'Hikaru Nakaumra is a content creator, he never fought for Fide Candidates title': Ian Nepomniachtchi

Russian Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi feels world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura was never in the race for the Fide Candidates 2026 title as he was more interested in making content over the tournament rather than becoming the next challenger for the world chess title. Nepomniachtchi's spicy remarks over Nakamura are the latest in the barbs against the American Grandmaster as the rivalry between two of the best players in the world keeps intensifying.

Despite being the highest-rated player in the Fide Candidates 2026, Nakamura had a disastrous campaign, finishing fifth in the eight-player tournament and winning just one game. Uzbekistan Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov won the Candidates with six wins to his name, and will face world champion D Gukesh later this year.

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'Hikaru is a content creator'

Many saw Fide Candidates 2026 as Nakaumra's last chance to become a world title challenger, but Russia's Nepomniachtchi feels that Hikaru was never serious about the competition and focussed more on creating reviews and other video content.

“Hikaru Nakamura recorded recaps after every game… But that’s his fate, that’s his way. He did the same at the previous Candidates Tournament. I think he does this repeatedly at every event he plays," Nepomniachtchi said on his YouTube channel.

Nepomniachtchi added that it's not chess, but content creation that is Nakamura's primary job.

"It must be said that this is more his primary occupation than playing chess. Hikaru is a content creator, a chess blogger. Yes, of course, he’s a very strong grandmaster, but here it was as if he was just a famous person playing in this tournament.

"He basically never really fought for anything. Maybe the first round affected that. At some point, he was even on minus two… But then he played the rest of the tournament quite evenly.”

Nakamura is one of the most popular chess players on video platforms. He has 3.14 million subscribers on YouTube and 2 million followers on Twitch.