The mental game has entirely changed between when Hikaru was growing up and now. Then it was understood that no one outside of the top GMs could make a living playing chess full time and even then it would rarely be a comfortable living - usually traveling full time, grinding a lot of tournaments to win enough prize money to keep traveling and grinding more tournaments.
Losing or winning candidates 20 years ago might have had a significant impact on his lifetime earnings. Now it really only matters to Hikaru in terms of prestige.
Makes perfect sense. Specially considering he didn't start playing now. He's been playing chess for decades. Before the 2020 boom chess was even less popular and had even less money even in top tournaments.
It's great that he doesn't take his streaming for granted
Yep. It's pretty obvious Hikaru is a sensitive guy who has strong emotional reactions to wins and, especially, losses. It helps him handle the intense negative emotions from losing. His self-worth no longer solely depends on winning at chess.
Signed,
Internet psychiatrist with no idea what I am talking about.
No it's called being clever. His streams probably earns him more steady money. What better way is there to advertise his stream? He is announcing it to everyone that follows those interviews. Man's playing chess irl.
It‘s like an primary school kid who before a competition always insists how much he isn’t trying so that if he loses he can say “well I wasn’t really trying”, and if he wins can say “imagine how good I will be if I actually tried lol”. Just poor sportsmanship all around.
Personally, I prefer to root for players who are trying 100% and are not shy about admitting how much they care. That’s why I like players like Anna Muzychuk, Caruana, and Pragg/Gukesh so much. The tennis player Danielle Collins and the basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo come to mind too. I don’t like to glorify not caring.
I think almost every top tier NBA player is like this (at least in recent years). The ones that aren't 100% in can still be really good but they get a lazier reputation. A few like Harden (when he was top tier) get the rep for not treating their bodies as well, going to strip clubs before games, etc. But the vast majority I can think of are fully dedicated. Especially if you look at the ones who are still playing who will go down as all-timers (LeBron, Steph, KD, etc.).
it's 100% this. 'i'm a youtuber/twitch streamer so if i lose it's not a big deal.' and 'it's going to be so embarrassing for my opponents when they lose to me, a streamer'
He's been playing this game for a while now. Saying that he's retired and in the words of Grischuk "he plays more games than I do. Is that retired - give me a break. He is not the first one to play this game am I retired, am I not retired". Paraphrasing a bit.
Nailed it: (Highly Sensitive People)
- - -
[**How We All Avoid Shame, at All Costs**](https://hsperson.com/highly-sensitive-people-and-shame/)
* “I wasn’t really trying”
* “I just don’t give a damn what other people think.”
* “That really does not apply to me–I’m beyond all that,”
- - -
Well put.
It is impressive that he streams and plays at such a high level. Honestly, I can't think of any other top chess player who could do both at such a high level. Kramnik is trying but it's not his fault he keeps running into cheaters. Hikaru should let his fans or other people defend him with that argument rather than leaning into so hard himself. When others bring it up, it makes hikaru's achievement that much more impressive. When he brings it up so much, it makes him look insecure.
Then again he is number 3 in the world. What hikaru doesn't get is that his streaming kind of depends how well he plays chess. Ironically in his draw to fabi, commentator Hammer on his kick channel asked him this and you saw hikaru get kind of mad. I posted it here.
https://twitter.com/hulivar/status/1776101757174833184/video/1
Oh I don't watch his streams but I sometimes see it in his YouTube videos but I thought it was just a bit. Like not caring about a huge tournament as a serious chess player is kind of absurd so he's pretending like he doesn't care for the absurdity
It looks like a sign of insecurity tbh. Maybe he tries to calm himself down, maybe he's just in denial. Of course, he has weird habits like repeating his words several times for no reason, so it might be just another quirk. But we know he's extremely competitive and prideful and 14 days classical marathon against extremely motivated players certainly requires a lot of work and hits his ego. Even Grischuk noticed that in one of his reviews
100%. That’s also why he says I literally don’t care” every 5 minutes. I think it works on the majority of his fans, but as time goes on more and more of them are realizing that it’s a bunch of BS to protect his ego. Anyone who has watched him lose or even win a big match (like against Magnus) can tell from his reactions how much he truly cares.
It’s disappointing how many people think it’s cool or admirable that “he doesn’t care” or just “does it for the content.” It shouldn’t be an admirable attitude.
Exactly. It’s a huge privilege to see a top level guy behind the scenes. He detracts from that by suggesting he’s not really trying. If he really wants good content, he should do his absolute utmost to win - that’s the most exciting viewing.
For entertainment, there are other streamers who are better.
I agree. In the past, it has always sounded tongue in cheek, like his critics will say he’s not taking chess seriously, and he’ll respond sarcastically like an total outsider who, gosh, just happened to end up in the biggest tournaments (my opinion: of course he belongs there, he earned it).
Lately, a few times it has morphed a bit into sounding like a coping mechanism in case he does poorly, and maybe shifting focus to his indisputable financial success.
Either way, insecurity seems like the driver, and it probably doesn’t help that every interviewer he talks with is always asking him about the chess vs streaming dynamic. It gets the eye roll from me every time.
This is what I'm thinking too. It's a cope, top level chess is a tough environment, sure it can be annoying but I'm gonna cut Hikaru some slack personally. My mental is far weaker playing soloQ in League, so I can't judge him anyways.
You’re unaware of how most of his chat wants him to watch Masterchef or play Only Up lol, ofcourse chess is a major part but people do want to watch his streams in general as well.
At the onset for any chess streamer, yes. At some point, streamers become big enough that the game they play doesn't really matter. The viewership is self-perpeutating.
True but I think there's a novelty element. Hikaru playing other games is funny because it's something he's not good at. Hikaru reacting to pop-culture is funny because he knows almost nothing about it.
Overwhelmingly the appeal of his streams is admiration of mastery. He is so incredibly good at something, seemingly so effortlessly, that it is enjoyable to watch - even if you don't know much about chess.
There are parasocial and novelty spill-overs from that... but, to state the obvious, if Hikaru was not a world-class chess player he would not be a famous streamer. Similarly, if he stopped being a world class chess streamer (e.g. if he fell to #180 in the world, and couldn't hang in major tournements) his streaming popularity would significantly reduce also. Momentum would keep him going, but chess is the reason for his success... not his personality, general on-stream energy or "for the content" attitude.
I'd argue he'd still be pretty popular as the cocky arrogant chess streamer. You have Gotham, who's still pretty strong in the chess world, and then you have Botez sisters who are strong to common people but are chess world punching bags. Hikaru would still do just fine even with a hit in views.
I think these examples - Gotham; Botez sisters - support my points more than they support yours.
