US Chess Champion Hikaru Nakamura is the Real Deal

As I have known Hikaru for four years, it is hard for me to believe that he will now become a legitimate contender for the World Chess Championship. I met Hikaru at the Marshall Chess Club in New York City when he was still a 2300-player. His father would say that he and Hikaru would be happy just to beat American World Champion Bobby Fischer's record of becoming the youngest American GrandMaster at about 15 years. With a lot of help from the FIDE congress and an agressive world tour, that few other junior players could afford, Hikaru broke Fischer's record. Still, I wasn't convinced he was the real deal -- history is littered with young would-be prodigies that end up topping-out early. America's other hopeful and good friend of mine, Var Akobian, had tied for first in the World Open to receive his first GM-norm. Then, Var crushed Hikaru in the Imre Konig to get his second GM-norm. Finally, Akobian, had a winning position against Shabalov in the last round of the US Championship - a win, and Akobian would be crowned US Champion. So it was far from clear that, the then 15 year-old, Hikaru was ready for prime-time. However, he has persevered and consistently improved. This improvement culminated in his winning the 2004 US Chess Championship outright. I reviewed his games and saw that he was actually losing in two games, but I believe in former World Champion Mikhail Tal's position that your opponent must be able to find the win over the board. I started appreciated Hikaru's maturity over the board as he crushed Stripunsky in both playoff games. But, even with a US Championship filled with former Eastern European champs, note how many competitors were named "Alex", Hikaru would still need to prove he is the strongest of the world's crop of up-and-comers. This week Hikaru proved he is the real deal by crushing Ukranian phenom Sergei Karjakin. Congratulations to Hikaru!!!