- BornDecember 9, 1987, Hirakata, Japan
- CountryUnited States
- TitleGrandmaster 2003
- Highest rating2816 (October 2015)
Again in October 2025
FIDE's official lists (from July 1971) - In the rankingsNo. 2 in the world, 2792
FIDE's list, November 2026
America's youngest grandmaster
Nakamura was born in Hirakata, Japan, and his family moved to the United States when he was two. He became a grandmaster in 2003, at 15, taking the record from Bobby Fischer. Fabiano Caruana took the record in 2007.
Main results
| Year | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2005, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2019 | U.S. Championship United States | Winner |
| 2011 | Tata Steel Masters Wijk aan Zee | Winner 9 of 13 points |
| 2016 | Chess Olympiad Baku | Team gold 7½ of 11 points |
| 2018 | Grand Chess Tour, overall | Winner |
| 2022 | Chess960 World Championship Reykjavík | Winner |
| 2022 | Candidates tournament Madrid | Shared 3rd place 7½ of 14 points |
| 2023 | Norway Chess Stavanger | Winner |
| 2023 | FIDE Grand Swiss Isle of Man | 2nd place 8 of 11 points |
| 2024 | Candidates tournament Toronto | Shared 2nd place 8½ of 14 points |
| 2026 | Candidates tournament Cyprus | 5th place 6½ of 14 points |
U.S. champion and Wijk aan Zee
Nakamura was 16 the first time he won the U.S. Championship. He has won it four more times, most recently in 2019.
The field at the 2011 Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee held world champions from three eras: a former, Vladimir Kramnik, the reigning, Viswanathan Anand, and a future, Magnus Carlsen. Nakamura won with 9 points out of 13, half a point ahead of Anand.
In 2016 he was on the U.S. team that won the Chess Olympiad in Baku. In 2018 he won the overall Grand Chess Tour. He reached his highest rating, 2816, on FIDE's October 2015 list, and ten years later he stood there again.
The Candidates and Chess960
Nakamura has played the Candidates tournament four times: in 2016, 2022, 2024, and 2026. He came closest in Toronto in 2024, where he scored 8½ points out of 14, the same as Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi and half a point less than Gukesh Dommaraju.
In Reykjavík in 2022 he won the World Championship in Chess960, in which the starting position is drawn by lot. The final against Nepomniachtchi ended 2–2, and one last game decided it in Nakamura's favor. The next year he won Norway Chess and came second in the FIDE Grand Swiss.
Nakamura also streams his chess online and is one of the most popular chess streamers in the world.
Sources
- FIDE: Nakamura's rating history (ratings.fide.com, read 2026-11-09)
- Chess.com: player page on Hikaru Nakamura
- Wikipedia: Hikaru Nakamura
- PGN Mentor: the games of Wijk aan Zee 2011, Stavanger 2023, and the 2022 and 2024 Candidates
- Chess.com: the final standings of the 2026 Candidates
- FIDE: the report on the final of the 2022 Chess960 World Championship in Reykjavík
- OlimpBase: the U.S. team at Baku 2016
The facts on this page come from the sources above, checked against each other. Where the sources disagree, only what they agree on is given.
Updated November 9, 2026