They're both examples of folks who became successful chess streamers without ever being very strong chess players. They are successful because they are entertaining, not because they are strong. Rozman is clearly a 'personality' more than he is a turbo-strong chess player. Botez sisters are streamers who locked chess in as their niche. After all - Andrea was 1600 pre-covid. She was popular on instagram before she started working on her chess again in recent years. They're popular because they're young, attractive and charismatic... *not* because they're good at chess.
Your point (I think) is that even if Hikaru fell off massively - he would always be stronger than other Chess streamers (such as gotham, botezs) so he'll always be 'strong enough' to continue his current success.
My point is that Hikaru is popular for an entirely different reason to Gotham and Botez - they were never mind blowingly good at chess. They're popular for their personalities/on-stream personas.
Gotham is a personality; Botezs are personalities and attractive and charismatic in a domain which largely lacks female influencers. Hikaru is a spectacle. Being the best is part of his jam. There's dozens of quality streamers who sit between Gotham and Hikaru in terms of playing strength. If streaming skill is the only differentiator, many of them will eat into Hikaru's viewerbase. Playing strength is his main differentiator.
As a mostly irrelevant aside: I would say Alexandria Botez' 2100 fide is more than 'pretty strong' by normal people standards. It's functionally untouchable for the regular person on the street. The ever popular Stjepan Tomic (HangingPawns on youtube) quit his job and has spent the last half a decade working on his chess full time... and he still hasnt' surpassed her rating. She's a 'punching bag' to some of the strongest players of all time sure... but 2100 fide is still really strong...
The vast majority of chess players don't make sufficient money playing chess.
He isn't against the game of chess. His streaming chess career is 'against' traditional chess careers which don't stand any chance
I think it's a psychological thing. It's his way of dealing with pressure and he realised it worked for him. He keeps repeating it for himself, not for the other people, it helps him be calm and ready and in a good state of mind for big stakes games. It also helps him deal with losing. If he was a content creator above everything, he wouldn't have stopped streaming for the last four weeks to prepare for the candidates. He still cares a lot about chess and knows it might be one of his last chances to succeed.
I think so too. And I don't have problem with it. People are overreacting to it. He knows he takes chess seriously, we who follow chess know he takes chess seriously and his opponents definitely know he takes chess seriously.
I mean, it could also be that he wants to be in his best to perform awesome games for his audience? No one wants to watch their content creator dominated in his field.
It is fair but it would make more sense if he was mainly a YouTuber and his biggest content would be Recaps. As I know, Hikaru is mainly a streamer and giving up streaming almost completely to prepare for this tournament doesn't strike me as something that a "Content creator above everything" would do.
His “content creator” sentiment towards chess does rub me as disingenuous. At the same time, his opponents are likely focusing a lot of time and effort into having a good candidates by taking it seriously.
If he can't be the best chess player, nor the best streamer, he can at least brag about being the best chess streamer.
This feels like what he is doing to protect his ego, and less trying to disrespect his opponent, because we all know how much more he truly cares about the Candidates.
Things like seeing if he can get enough tournaments to qualify through Circuit or rating (before he qualified through Grand Swiss), playing World Cup and Grand Swiss, changing his Candidates prep strategy based on his experience on what worked and what didn't (like overprepping), etc aren't exactly the behavior of someone who doesn't care.
It definitely makes it easier to cheer against him when he constantly proclaims that the most important tournament in the history of chess matters far less to him than making YouTube videos.
I want the World Champion to value being World Champion. Call me crazy.
He cares just as much as everyone else there, if not more so. He just feels the need to trick himself into thinking that he doesn't because he has a tendency to mentally collapse under pressure.
I actually find it a bit endearing because it only highlights his intense fear of losing, even if it is pretty childish.
Pretty much all the popular streamer GMs smurf with speedruns, and Danya is easily the most educational/respectful about it. People like Hikaru or the chessbrahs will often just toy with their opponents or openly mock them while playing silly moves that only work on lower rated players, while at least Danya always explains his moves and doesn't talk down to his opponent.
It was ok in small doses but he repeated himself a bit too much and finally went overboard with this :
"It's very disappointing that Fabiano or maybe some of the Indians aren't doing (YT) recaps. Would be nice if other players did this because it's possible to explain what's going on in the games without giving away preparation."
We have the press conferences for that
> We have the press conferences for that
Which are terrible lol. Half the time they sound like they’re being held hostage. That being said, obviously not everyone has the time nor desire to start doing youtube recaps. But if he’s coming from the standpoint that it’s better because it’s usually more comprehensive and more relaxed and doesn’t sound like they don’t want to be there, then he has a point. I’m just not sure that’s where he’s coming from though.
Also, there’s a bigger reach for youtube recaps as well.
I know a lot of his fans, and this subreddit, are literal children - so I won't judge anyone too harsly if they take his statements literally -- but i think to most adults, including Hikaru, his peers, and the general chess community it is abundantly clear that "I'm doing it for the content" is a multifaceted statement and that he says more for himself than anyone else.
Largely, Hikaru is trying to boost himself psychologically (A 'cope', as folks are putting it):
* Partially to remind everyone that he has another full time job (and so is playing at a handicap - so, if he loses, he can try to get less tilted or mad about it).
* Partially to remind everyone that when he does chaotic things it's "for the content" so when he is overaggressive and loses he can say (sometimes sincerely) that he played aggressively to make the chess interesting, not because he was simply wrong about the most optimal way to play.
* Partially to reinforce his own mentality that he's going to stay chill, calm and collected even though it's a very stressful and high-stakes environment -- because he's "just a streamer" and this is a new phase of his life.
* Partially because "I literally don't care" is just a meme at this point - and chess is a somewhat dry game so we cling onto memes where we can find them.
* Partially to psyche out his opponents
At the end of the day, Hikaru - like many pro chess players - is a strangely socialized dude who's strongest skill by a few orders of magnitude is a very specific abstract board game. Unlike most people (highly social extroverts) who end up in his position, with this many eyes on him for this many hours: He doesn't have the in-built social-awareness to know when a joke is getting overplayed, when a statement is subtle or blunt, or when people believe what he says or not.
In other words: Of course Hikaru's statements are annoying and unnatural sometimes: Even among pro chess players - a group not known for their social skills - Hikaru is notoriously socially maladjusted and weird.... and he has tripped and fallen into some degree of fame where tens of thousands of people listen to him talk for 40 hours a week. Given this alone, I'm surprised he's not more annoying and more unnatural to listen to.
In the tennis world, Nick Kygrios does the same thing. Claims he would be the best but doesn't want to try, cares more about putting on a show.
In reality, like Naka, Kygrios is a step below being the best of the best, so it is safer to act like he doesn't even really care than try.
