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Hikaru Nakamura at ICE Barcelona: America’s best chess player
Very few players in chess have been able to amass a following comparable to the one Hikaru Nakamura has cultivated. Often spoken of as one of the greatest American chess players of all time, he is a five-time US champion (2005, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2019) and is currently ranked #2 in the world, behind only Magnus Carlsen.
Nakamura is known for his fast and calculating style of play, being particularly renowned as one of the greatest rapid, bullet, and blitz players ever, which his quick and aggressive style is particularly well suited for.
Hikaru’s background
Aside from being one of the greatest chess players since the turn of the millennia, Nakamura is also one of the most popular online chess content creators, with his YouTube channel having more than 3 million subscribers, and his Twitch channel having over 2 million followers. Similarly to GothamChess, Nakamura’s channel revolves around breaking down complex matches in a way that the average player can better understand, in turn helping them get better at the sport.
Despite achieving such massive success as an online content creator, Nakamura’s competitive edge and ambitions have still endured, with the Grandmaster having indicated his desire to become the World Chess Champion and further cement himself as one of the greatest to ever play.
With that said, he has also stated that he believes he has had a greater influence on the sport as a content creator than as a top competitor. When considering his significant following and the vast surge in the popularity of chess from 2020, his competitive credentials in tandem with his ability to reach a large audience means that he has cemented himself as one of the most important figures in modern day chess, with many players tuning in to watch his videos daily.
Nakamura was born in Hirakata, Japan in 1987. His family moved to the United States of America when he was 2 years old, and he began playing chess at the age of 7, when he started being trained by his stepfather, Sunil Weeramantry, a respected chess coach and FIDE Master.
At the time that he achieved the title of Grandmaster, Nakamura was the youngest American to ever do so, accomplishing the impressive feat at just 15-years-old. He is also tied as the tenth-highest-rated chess player in history, with his peak rating being 2816 Elo. Additionally, whilst his peak classical rating is #2, he has been ranked #1 in both rapid and blitz, notably being the inaugural #1 ranked in both categories, as FIDE began officially publishing the ratings in 2014.
Nakamura’s exceptional ability in rapid and blitz chess proved to be especially compatible with online content sensibilities. Viewers found both immense entertainment and educational value in seeing one of the highest ever-rated Grandmasters running through their thought process in fast matches with 10 minute time limits, and Nakamura’s humour and personality further added to the value that the viewers saw in his content.
As things currently stand, Nakamura is poised to have a strong run in the upcoming FIDE 2026 Candidates Tournament, which is the tournament that determines who earns the challenger spot to go up against the reigning World Chess Champion, Gukesh Dommaraju.
Hikaru at ICE Barcelona
Nakamura is at ICE Barcelona 2026, where he, Magnus Carlsen, and Levy Rozman (GothamChess) are appearing together in Europe for the first time as part of a BETBY activation.
The three chess stars sat down at a press conference together ahead of their planned exhibition matches to discuss how emotion and one’s competitive drive come into play in chess.
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