Hikaru’s chess prowess is only eclipsed by his even temperament and his humility. My first interaction with Hikaru was to admit how wrong I had been about my own chess-playing skills. Hikaru was playing without his queen by sacking his queen for a lowly pawn against low-rated players at first and then for a minor piece against high-rated players. I had wrongly thought I could be Magnus Carlsen without his queen.
In the chat stream, I wrote how mistaken I was to Hikaru after seeing him vanquish player after player that was as much as 600 or more rating points above my rating. Hikaru responded to my message. That amazed me because the chat messages move nearly in a blur in their rapid scrolling. Even more astonishing to me is Hikaru is reading and responding with great frequency to chatters all the while as he plays chess at this level without his queen!
I found Hikaru’s Twitch stream because I had ever-increasing problems using my mouse in first-person shooting games. I had opened an online chess account years ago. I shifted to chess play to pass my hours. I had opened a Twitch account five years prior that I hadn’t used in a while. I opened Twitch and typed chess into the search bar. I saw Hikaru Nakamura’s live stream with over 8,000 viewers.
What bothers me about Hikaru’s Twitch stream is it’s a magnet for really awful people who abuse Hikaru with mean questions or statements. After a week’s time, I decided to counter that mean-spiritedness by telling Hikaru what he was doing for me. I wrote something to the effect; Hikaru, your stream is a welcome distraction for my 24/7 suffering due to ALS. Thank you. Hikaru saw my message and he gave a kind and thoughtful response. I was telling the truth; I have to concentrate so hard to understand Hikaru’s advanced chess tactics that I am distracted from my ALS nerve pain. Hikaru’s smiles and good spirits are infectious. Even while he’s not playing chess, I feel better while watching him.
Hikaru Nakamura is an honest man too. You might be wondering how I know this about Hikaru. Hikaru nearly streams every day. People in chat ask the same questions every day. I believe I have been watching Hikaru’s streams for no less than four months. Hikaru has never given a different answer to these questions. Liars can’t keep track of their lies.
Chess is hard for everyone.
Hikaru’s Grand Master opponent blunders into a knight fork and seals the win for Hikaru. At these time controls, even Grand Masters blunder. Hikaru is the reigning champion of bullet and rapid chess play. I watched in amazement to see Hikaru beat Grand Master Andrew Tang in bullet chess. Tang is unbelievably fast at this time control.
Hikaru has been playing chess for thirty years. At the age of fifteen years of age, he became the youngest person to earn the title of Grand Master. I bring this up because Hikaru often says he is unsure of what is the right move, and other Grand Master often say they are unsure of what move is best. There is no pretense within Hikaru that his chess moves are always perfect. I must admit, when I see Hikaru make a mistake, it lessens my hard feelings toward my own chess play.
I think of Hikaru Nakamura as my best friend who I have never met.
Written by Mark Pullen, AKA, Urbanpope. Published by Editor Sammy Campbell.