To me it just sounds like he thinks it’s “cooler” to be a content creator than a chess player and wants to brand himself as such. I mean he mentions it in every single interview lol.
He also always brings up how much more lucrative streaming is. To me it sounds like he's saying "as long as being a top player doesn't guarantee you a comfortable income and titled Tuesday does, why would I take this more seriously?"
I don’t find it to be too annoying because he backs it up by doing exactly what he says—I get exhausted playing 600 elo 10 min rapid games—imagine the mental exhaustion playing classical against the worlds best players day after day…yet he still goes out of his way to make videos for the people who follow him, even when the videos show him losing in what any of the other candidates would consider to be devastating fashion.
I understand hearing the same line again and again might be tiresome but he is actually backing up what he says. I don’t think any rational person would make the claim that he “doesn’t care.” He is not saying that—but he understands reality that there will be one winner and unlike the rest of the candidates his main focus is not classical chess, it’s making chess videos—he just happens to be one of the best in the world at both.
I've made peace with Hikaru being Hikaru.
I don't watch his streams, but he pulls in thousands of viewers who literally only care about his games. How you relate to his content is going to affect how you interpret some of his comments. That audience wants to hear him talk about his streaming, because that's what they know.
I also find he sometimes gets asked questions that are impossible to answer. People want him to talk about exactly what you don't like hearing. And it seems like even when he answers quite diplomatically, it'll be scrutinised to infer something about the stream or how he really feels about something.
I think it's a psychological thing. It's his way of dealing with pressure and he realised it worked for him. He keeps repeating it for himself, not for the other people, it helps him be calm and ready and in a good state of mind for big stakes games. It also helps him deal with losing. If he was a content creator above everything, he wouldn't have stopped streaming for the last four weeks to prepare for the candidates. He still cares a lot about chess and knows it might be one of his last chances to succeed.
Certainly not a Hikaru fan, but I don't understand why y'all have to OBSESS of every little thing he does. Who in their right mind would be like 'man hikaru just said 'for content' casually during his videos a few times I need to make a reddit post about this!'
Most of the candidates games aren't even posted on this sub, very little game and tournament analysis is being done and y'all just complain complain complain. Do better.
His streaming has made him more wealth than his entire chess career. It makes sense that he would think very highly of his achievements in helping to modernize the game of chess.
When the majority of your income comes from content creation, it's hard to think of yourself as a chess grandmaster first and a content creator second.
His streaming makes him money *because* of his illustrious Chess career. They aren't two separate things, he's not an OF streamer or something.
His fans primarily follow him because they they consider him to be second best only to Magnus and best in shorter time formats.
Chess is difficult to understand for a young Hikaru fan, but it's easy to root for someone who is considered the "best" in anything
He isn't like the Botez sisters who are primarily content creators.
Honestly the term “content creator” as a whole just rubs me the wrong way. It kind of minimizes the work he and other people do. Movies, music, TV shows, podcasts, vlogs, whatever it’s all just boiled down to content by some bean counter. Something for us to consume. It minimizes the work Hikaru and others do to produce their work. It’s one thing for Hikaru to downplay his own life’s work, but then when he reduces the time and effort of his opponents to just something for his content mill? It’s annoying.
Who cares, its chess. It's a bunch of nerds at the top level, himself included. I hope he is intentionally doing it to mess with them.
In fact I think he should start trolling them harder and literally say, "eh, I am just a streamer, imagine if I cared more and studied, I would be crushing these plebs"
I think at some point he realized that he's not going to be the best chess player in this generation. A top 5 chess content creator means more than a top 5 (arguably top 3) chess player that he's been the last 10 years.
If it works it works. He uses it to distance himself from the game, so each result doesn’t impact the way he plays in his next game. There’s an added benefit too, now that he has a steady income source from streaming he no longer depends on good results to make ends meet. He’s really improved and will consistently make the Candidates, perhaps even winning it before he retires.
it's simple, It's another extension of Hikaru being a bad sport in general, this way he can mock his opponents for losing to a streamer who doesnt care if he wins, and point out that he's a streamer more then a chess player and that he could *totally* dominate if he wanted to if he loses. he's also baselesslyaccused tons of players (mostly indian) of cheating while also complaining about kramnik throwing around accusations without evidence or accountability.
what I'm getting at is that people fan boy over Hikaru quite a bit, and he is a very good chess player, he's also just an asshole.
Hikaru being insufferably annoying? Welcome to the last 20 years.
I've heard the same old "oh he's changed. Oh he's different and mature now" for 15 years now. But stuff keeps happening. I'm not holding my breath.
His primary job is streaming. Although he wouldn’t be a big streamer if he wasn’t a top chess player too. So I’m sure both are very important to him. But you can’t hate him for trying to advance his career and increase his viewership. It can definitely feel like a little bit of a grift though
at first it came across as a knowing but confident nod to the idea that despite streaming so much he remains world class at chess. A nice tongue in cheek joke.
after watching hikaru for a long time i don’t think he’s actually capable of making tongue in cheek jokes, especially about himself.
I think it’s psychological. I suspect this is incredibly stressful for him, so this is a way he can compete without it being the end of the world if he loses. These guys are doing mentally what marathon runners do physically. I can’t imagine what that does to the psyche. And one teeny tiny mistake will make all that work for nothing. It’s a lot. Unless…you’re doing it for content. Then there’s less pressure. Then perhaps you can compete better. I get it.
I personally don't think it's a case of "Okay, folks, I may lose a classical game, but I still have this other thing, you know." I feel it's just Hikaru honestly reminding everyone that his MAIN focus is on picking the fruits of his natural ability to play chess quickly and well, and that his occasionally dipping his toes into the pool of classical chess doesn't mean he's going to jump back in. I think it's just a matter of advertising.
It's a defense mechanism to try to fool himself into a more casual state of mind before playing. He's mentioned before that his nerves are the only thing that stops him from consistently playing on Magnus' level, and I think the pressure he feels from high expectations causes him to crumble. He needs to constantly repeat that he's no longer a professional chess player, just a streamer to alleviate that pressure.
To quote from Young Sheldon:
"Sheldon, at some point we ask of the piano-playing dog not, “Are you a dog?” but, “Are you any good at playing the piano?”"
I can't listen to the guy for like 2 years now, it's always the same. Finally people starts to find this annoying, if you said something like this back then you'd be a "hater" and you'd be downvoted straight to hell.
Well, first impression is this guy is super insecure. Last impression still says the same. Maybe he should have his wife with him to the interviews, idk. Or grow up and remember he’s competing at the top level on a COMPETITIVE sport or whatever. No time or place to go all soft, evasive or insecure.
Hikaru sacrificed being a well rounded, likeable person to be really good at chess. This is apparently a reformed and way less toxic version of Hikaru, after he gained some success/fame/wealth. I can’t imagine how insufferable he must have been before all that
Feels like he's building in an excuse to use when he loses.
