Hikaru Nakamura, (中村光 Nakamura Hikaru, born December 9 1987) is an American chess Grandmaster (GM).
He was born in Osaka, Japan to a Japanese father and an American mother. He is generally recognized as a chess prodigy. At a young age he moved to America, and as of 2005 he lives in White Plains, New York.
He is the youngest American ever to achieve the ranking of master, at 10 years of age. He also became the youngest American GM ever at 15, beating Bobby Fischers record by three months. In the April 2005 FIDE rating list, Nakamura had an Elo rating of 2657, making him the USAs number one and number forty-three in the world.
His style can be described as aggressive. In a sport that is often accused of having too many "Grandmaster draws" (draws in which both players never really seek a fight), he is known for pressing on, trying to exploit every last winning chance. He is also known for playing unorthodox openings.
Tournaments and matches
Nakamura qualified for the 2004 World Championship in Tripoli, Libya where he was eliminated in round four by Michael Adams, Englands highest rated chess player.
He won the 2005 (held in Nov. and Dec. 2004) US Chess Championship after finishing with 7 points out of 10, tying Alexander Stripunsky. He then defeated Stripunsky in a match for the title with 2 to 0. He is the youngest US Champion since Bobby Fischer.
In December 2004 Nakamura won a match against another prodigy, the Ukrainian GM Sergey Karjakin. He won the six game match by 4.5-1.5. The match was played in Mexico.
He has often played in the weekly New York Masters chess tournament and has won this tournament several times.
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