Versatile in chess: Hikaru Nakamura Image: IMAGO/NurPhoto
Streamer with two million followers and grandmaster: Hikaru Nakamura talks in an interview about the booming chess entertainment, the acceleration of the sport – and why some professionals prefer to keep secrets to themselves.
Since 2019, Hikaru Nakamura has seen himself primarily as a streamer. The 36-year-old son of an American mother and a Japanese father has two million followers on Twitch and two million subscribers on YouTube. Because he earns better than ever, he remains successful on the board. He narrowly missed the World Cup final at the 2022 Candidates Tournament. The world number three was flown in by SC Viernheim as a star for three central rounds of the German Chess League. The plan worked: Nakamura attracted hundreds of fans to the southern Hesse city. In the 5:3 win against defending champion OSG Baden-Baden, which probably secured Viernheim’s first German championship title, Nakamura drew against former world champion Vishy Anand, and the next day he defeated the Azerbaijani grandmaster Nicat Abasov, whom he also met in the World Cup Candidates Tournament in Toronto in April will meet.
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