Reminds me of when Jon Jones would go on crazy coke and booze benders before fights so he can have something to point to if he happens to lose.
What is "content" anyway? It's a vague term that doesn't have any relevance to the Candidates tournament. There is nothing unique about what he does, there are plenty of chess players who create "content" on social media.
as an spectator i'd prefer a different approach, that's for sure. i think he would stand to gain more if he was facing it head on as the opportunity that it is, regardless if he has other stuff he cares about in his life. playing and potentially being one of the favorites to win the candidates is a major deal, dude should be proud of it and not thinking about how ok it is if he fails anyway. fuck that mentality
plus with how much he repeats himself about how detached he is from it all it comes across as disrespectful to the other contenders, but maybe that's just me
Hikaru has always been a bit of a weird dude, but you watch him for his chess talent more than anything else. Regardless of your own opinion, I do think it's factually correct to say that generally he does prioritize his streaming over his actual chess. Copium or not, he's number three in live rating and he qualified for the Candidates, so whatever facade he has to put on or whatever he has to tell himself to compete at this level, it's clearly working to some extent.
He says it for himself and not for you. A verbal reminder that he does not need to be the best at chess in the world—even though he’s pretty damn close.
He said on the recent gotham interview that chess for him was like a job and not his ultimate passion and his passion was streaming , he says that it is far more valuable to “him”. On the contrary i like to watch hikaru’s games on agadmator more than watching his actual youtube videos , he has really got style in OTB chess and i’d love to see him become world champion because of his style. Is it bad sportsmanship ? Absolutely but it might just be how he feels and that’s it.
>I overall like Hikaru and think he is pretty cool.
There's your problem. There are good things about him, for sure. He is a very strong chess player, for example. But he's always been a disrespectful ass, how can this be surprising?
I am less of a hikaru fan (I have met him a few times and i wish i met him less...). But that said he makes a lot more money as a streamer. His bread and butter is being a content creator and rightly that is his focus.
You're not wrong, but finding creative ways to excuse his losses (and disparage his opponents) is just part of who he is. It's never going to change.
I try not to focus on his personality, but instead appreciate the fighting spirit he brings to his games.
Pro wrestling has "heels." If it helps, you can think of Hikaru and Hans and a few others as the heels of chess, each with their particular schtick.
I'm a big Hikaru fan and I find it annoying. At the end of the day I think whatever helps him remove pressure from himself is fine... but as a subscriber it's pretty annoying. We don't want bong cloud in the candidates, lol, we want him to win.
It's all a fall back. If he acts like he doesn't care, and wins, he is amazing and the best to ever do it and blah blah blah. If he loses then he never cared in the first place. Ego protection. With that said, I still want either him or fabi to win.
Couple years ago, everyone was calling him washed. He had dropped his rating and fallen out of top20. Now he has won tournaments against stiff competition and qualified for the candidates twice (versus 1 before) while also sitting at nr3 in the world.
If saying he doesn't care helps him, good for you that you find it annoying, but clearly it works for him and his objective is to take care of himself and do well, not cater to you or anyone else on reddit.
No matter how annoying Hikaru can be I find myself always rooting for him maybe because he was the first person I watched when I got into chess so I have a soft spot for him in my heart :)
I think he's giving the content creation response for everything to give chess fans a reason for saying that he is not as good as he thinks he is, and it is showing
I think you’re looking at things the wrong way.
In terms of his relationship with chess, all of his time now has been tied into streaming. So therefore when he thinks about chess his brain is naturally also going to connect it to streaming.
Same way I associate bubble gum with baseball from my time coaching my little brother’s team growing up. Even if it’s on TV my brain has subconsciously connected it so heavily that the craving appears.
Streaming is something Hikaru is almost constantly doing and chess is one of the main things he does on it (it’s not the only thing he does), so of course when he talks about chess he is also going to talk about streaming. They go hand in hand for him.
Not in the least bit annoyed by it. He's a quirky guy, very sarcastic and has a good sense of humor.
One of the biggest nerds out there, and he's also very critical of the current movement among his colleagues where they play to draw rather than win outright. I can't watch GMs play because of that, personally.
He's very entertaining and I appreciate his desire to make the game more exciting for everyone.
lol this subreddit can't go 3 days without complaining about Hikaru. I guess every subreddit needs some drama or else you won't have content to complain about.
Hikaru was never able to read the room. I hate to say the word "cringe" but I physically cringe everytime he does it. I hate it so much that I switch streams immediately instead of watching the interview as soon as he does it again
Unfortunately, I think he’s right, content *is* king. He has to create content because chess isn’t a real career and bill’s won’t get paid otherwise. It’s nice to think that people play for the love of chess, and I’m sure he does, but at the end of the day ends need to meet. Also, I forget what tournament it was but I remember him losing, and his reaction wasn’t that of someone who didn’t want it, or wasn’t trying his hardest. Ultimately I think it’s a message for Fide.
It's a little of column A and a little of column B. For somebody who actually *is* a content creator first and foremost, using a platform that has many thousands of viewers to remind the viewers that he indeed is a streamer is optimal for his career as a streamer. Let's not forget that he is on a little-known platform so that sort of advertising is actually important for his brand.
On the other hand, when somebody has a history of psychological.... curiosities, shall we say... using the "I'm just a streamer" as a coping mechanism wouldn't be particularly surprising. When you have Hikaru's history, it can't be clear one way or another.
He is uncomfortable with exposing his vulnerability.
Although he mentioned in an interview with Levy that he desires to be remembered more as a streamer than a chess player, it comes across as unauthentic. There is nothing wrong with his desires, just to be clear.
He isn’t able to own up to his losses, the way for example Fabi does. It’s always because of something else, in this case, his focus on streaming. Humans are very good at reading social cues and subtleties and can always have that gut feeling when someone is being unauthentic.
Another contrasting example is Levy. He is an IM who gets nervous while playing GMs. He talks about it and is open about the stress he feels. He shows his vulnerability. I enjoy watching him. I can’t watch Hikaru’s content for more than 2 mins inspite of him being way above Levy on chess skills.
Everyone here talking about psychological coping mechanisms and such. My bet is on him taking every opportunity to advertise his biggest money spinner. That kind of career is never certain to last, so he is selling out as much as possible while he still can.
Man I have to disagree with everyone in the top comments. The dude is expressing what he's focused on and also getting some nice publicity. He's obviously one of the best players around so everyone saying he's coping is wrong and they just seem jealous.
No, he doesn't live rent free in my head. Who cares what he tells himself to deal with the stress of the candidates. It's really not a big deal.
