Hikaru Nakamura
Hikaru Nakamura is perhaps the most popular streamer and commentator on chess in the world, and one of its finest players at speed chess. Many consider him to be the greatest American chess player since Bobby Fischer. Nakamura, whose mother is American, immigrated from Japan to the United States at the age of 2.
Nakamura is also a leading defender of integrity in the game, against cheaters. Nakamura was an early defender of Magnus Carlsen as he stood against the chess cheating scandal.
He is a 5-time United States chess champion, and led the U.S. team to win the gold medal at the 2016 Chess Olympiad. He became a grandmaster at a record-breaking age for an American of only 15 years old.
In 2020, he ranks in the top 20 chess players worldwide.
As to his popularity on Twitch:
| “ | In March, when he first started streaming in earnest, an average of 2,000 people tuned in live to watch Nakamura. As quarantine intensified, that number jumped to 18,000. Now his fanbase has grown to 366,000 followers.[1] | ” |
Tournament record
Nakamura defeated Wesley So by 13.5-12.5 in the 2020 Speed Chess Championship.[2]