 and consistently above 2600 thereafter, Dardha is Belgium’s top player and a rising name on the global stage.