GM Hikaru Nakamura

Synopsis: Hikaru Nakamura is a record-breaking, medal-earning phenomenon. Since winning the U.S Championship in May 2009, Nakamura has soared, climbing well past 2700 to the #1 spot in the U.S. rankings and #17 in the world rankings. He became the youngest master in American history at the age of 10, then broke Bobby Fischer’s record by becoming the youngest American Grandmaster at 15. In 2004, he advanced into the sweet 16 at the World Championship in Libya. He also won his first U.S. Championship at the age of 16.

He’s racked up numerous championships over the past decade, and despite his aggressive, individualistic style, Nakamura has proven to be a great team player: He was a two-time bronze medallist in the 2006 and 2008 Olympiad, playing for the U.S. team. His gold-medal-winning performance on board one at the 2009 World Team Championship helped the U.S. team earn silver medals. Last year, Nakamura won the 2009 U.S. Championship and is quickly becoming one of the top players in the entire world.

Bio: Watch out! Hikaru Nakamura is a blazing record-breaker. Once upon a time, Hikaru tagged along to tournaments with his father, the popular coach and NM Sunil Weeramantry and whiz kid older brother Asuka. Quickly, Hikaru rose to the top, over-shadowing his talented brother. He became the youngest master in American history at 10, and the youngest American GM at 15 (breaking Bobby Fischer’s record).

As a kid, Hikaru was extremely emotionally involved in his results. When he lost, his opponent was very aware that Hikaru was unhappy. This hyper-competitive streak was also a key to Hikaru’s success. Hikaru’s style is aggressive,tricky and relentless.

He once said in an interview “there is no point of taking draws.” He plays for blood, and because of this, he’s a chess sponsor’s dream.

As a young prodigy, Hikaru favored aggressive openings like the Sicilian Najdorf, 1.e4 and the King’s Indian Defense (the same openings which Bobby Fischer was loyal to all his life). In the summer of 2002, Hikaru started to broaden his opening repertoire. He added 1.d4 and 1.c4 to his repertoire. In 2005 though, Hikaru went to a radical extreme. Several times, he tried the strange queen foray 1.e4 c5 2. Qh5?!-against strong GMs.

His first major international breakthrough was at the 2004 World Championship in Libya. Hikaru advanced through the brutal knockout tournament three rounds, into the sweet sixteen. This was further than anyone could have imagined. Despite his professional level, Hikaru has never had an official coach. Hikaru is a valuable team player though- he was a key part of the 2006 (Turin, Italy) and 2008(Dresden, Germany) bronze medal Olympic teams and the 2010 silver medal World Team Championship squad.

Soon after his amazing result in Libya, Hikaru became the 2005 U.S Champion. He was only sixteen years old at the time. Nakamura also won the 2009 Championship in Saint Louis, Missouri, taking home the largest prize check in the tournament's history for $40,000.

Hikaru is easily the best blitz player in America. Minutes after a winning the two week long 2005 U.S Chess Championship, he was playing blitz chess with a top U.S. rival, Gata Kamsky. In 2006, he was at it again with blitz legend Maxim Dlugy. Both times, Hikaru accumulated crowds who were as taken as a rapt audience at the climax of a James Bond movie. Nakamura also defeated World #1 (as of January 2010), Magnus Carlsen in a November 2009 blitz battle. Hikaru is the highest rated player on the Internet Chess Club, with hundreds of other Grandmasters at his heels. He plays under the nickname, “Smallville”, his favorite T.V show. His specialty is “bullet” games, in which each side has only a minute or two to finish the game. Nakamura is also the author of "Bullet Chess: One Minute to Mate", which describes some of his secrets to success.