Five-time U.S. Chess Champion Hikaru Nakamura is not only a “Super GM,” but he has also embraced the newfound popularity of chess as an e-sport in a way that few other elite chess players have. He can be found online streaming chess on an almost daily basis and recently signed with professional esport team TSM. Indeed, he is currently one of online chess’ most popular streamers, frequently garnering upwards of 20,000 viewers on his Twitch live streams.
Love it or hate it, one of the undeniable benefits of playing online chess is that it allows mere mortals such as myself to occasionally rub virtual elbows with some of the best players on the world chess scene. I’ve had the opportunity to play Anish Giri, Gata Kamsky, Peter Svidler, and Aleksandra Goryachkina, to name just a few. At last count I’ve played more than 90 Grandmasters online. Certainly the chances of getting to come up against these players in real life would be almost impossible.
Recently Nakamura held an open tournament for his viewers in which he was actively participating … and that’s where I saw my chance. I joined in and had the good fortune to be able to play the great Naka six times! It probably goes without saying that I was not victorious in any of the games, but playing Hikaru was both a great opportunity and a tremendous learning experience, too.
The games that follow represent my best efforts to date against Nakamura. I maintained fighting chances in all of them and at times had the advantage, but sealing a win against Hikaru is no easy feat, to be sure. Please note that all games reviewed are 3 minute blitz format … so don’t take them too seriously!
The first game comes from a “Speed-Run” event in which Nakamura attempted to reach his highest rating as quickly as possible.
I was so close, but in the end the pressure got the better of me. The next two games are from the aforementioned viewer tournament. In both I was at times better, but managed to lose my way in the heat of the moment.
Sometime in the not-too-distant future I hope to be writing an article about winning a game against Nakamura. Until then, the struggle continues. 🙂
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