Hikaru Nakamura

Biography

Hikaru Nakamura was born on 9 December 1987 in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, and moved to the United States as a child, where he was largely home-schooled by his stepfather, FM Sunil Weeramantry. He earned the grandmaster title in 2003 at 15 years and 79 days old, breaking Bobby Fischer's long-standing American record by roughly three months. Two years later he claimed his first U.S. Chess Championship, tying Alexander Stripunsky for first place in the round robin before winning a rapid playoff to take the title outright.

Nakamura went on to win the U.S. Championship four more times, in 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2019, for five titles overall. His best-known classical result came at the 2011 Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, where he finished on 9/13 for outright first — a result Garry Kasparov called the best by an American player in over a century. He later won the Gibraltar Masters three years running (2015–2017), the 2018 London Chess Classic, and the season-long 2018 Grand Chess Tour, and captured the 2022 World Fischer Random Chess Championship after beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in an Armageddon decider.

Nakamura has repeatedly come close to a world title shot without landing one: he placed seventh at the 2016 Candidates, fourth in 2022, and tied for second with Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi on 8½/14 at the 2024 Candidates in Toronto, a point behind winner Gukesh Dommaraju. His classical rating peaked at 2816 in October 2015. Alongside his over-the-board career, Nakamura has built one of the largest audiences in chess as an online streamer and remains among the world's strongest rapid and blitz players; as of September 2026 he is rated 2792 and ranked world No. 2.

Key achievements

• Youngest American to earn the grandmaster title (2003, age 15 years 79 days), breaking Bobby Fischer's record by about three months
• Five-time United States Chess Champion (2005, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2019)
• Won the 2011 Tata Steel Chess Tournament (9/13) — called by Garry Kasparov the best result by an American in over a century
• 2018 Grand Chess Tour overall champion
• 2022 World Fischer Random Chess Champion
• Tied for second at the 2024 Candidates Tournament (8½/14), alongside Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi

Ratings

Titles

Classical Tournaments

Team Events

Source: Wikipedia biography and career-results sections; individual board scores not stated for every Olympiad year.

Read more on Wikipedia or view his FIDE profile.