Japanese-American chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, also known online as GMNakamura, has made history in more than one way during his career. Aged 10, he became the then-yougest chess player in history to achieve master status. Aged 15, he became the then-youngest player to win grandmaster status, beating a record set by Bobby Fischer way back in 1958. In 2020, he became one of the first chess players to sign with an esports team. Arguably as famous for his streaming and social media presence as he is for his prodigious chess skills, Nakamura currently has over 1.3 million YouTube subscribers, 400,000 Twitter followers, 56,000 TikTok followers, and 1.5 million Twitch subscribers. In early 2021, a match in the PogChamps tournament he created gave Twitch its highest-ever chess viewing figures.

Nakamura was born in Japan to an American mother and Japanese father. The family relocated to the United States when Nakamura was two years old, and he grew up in White Plains, New York. He began playing chess aged seven and was coached by the famous Sri Lankan player and teacher (and future stepfather), Sunil Weeramantry. Within three years, Nakamura had beat international master Jay Bodin, becoming the youngest player to defeat an IM the process. As the years passed, he became unstoppable, and in 2015, aged 28, he reached number-two in the world chess rankings.

Nakamura’s internet presence has also grown over the years, and he is currently one of the world’s most popular online chess personalities. As well as his massive following across Twitch, YouTube, and the rest, he also hosts a popular Discord server.