4/2/2005 - The
H-bomb explodes in the FIDE rating charts. Hikaru Nakamura jumped 54 spots
from the 98th rated to the 43rd rated player in the
world. Last January, Hikaru busted into the top 100 of the world. This
time he busted into the top 50. Nakamura gained 37 rating points. He is
currently rated 2657.
Hikaru is currently the top rated US
player. He passed Alexander Onischuk and Yasser Seirawan. I am not
counting the retired Bobby Fischer and semi-retired Gata Kamsky. Nakamura
has been on a tear recently. It all started back in August of 2004, when
Hikaru got to the 4th round of the FIDE KO. He was finally stopped by the
7th rated player in the world Michael Adams.
Nakamura then turned his attention to the US
Championship in San Diego, where he took the lead from the beginning and
took home first price. A week
later he was in Mexico taking on the other wonder kid – Sergey Karjakin.
Sergey has Kramnik, Karpov and Deep Junior scalps on his belt. Nakamura
dominated this exciting match by winning 4, losing 1 and drawing one game.
He also recently won the Foxwoods tournament in Connecticut,
with a score of 7.5 out of eight. He finished ahead of GM Ildar Ibragimov
and GM Alexander Ivanov. At
just 17 years of age, Nakamura is clearly the leader of US Chess.
He is also becoming a major international star. He
should be getting more invitations to some of the top international
tournaments in the world. Recently, he finished 4th at the
B-section Corus tournament. Recently in an article in NIC, Nakamura said
that there was no point in taking draws. It’s that kind of attitude,
backed up with hard work that will launch Nakamura even higher. The sky is
the limit for this chess stud. It’s going to become tougher and tougher,
but I expect him to break thru the top 25 soon.
In a recent NY Times article, Nakamura said'
"The way I play is very unique," It's more or less that fearlessness. I'll play some of these really crazy moves that people are not going to be expecting. The way I play is not like most people. The moves are more computeresque. They're not the moves that most humans are going to play."
It is important that the US have international chess
stars. Garry Kasparov realizes the importance of promoting chess in
the US. Kasparov and his foundation help trained the US Women's Olympiad
team. I hope the international chess scene recognizes the importance
of promoting chess in the US. They can help out by inviting Nakamura to
top GM tournaments. Recently chess has been doing fine in the US,
lets recall our US Women’s Olympiad team brought home Silver at Calvia
in 2004. US chess can now add Hikaru Nakamura as a rising international
star to its mantle.
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