When considering the landscape of chess competitions, the Louisiana State Championship and Iowa Open are hardly what one would call prominent affairs.
The most accomplished players from these events in the previous year did not even break into the top 10,000 of the global FIDE rankings, or the top 1,000 among U.S. players. They are typically held in hotel conference rooms, with top prizes consisting of a few hundred dollars. The participants are mostly local chess aficionados, playing purely for the enjoyment of the game. A portion of these players are also young children.
So, a question arises: What was Hikaru Nakamura, the world’s second-highest-rated chess player at 37 years old, and someone who earns significant income as an online streamer, doing at these minor tournaments this year?
The explanation is a blend of humor, doubt, bureaucratic procedures, and sheer oddity.
The No. 2 chess player in the world is trying to brute force his way to the world chess championship
To ensure clarity for those less familiar with the intricacies, let’s briefly outline the basic structure of top-tier chess.
Every chess player aspires to become the world chess champion, though only a select few have the potential to even come close. The world chess championship, a biannual event, pits two players, typically the reigning champion and a challenger, against each other in a series of games until one player secures a majority of the available points. Last year, Gukesh Dommaraju from India defeated Ding Liren, the champion, with three wins, two losses, and nine draws in 14 games.
The upcoming championship will feature Gukesh defending his title against a challenger who will be determined through the Candidates Tournament. This tournament is arguably more demanding than the championship itself. Each year, eight of the world’s best players who are not current champions compete in a round-robin format, with the winner earning the right to challenge for the world title.
There are several pathways to secure one of the eight coveted spots in the Candidates Tournament. For the 2026 edition, seven players will qualify based on their performance in one of three significant events: the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament, the FIDE World Cup, and the FIDE Circuit (a series of tournaments in itself).
The remaining spot is reserved for the highest-rated player, who hasn’t already qualified, based on their average rating from August to January of the preceding year. This is where Nakamura’s participation comes into play.
Nakamura, an American player, has participated in three previous Candidates Tournaments and narrowly missed qualifying last year, finishing half a point behind Gukesh. He aims to compete in the 2026 Candidates Tournament but is not planning to participate in the qualifying tournaments. Therefore, he is focusing on securing the spot based on his rating, a strategy that comes with certain stipulations.
Notably, Nakamura must participate in at least 40 FIDE-sanctioned games during the six-month period in which he must maintain the highest rating among eligible players. Fortunately for him, Magnus Carlsen, the world’s former No. 1 player and champion, has no intentions of contending for the title he relinquished.
This situation requires Nakamura to play a specific number of games, ideally without jeopardizing his No. 2 ranking. As he mentioned a few months ago through his sponsor Chess.com, his strategy was to “go and find some Mickey Mouse tournaments and get to 40 games,” rather than face formidable opponents who could potentially lower his rating.
That is why one of the world’s best chess players is competing in obscure tournaments. The only thing he needs to do is not lose. He swept the tournaments in Louisiana and Iowa this month, but still needs to participate in 11 more games before the year concludes.
What are these chess games like?
To visualize a game between a player with Nakamura’s rating (2807) and his first opponent’s rating (1915), imagine a Major League Baseball pitcher participating in a community college game, in a scenario where those games somehow contributed to Cy Young Award eligibility.
Although some games were more competitive than others, Nakamura won all 12 games without much difficulty. His first game in Iowa was so straightforward that he finished with more time on the clock than he had at the start. In his final game in Iowa, he secured the title against 13-year-old Artemii Khanbutaev.
Nakamura, via Chess.com, viewed the game as an act of goodwill:
“It’s a chance to give back. This kid I played in the final, for example, works with a really good grandmaster and a former U.S. champion. I am sure he and his coach will analyze the game thoroughly, and he will learn something from it. I have no doubt he’ll probably go on to become at least an international master down the road. It’s an experience I think he will cherish for a very long time.”
Even a draw would have resulted in a significant point loss for Nakamura due to his opponent’s lower rating. However, he benefits from the fact that every win, no matter how small, will invariably increase his rating.
Is what Hikaru Nakamura is doing precedented?
Certainly.
During the last cycle, grandmaster Alireza Firouzja participated in a series of matches at his club, along with the Rouen Open, to boost his rating and surpass Wesley So as the highest-rated player not already in the tournament. This situation led to FIDE, the governing body, amending the regulations by adding the six-month average to the rating requirement to deter similar occurrences.
In 2022, Ding found himself in a position akin to Nakamura’s, needing to participate in a certain number of games to meet a requirement. In that instance, COVID-19 severely disrupted Ding’s ability to travel for international tournaments. As a response, the Chinese Chess Association organized three rated events to enable him to reach the required threshold and improve his rating.
Ideally, the Candidates Tournament should feature the world’s best players, and reserving a spot for the highest-rated player should support that goal, as tournaments are subject to chance. In reality, some players will resort to any means to increase or maintain their rating.
We are simply witnessing the principles of incentives in action.
How do the guys getting steamrolled feel about Hikaru Nakamura?
They really don’t seem to care.
While being outplayed is undoubtedly embarrassing, it’s important to remember that these individuals are enthusiastic chess fans, and Nakamura is a notable personality in the chess world. It is very likely that these players will never encounter another opportunity to play a player of Nakamura’s level, making these encounters memorable experiences.
Several of his opponents from Louisiana even appeared in the comments section of his YouTube video, where he analyzed the games:
I’m Harry [James]! It was incredible. Lasting 44 moves in a tournament game against Hikaru is something I will always remember!
I’m Nahum [Jose Villamil] (the 3rd game guy). Imagine signing up for your first official tournament in years, in a foreign country, and seeing one of your childhood idols showing up in his journey to the world title. It felt like that time that some Paraguayan inmates were hosting a futbol tournament in jail and one of the teams showed up with Ronaldinho hahaha. In two words: a dream. I was paired against an absolute icon, got a nice chat, pictures, a signed sheet, and now a recap of my mistakes haha. What else can you ask for? That he gets to win the world title and to be a little part of that. Thanks Hikaru
Another thanked Nakamura on X:
Nakamura also appears to be enjoying the situation, using it as content for his social media channels.
What do the other grandmasters think about Hikaru Nakamura?
It seems that some of them really do mind.
Certain grandmasters have voiced significant criticism of Nakamura and the system that allows him to pursue this strategy.
On the other hand, there have been defenses of Nakamura, with Carlsen even praising his unabashed approach (while also mildly criticizing the system).
It is important to emphasize that Nakamura is not primarily aiming to gain points but rather to avoid losing them. He achieved his No. 2 ranking through a remarkable career resurgence in his mid-30s and has maintained it by performing well against strong opponents at The American Cup and Norway Chess earlier this year. His current focus is on increasing his number of games played with minimal risk.
However, the situation has escalated to the point where grandmasters are openly contemplating ways to undermine his efforts. Grandmaster Hans Niemann has suggested a $10,000 bounty to grandmasters who track Nakamura and defeat him in one of these minor tournaments, purportedly for “the greater good of chess.”
It should be noted that Nakamura and Niemann have a history of animosity, most notably when Nakamura’s actions contributed to the controversy in the Niemann-Carlsen cheating scandal. Niemann subsequently filed a $100 million lawsuit, which included Nakamura among the defendants.
Overall, Nakamura has a complicated reputation within the chess community. Many people harbor negative feelings toward him, and he has provided several reasons for their dislike, such as his conflicts with a streaming channel run by a pair of Canadian grandmasters, which resulted in a public airing of grievances and a video depicting him losing a physical altercation with one of them.