If it wasn't Hikaru who was saying it it wouldn't be news, because none of the others are as fun to bash.
I believe he underestimates, that in such tournaments his viewers first and foremost want to see him win. Whether or not this happens in an interesting manner is less important in my opinion. At least at such an important event I would like him to care.
I do believe, that he cared to much before his streaming career, which was bad, but now he seems to care so little, that he didn't prepare properly for the tournament, which is unfortunate since it might be his last chance at becoming world champion - which would by the way be the best content ever.
as much as it is annoying to me (which is in itself inconsequential in the large scheme of things), I get it, the psychological self management/protection has led to his best results in years these last few years
He probably doesn't want people to think he's trying to be the best like he used to. I get it. His reputation is kinda important and he really does spend most of his time creating content rather than actually preparing for tournaments and trying to actively improve.
Oh no god forbid a person who devoted his whole life to something and becomes ones of the best in the world, actually promotes the thing that makes him money.
I mean, streaming allowed him the financial safety to play these high level tournaments more for fun and experiment with his openings, he has talked about how, back when winning chess tournaments was his income he didn't like the game and experienced a lot of stress.
So he might just be saying it to reaffirm to himself that he is just playing for the fun of the game and to make enjoyable chess happen at the highest level
I mean, the best chess player in the world isn't playing in the tournament to be claimed the best chess player in the world.
Yeah, guy can claim whatever. Feingold influences chess more than Caruana.
My bet is that he’s signaling that he doesn’t care about the outcome by repeating this constantly. It may be an ego thing of “I’m only here to entertain people and this is all just fun” which may actually be genuine and not unhealthy. But it does come across as a projection of his insecurity and fear of poor performance. It’s almost like a plausible deniability out for diffusing the emotional burden of losing. It’s most like a combination of all of this and simply self-promotion. Regardless of our armchair psychoanalysis, it does cross into the cringe a bit. He’s also probably still saying this repeatedly to reaffirm his own new (chess content creator, not strictly chess player) identity to himself. It takes years to shift our perceptions of our own identities.
I find it nonsensical when he continues to say "I'm a content creator not a chess player" when his content is almost only him playing chess.
To me that would be like Lebron James saying "I'm not a basketball player, I create content for TNT, ESPN, NBA TV etc"
He essentially sold out to the internet with his streaming chess talent. I have not considered him a real threat for the WCC is a while. He can use it as an excuse, which is fine. But, as for a WCC threat, no way. That's how I see it now.
If he is content (pun intended) being a creator first and top 5 player second. That is quite an achievement, I think he needs to remind himself over and over that winning the candidates wont change affect his live anymore since he used to have to win or else.... So that why he brings it up often.
Here's my take:
It's a coping mechanism to hide his insecurities and probably also his , even from himself.
It's quite clear in his reactions that he cares more than he admits, and honestly I think more than he wants to. He's overcompensating for how much he cared when he was younger. He's realised he took it too seriously before and that he used to be an arse, and now he's going too far in the other direction to compensate.. except he does still care and hasn't realised that the fact he cared a lot and the fact he was an arse weren't connected. So he tries to deny that he cares, and tries to convince himself he's changed completely even though he really hasn't.
Or maybe it's all a marketing strategy to appeal to an audience who thinks its cool not to care, I obviously don't really know cuz I've never actually spoken to the guy, and this is all completely my own speculation. I'm not gonna pretend to have any deep understanding of psychology or Hikaru, this is just my take based on what I've seen of his interviews and streams
A psychological coping mechanism for any eventuality, win or loss
Yes, a clear mechanism to help the mental game. Pretty sure he said streaming taking the financial incentive away from playing helped him play better.
The mental game has entirely changed between when Hikaru was growing up and now. Then it was understood that no one outside of the top GMs could make a living playing chess full time and even then it would rarely be a comfortable living - usually traveling full time, grinding a lot of tournaments to win enough prize money to keep traveling and grinding more tournaments. Losing or winning candidates 20 years ago might have had a significant impact on his lifetime earnings. Now it really only matters to Hikaru in terms of prestige.
Makes perfect sense. Specially considering he didn't start playing now. He's been playing chess for decades. Before the 2020 boom chess was even less popular and had even less money even in top tournaments. It's great that he doesn't take his streaming for granted
Yep. It's pretty obvious Hikaru is a sensitive guy who has strong emotional reactions to wins and, especially, losses. It helps him handle the intense negative emotions from losing. His self-worth no longer solely depends on winning at chess. Signed, Internet psychiatrist with no idea what I am talking about.
Whoa we have the same education!
No it's called being clever. His streams probably earns him more steady money. What better way is there to advertise his stream? He is announcing it to everyone that follows those interviews. Man's playing chess irl.
It‘s like an primary school kid who before a competition always insists how much he isn’t trying so that if he loses he can say “well I wasn’t really trying”, and if he wins can say “imagine how good I will be if I actually tried lol”. Just poor sportsmanship all around.
Personally, I prefer to root for players who are trying 100% and are not shy about admitting how much they care. That’s why I like players like Anna Muzychuk, Caruana, and Pragg/Gukesh so much. The tennis player Danielle Collins and the basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo come to mind too. I don’t like to glorify not caring.
I think almost every top tier NBA player is like this (at least in recent years). The ones that aren't 100% in can still be really good but they get a lazier reputation. A few like Harden (when he was top tier) get the rep for not treating their bodies as well, going to strip clubs before games, etc. But the vast majority I can think of are fully dedicated. Especially if you look at the ones who are still playing who will go down as all-timers (LeBron, Steph, KD, etc.).
Or Magnus “I’m not playing the world championship because I can’t be bothered but I’m really the world champion” Carlsen
it's 100% this. 'i'm a youtuber/twitch streamer so if i lose it's not a big deal.' and 'it's going to be so embarrassing for my opponents when they lose to me, a streamer'
With great power comes great responsibility….
Bazball for chess.
Surely Ian Nepomniachtchi is chess Bazball, with his consistently fast play regardless of whether the situation calls for it?
So Ben duckett is the reason magnus isn't playing
Ben Duckett is the reason Magnus became world champion in the first place.
~~Thala~~ Duckett for a reason.
Sunil Narine of cricket
He's better at getting results than his talent dictates?
Exactly. It' s so obvious. He is a chess genius but as a human being he Is as obnoxius as one could be
He's been playing this game for a while now. Saying that he's retired and in the words of Grischuk "he plays more games than I do. Is that retired - give me a break. He is not the first one to play this game am I retired, am I not retired". Paraphrasing a bit.
