Hikaru Nakamura: Rating History and Career

The career, turn by turn

1. 1998 · age 10

   Marshall Chess Club^[1]

   Defeated IM Jay Bonin

   Youngest American to defeat an International Master

2. 1998 · age 10

   USCF master rating^[1]

   Achieved title of chess master

   Youngest player to achieve the title of chess master from USCF

3. 1999 · age 11

   Laura Aspis Prize^[1]

   Won prize

   Awarded annually to top USCF-rated player under 13

4. 2003 · age 15

   Grandmaster title^[1]

   Achieved GM title at 15 years and 79 days

   Youngest American grandmaster breaking Bobby Fischer's record by three months

5. Apr 2004 · age 16

   Corus Group B in Wijk aan Zee^[1]

   Tied for 4th with 7½/13

   Strong showing in elite European tournament

6. Jun 2004 · age 16

   FIDE World Chess Championship in Tripoli^[1]

   Reached fourth round

   Knocked out GMs Sergey Volkov, Aleksej Aleksandrov, and Alexander Lastin

7. Dec 2004 · age 16

   2005 U.S. Chess Championship^[1]

   Won, after tying for first on 7/9

   Undefeated, tied with Alexander Stripunsky

8. Jun 2005 · age 17

   Frank Samford Chess Fellowship^[1]

   Selected as 19th Fellow

   Received grant to further chess education and competition

9. Jan 2007 · age 19

   GibTelecom Masters, Gibraltar^[1]

   Shared second place

   Top-tier international finish

10. May 2009 · age 21

    2009 U.S. Chess Championship in St. Louis^[1]

    Clear first place with 7/9

    Second national championship title

11. May 2014 · age 26

    FIDE official rapid and blitz rating lists^[1]

    World No. 1 on both lists

    Fast chess became his signature

12. Oct 2015 · age 27

    FIDE rating peak^[1]

    Peak rating 2816

    Tied as tenth-highest-rated player in history

13. Sep 2016 · age 28

    42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku^[1]

    Team gold medal with the United States

    His Olympiad team gold, in seven Olympiads for the US

14. 2018 · age 30

    Content creation and streaming^[1]

    Full-time content creator

    Widely credited with driving the global online chess boom

15. Mar 2019 · age 31

    2019 U.S. Chess Championship^[1]

    Won with 8/11

    Fifth U.S. Chess Championship title

16. Oct 2022 · age 34

    World Fischer Random Chess Championship^[1]

    Won world title

    World champion in Fischer Random (Chess960)

17. Apr 2024 · age 36

    Candidates Tournament 2024 in Toronto^[1]

    Second place

    Better than his 7th (2016) and 4th (2022) places

Coaches and trainers

2 people are named in published sources as a coach, trainer, second or mentor, in order. Players rarely list everyone who helped them, so this is what's on the record, not a complete count.

1. Sunil Weeramantry^[1]Stepfather and primary coach · From age 7
2. Kris Littlejohn^[1]Second and trainer · Long-time second

Records, as they stood

• Youngest American grandmaster at the time, breaking Bobby Fischer's record by three months (as of 2003)^[1]

Where the career stands

• 2026Five-time US Chess Champion^[1]
• 2015Peak rating 2816^[1]
• 2018Seven Olympiads for the US: one team gold, two team bronzes^[1]

Checked on 2026-11-03. Ratings and rankings change every month.

Every grandmaster started with a first tournament

How long the road usually takes, from first moves to the title, is in our study of how long it takes to become a grandmaster. For a child starting out, here's how to get a FIDE rating in India.

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