Nakamura calls himself second best in world after Carlsen: 'Magnus correctly says that...'

American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has said he believes he is the second-best chess player in the world, behind only five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen. The current world No. 2, who has played in three FIDE Candidates so far with a best result of second place finish in 2024, said that he is satisfied with his career.

Speaking about his career and recent performances, Nakamura said that the chess world has a habit of forgetting everything a player has done over the years and only remembering what has happened recently. He even cited reigning world champion D Gukesh and 2026 Candidates winner Javokhir Sindarov as examples.

"Of course I'm satisfied with my career. Why would I not be satisfied? ... In 2019, my rating went off a cliff and I was down to something like number 19 or 20 in the world, and at that point, I really thought that my professional chess career was over," Nakamura said.

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"The chess world has completely lost its ability to remember anything beyond... beyond the past month. They have. Like if Sindarov goes and has one or two bad tournaments now after the Candidates, everyone's going to be like 'Oh Sindarov is terrible, he’s washed, Gukesh is suddenly the favorite again.' The world of chess is so messed up with how they look at players and their ratings and everything else," he added.

Nakamura defends his ranking

Nakamura, who first attained the world No. 2 ranking in 2015, made a strong comeback after a bad phase in his career and is now back among the top players, retaining the spot since 2023. He also slammed people who question the credibility of ratings.

"I think the ratings don't actually lie. I would say that in general, I had one bad tournament but Magnus correctly says that the rating list and results in top tournaments of all formats say that I'm the second best," Nakamura said.

Carlsen had recently called Nakamura the second-best player in the world, regardless of his results in the Candidates. The Norwegian came to the defence of his close friend amid criticism that Nakamura qualified for the Candidates only by playing small open tournaments and skipping major events.

"I don’t think that’s a very hot take. The rating list and results in top tournaments of all formats say that he’s the second best. He’s had a fantastic resurgence of his career after Covid that has continued to this day. And he certainly deserves that," Carlsen said in a video posted by Esports side Team Liquid Chess.