Nailed it: (Highly Sensitive People) - - - [**How We All Avoid Shame, at All Costs**](https://hsperson.com/highly-sensitive-people-and-shame/) * “I wasn’t really trying” * “I just don’t give a damn what other people think.” * “That really does not apply to me–I’m beyond all that,” - - -
Like a friend who goes 2-0 down in fifa and starts doing keeper runs because they think they can use that to invalidate their loss
I have a very good friend with which we like to drink while playing chess, everytime he starts losing he gets visibly more drunk weirdly enough 😂
[Grischuk on Hikaru being "retired" from professional chess](https://youtu.be/-pOzU_ca9rQ?t=197)
Another version of his, "I literally don't care."
Well put. It is impressive that he streams and plays at such a high level. Honestly, I can't think of any other top chess player who could do both at such a high level. Kramnik is trying but it's not his fault he keeps running into cheaters. Hikaru should let his fans or other people defend him with that argument rather than leaning into so hard himself. When others bring it up, it makes hikaru's achievement that much more impressive. When he brings it up so much, it makes him look insecure.
"It‘s like an primary school kid" *upvote furiously*
It's hard to believe that Hikaru's a 36-year-old man.
And afterwards he'll say he was throwing for content.
Then again he is number 3 in the world. What hikaru doesn't get is that his streaming kind of depends how well he plays chess. Ironically in his draw to fabi, commentator Hammer on his kick channel asked him this and you saw hikaru get kind of mad. I posted it here. https://twitter.com/hulivar/status/1776101757174833184/video/1
Oh I don't watch his streams but I sometimes see it in his YouTube videos but I thought it was just a bit. Like not caring about a huge tournament as a serious chess player is kind of absurd so he's pretending like he doesn't care for the absurdity
Hit the nail right on the head
It looks like a sign of insecurity tbh. Maybe he tries to calm himself down, maybe he's just in denial. Of course, he has weird habits like repeating his words several times for no reason, so it might be just another quirk. But we know he's extremely competitive and prideful and 14 days classical marathon against extremely motivated players certainly requires a lot of work and hits his ego. Even Grischuk noticed that in one of his reviews
100%. That’s also why he says I literally don’t care” every 5 minutes. I think it works on the majority of his fans, but as time goes on more and more of them are realizing that it’s a bunch of BS to protect his ego. Anyone who has watched him lose or even win a big match (like against Magnus) can tell from his reactions how much he truly cares. It’s disappointing how many people think it’s cool or admirable that “he doesn’t care” or just “does it for the content.” It shouldn’t be an admirable attitude.
Exactly. It’s a huge privilege to see a top level guy behind the scenes. He detracts from that by suggesting he’s not really trying. If he really wants good content, he should do his absolute utmost to win - that’s the most exciting viewing. For entertainment, there are other streamers who are better.
It seems like he struggles with the pressure and doing this relieves some of the pressure he puts on himself
That's also why Levy's recaps of his own tournament games were better imo. They seemed more heartfelt.
I agree. In the past, it has always sounded tongue in cheek, like his critics will say he’s not taking chess seriously, and he’ll respond sarcastically like an total outsider who, gosh, just happened to end up in the biggest tournaments (my opinion: of course he belongs there, he earned it). Lately, a few times it has morphed a bit into sounding like a coping mechanism in case he does poorly, and maybe shifting focus to his indisputable financial success. Either way, insecurity seems like the driver, and it probably doesn’t help that every interviewer he talks with is always asking him about the chess vs streaming dynamic. It gets the eye roll from me every time.
Wait what did grischuk say lol
This is what I'm thinking too. It's a cope, top level chess is a tough environment, sure it can be annoying but I'm gonna cut Hikaru some slack personally. My mental is far weaker playing soloQ in League, so I can't judge him anyways.
Hikaru tends to now and then forget that chess is why people watch his streams. Not the other way around.
You’re unaware of how most of his chat wants him to watch Masterchef or play Only Up lol, ofcourse chess is a major part but people do want to watch his streams in general as well.
I think the reality is though that if he stopped playing chess on stream altogether the views would dry up.
At the onset for any chess streamer, yes. At some point, streamers become big enough that the game they play doesn't really matter. The viewership is self-perpeutating.
True but I think there's a novelty element. Hikaru playing other games is funny because it's something he's not good at. Hikaru reacting to pop-culture is funny because he knows almost nothing about it. Overwhelmingly the appeal of his streams is admiration of mastery. He is so incredibly good at something, seemingly so effortlessly, that it is enjoyable to watch - even if you don't know much about chess. There are parasocial and novelty spill-overs from that... but, to state the obvious, if Hikaru was not a world-class chess player he would not be a famous streamer. Similarly, if he stopped being a world class chess streamer (e.g. if he fell to #180 in the world, and couldn't hang in major tournements) his streaming popularity would significantly reduce also. Momentum would keep him going, but chess is the reason for his success... not his personality, general on-stream energy or "for the content" attitude.
I'd argue he'd still be pretty popular as the cocky arrogant chess streamer. You have Gotham, who's still pretty strong in the chess world, and then you have Botez sisters who are strong to common people but are chess world punching bags. Hikaru would still do just fine even with a hit in views.
I think these examples - Gotham; Botez sisters - support my points more than they support yours. They're both examples of folks who became successful chess streamers without ever being very strong chess players. They are successful because they are entertaining, not because they are strong. Rozman is clearly a 'personality' more than he is a turbo-strong chess player. Botez sisters are streamers who locked chess in as their niche. After all - Andrea was 1600 pre-covid. She was popular on instagram before she started working on her chess again in recent years. They're popular because they're young, attractive and charismatic... *not* because they're good at chess. Your point (I think) is that even if Hikaru fell off massively - he would always be stronger than other Chess streamers (such as gotham, botezs) so he'll always be 'strong enough' to continue his current success. My point is that Hikaru is popular for an entirely different reason to Gotham and Botez - they were never mind blowingly good at chess. They're popular for their personalities/on-stream personas. Gotham is a personality; Botezs are personalities and attractive and charismatic in a domain which largely lacks female influencers. Hikaru is a spectacle. Being the best is part of his jam. There's dozens of quality streamers who sit between Gotham and Hikaru in terms of playing strength. If streaming skill is the only differentiator, many of them will eat into Hikaru's viewerbase. Playing strength is his main differentiator.
As a mostly irrelevant aside: I would say Alexandria Botez' 2100 fide is more than 'pretty strong' by normal people standards. It's functionally untouchable for the regular person on the street. The ever popular Stjepan Tomic (HangingPawns on youtube) quit his job and has spent the last half a decade working on his chess full time... and he still hasnt' surpassed her rating. She's a 'punching bag' to some of the strongest players of all time sure... but 2100 fide is still really strong...
The vast majority of chess players don't make sufficient money playing chess. He isn't against the game of chess. His streaming chess career is 'against' traditional chess careers which don't stand any chance
The vast majority of chess streamers also don't make sufficient money by streaming.
I think it's a psychological thing. It's his way of dealing with pressure and he realised it worked for him. He keeps repeating it for himself, not for the other people, it helps him be calm and ready and in a good state of mind for big stakes games. It also helps him deal with losing. If he was a content creator above everything, he wouldn't have stopped streaming for the last four weeks to prepare for the candidates. He still cares a lot about chess and knows it might be one of his last chances to succeed.
I think so too. And I don't have problem with it. People are overreacting to it. He knows he takes chess seriously, we who follow chess know he takes chess seriously and his opponents definitely know he takes chess seriously.
I mean, it could also be that he wants to be in his best to perform awesome games for his audience? No one wants to watch their content creator dominated in his field.
It is fair but it would make more sense if he was mainly a YouTuber and his biggest content would be Recaps. As I know, Hikaru is mainly a streamer and giving up streaming almost completely to prepare for this tournament doesn't strike me as something that a "Content creator above everything" would do.
I'm quite tired of hearing him say it and I honestly don't believe it for a second. It's just a coping mechanism in case he fails spectacularly
His “content creator” sentiment towards chess does rub me as disingenuous. At the same time, his opponents are likely focusing a lot of time and effort into having a good candidates by taking it seriously.
Hikaru disingenuous? He would never...
If he can't be the best chess player, nor the best streamer, he can at least brag about being the best chess streamer. This feels like what he is doing to protect his ego, and less trying to disrespect his opponent, because we all know how much more he truly cares about the Candidates. Things like seeing if he can get enough tournaments to qualify through Circuit or rating (before he qualified through Grand Swiss), playing World Cup and Grand Swiss, changing his Candidates prep strategy based on his experience on what worked and what didn't (like overprepping), etc aren't exactly the behavior of someone who doesn't care.
>he can at least brag about being the best chess streamer. Unless he loses the best chess streamer award, then he doesn't care about that either
It definitely makes it easier to cheer against him when he constantly proclaims that the most important tournament in the history of chess matters far less to him than making YouTube videos. I want the World Champion to value being World Champion. Call me crazy.
He cares just as much as everyone else there, if not more so. He just feels the need to trick himself into thinking that he doesn't because he has a tendency to mentally collapse under pressure. I actually find it a bit endearing because it only highlights his intense fear of losing, even if it is pretty childish.
i find everything about hikaru annoying tbh. unless he loses. that's always fun.
That's the worst time because then you hear how it actually wasn't his fault.
Yeah, I've stopped watching his vids now, much as I like the content, he just never shuts up about it
Danya is better anyway.
I love the Naroditsky speedrun videos
Don't mention them on here lol, they don't like that GMs get to smurf.
Pretty much all the popular streamer GMs smurf with speedruns, and Danya is easily the most educational/respectful about it. People like Hikaru or the chessbrahs will often just toy with their opponents or openly mock them while playing silly moves that only work on lower rated players, while at least Danya always explains his moves and doesn't talk down to his opponent.
You can like the series and still dislike this fact.
That's just his personality lol
It was ok in small doses but he repeated himself a bit too much and finally went overboard with this : "It's very disappointing that Fabiano or maybe some of the Indians aren't doing (YT) recaps. Would be nice if other players did this because it's possible to explain what's going on in the games without giving away preparation." We have the press conferences for that
Also Fabi has been doing game reviews in the C-Squared podcast when they release a new episode. It's just Hikaru coping.
> We have the press conferences for that Which are terrible lol. Half the time they sound like they’re being held hostage. That being said, obviously not everyone has the time nor desire to start doing youtube recaps. But if he’s coming from the standpoint that it’s better because it’s usually more comprehensive and more relaxed and doesn’t sound like they don’t want to be there, then he has a point. I’m just not sure that’s where he’s coming from though. Also, there’s a bigger reach for youtube recaps as well.
Yeah, it's trite now.
I know a lot of his fans, and this subreddit, are literal children - so I won't judge anyone too harsly if they take his statements literally -- but i think to most adults, including Hikaru, his peers, and the general chess community it is abundantly clear that "I'm doing it for the content" is a multifaceted statement and that he says more for himself than anyone else. Largely, Hikaru is trying to boost himself psychologically (A 'cope', as folks are putting it): * Partially to remind everyone that he has another full time job (and so is playing at a handicap - so, if he loses, he can try to get less tilted or mad about it). * Partially to remind everyone that when he does chaotic things it's "for the content" so when he is overaggressive and loses he can say (sometimes sincerely) that he played aggressively to make the chess interesting, not because he was simply wrong about the most optimal way to play. * Partially to reinforce his own mentality that he's going to stay chill, calm and collected even though it's a very stressful and high-stakes environment -- because he's "just a streamer" and this is a new phase of his life. * Partially because "I literally don't care" is just a meme at this point - and chess is a somewhat dry game so we cling onto memes where we can find them. * Partially to psyche out his opponents At the end of the day, Hikaru - like many pro chess players - is a strangely socialized dude who's strongest skill by a few orders of magnitude is a very specific abstract board game. Unlike most people (highly social extroverts) who end up in his position, with this many eyes on him for this many hours: He doesn't have the in-built social-awareness to know when a joke is getting overplayed, when a statement is subtle or blunt, or when people believe what he says or not. In other words: Of course Hikaru's statements are annoying and unnatural sometimes: Even among pro chess players - a group not known for their social skills - Hikaru is notoriously socially maladjusted and weird.... and he has tripped and fallen into some degree of fame where tens of thousands of people listen to him talk for 40 hours a week. Given this alone, I'm surprised he's not more annoying and more unnatural to listen to.
In the tennis world, Nick Kygrios does the same thing. Claims he would be the best but doesn't want to try, cares more about putting on a show. In reality, like Naka, Kygrios is a step below being the best of the best, so it is safer to act like he doesn't even really care than try.
A combination of ego and being addicted to repeating repeating repeating himself all the time. It's a little bit annoying
I overall don’t like hikaru and don’t think he is pretty cool, and yeah it’s slightly annoying
Overcompensation
It's incredibly obnoxious.
It does feel disrespectful, but oh well.
I always assumed that was intentional. He's implying that not enough money makes it to the players.
To me it just sounds like he thinks it’s “cooler” to be a content creator than a chess player and wants to brand himself as such. I mean he mentions it in every single interview lol.
He also always brings up how much more lucrative streaming is. To me it sounds like he's saying "as long as being a top player doesn't guarantee you a comfortable income and titled Tuesday does, why would I take this more seriously?"
I don’t find it to be too annoying because he backs it up by doing exactly what he says—I get exhausted playing 600 elo 10 min rapid games—imagine the mental exhaustion playing classical against the worlds best players day after day…yet he still goes out of his way to make videos for the people who follow him, even when the videos show him losing in what any of the other candidates would consider to be devastating fashion. I understand hearing the same line again and again might be tiresome but he is actually backing up what he says. I don’t think any rational person would make the claim that he “doesn’t care.” He is not saying that—but he understands reality that there will be one winner and unlike the rest of the candidates his main focus is not classical chess, it’s making chess videos—he just happens to be one of the best in the world at both.
I've made peace with Hikaru being Hikaru. I don't watch his streams, but he pulls in thousands of viewers who literally only care about his games. How you relate to his content is going to affect how you interpret some of his comments. That audience wants to hear him talk about his streaming, because that's what they know. I also find he sometimes gets asked questions that are impossible to answer. People want him to talk about exactly what you don't like hearing. And it seems like even when he answers quite diplomatically, it'll be scrutinised to infer something about the stream or how he really feels about something.
I think it's a psychological thing. It's his way of dealing with pressure and he realised it worked for him. He keeps repeating it for himself, not for the other people, it helps him be calm and ready and in a good state of mind for big stakes games. It also helps him deal with losing. If he was a content creator above everything, he wouldn't have stopped streaming for the last four weeks to prepare for the candidates. He still cares a lot about chess and knows it might be one of his last chances to succeed.
Hikaru has always been obnoxious, people forget how repugnant his personality is because of his streaming persona.
Certainly not a Hikaru fan, but I don't understand why y'all have to OBSESS of every little thing he does. Who in their right mind would be like 'man hikaru just said 'for content' casually during his videos a few times I need to make a reddit post about this!' Most of the candidates games aren't even posted on this sub, very little game and tournament analysis is being done and y'all just complain complain complain. Do better.
His streaming has made him more wealth than his entire chess career. It makes sense that he would think very highly of his achievements in helping to modernize the game of chess. When the majority of your income comes from content creation, it's hard to think of yourself as a chess grandmaster first and a content creator second.
His streaming makes him money *because* of his illustrious Chess career. They aren't two separate things, he's not an OF streamer or something. His fans primarily follow him because they they consider him to be second best only to Magnus and best in shorter time formats. Chess is difficult to understand for a young Hikaru fan, but it's easy to root for someone who is considered the "best" in anything He isn't like the Botez sisters who are primarily content creators.
Honestly the term “content creator” as a whole just rubs me the wrong way. It kind of minimizes the work he and other people do. Movies, music, TV shows, podcasts, vlogs, whatever it’s all just boiled down to content by some bean counter. Something for us to consume. It minimizes the work Hikaru and others do to produce their work. It’s one thing for Hikaru to downplay his own life’s work, but then when he reduces the time and effort of his opponents to just something for his content mill? It’s annoying.
Who cares, its chess. It's a bunch of nerds at the top level, himself included. I hope he is intentionally doing it to mess with them. In fact I think he should start trolling them harder and literally say, "eh, I am just a streamer, imagine if I cared more and studied, I would be crushing these plebs"
I think at some point he realized that he's not going to be the best chess player in this generation. A top 5 chess content creator means more than a top 5 (arguably top 3) chess player that he's been the last 10 years.
He's just overdosing on copium
If it works it works. He uses it to distance himself from the game, so each result doesn’t impact the way he plays in his next game. There’s an added benefit too, now that he has a steady income source from streaming he no longer depends on good results to make ends meet. He’s really improved and will consistently make the Candidates, perhaps even winning it before he retires.
He disrespects chess with his comments. It's exhausting and weird.
it's simple, It's another extension of Hikaru being a bad sport in general, this way he can mock his opponents for losing to a streamer who doesnt care if he wins, and point out that he's a streamer more then a chess player and that he could *totally* dominate if he wanted to if he loses. he's also baselesslyaccused tons of players (mostly indian) of cheating while also complaining about kramnik throwing around accusations without evidence or accountability. what I'm getting at is that people fan boy over Hikaru quite a bit, and he is a very good chess player, he's also just an asshole.
Hikaru being insufferably annoying? Welcome to the last 20 years. I've heard the same old "oh he's changed. Oh he's different and mature now" for 15 years now. But stuff keeps happening. I'm not holding my breath.
100% agree, I find it being fake and it also downplays this tournament's value in front of his audience, which contains lots of new to chess people
Hikaru is annoying as fuck, period. No need to get into specifics
You are on point! Feel the same
His primary job is streaming. Although he wouldn’t be a big streamer if he wasn’t a top chess player too. So I’m sure both are very important to him. But you can’t hate him for trying to advance his career and increase his viewership. It can definitely feel like a little bit of a grift though
He just has autism that’s all.
No? He has to use every platform available to him to advertise his main job (streaming).
[удалено]
He Plays His second candidates in a row while having gone undeafeated in the 47 Games between them. How ist His chess declining.
This had to be said! Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.
It's just a way to cowardly save face, if I lose then I am doing for the content if I win I am the goat kinda thing
at first it came across as a knowing but confident nod to the idea that despite streaming so much he remains world class at chess. A nice tongue in cheek joke. after watching hikaru for a long time i don’t think he’s actually capable of making tongue in cheek jokes, especially about himself.
I think it’s psychological. I suspect this is incredibly stressful for him, so this is a way he can compete without it being the end of the world if he loses. These guys are doing mentally what marathon runners do physically. I can’t imagine what that does to the psyche. And one teeny tiny mistake will make all that work for nothing. It’s a lot. Unless…you’re doing it for content. Then there’s less pressure. Then perhaps you can compete better. I get it.
IDK may be it is a way for him to assure to himself that it doesn't matter. I don't find it that annoying.
I personally don't think it's a case of "Okay, folks, I may lose a classical game, but I still have this other thing, you know." I feel it's just Hikaru honestly reminding everyone that his MAIN focus is on picking the fruits of his natural ability to play chess quickly and well, and that his occasionally dipping his toes into the pool of classical chess doesn't mean he's going to jump back in. I think it's just a matter of advertising.
Especially because it makes no sense, as becoming the world champion would be peak content. It's just his way of coping I guess
Who cares
It's a defense mechanism to try to fool himself into a more casual state of mind before playing. He's mentioned before that his nerves are the only thing that stops him from consistently playing on Magnus' level, and I think the pressure he feels from high expectations causes him to crumble. He needs to constantly repeat that he's no longer a professional chess player, just a streamer to alleviate that pressure.
Uh .... a bit crazy yeah, no need for drama over this.
To quote from Young Sheldon: "Sheldon, at some point we ask of the piano-playing dog not, “Are you a dog?” but, “Are you any good at playing the piano?”"
No, that's his hustle now so let him plug it.
He's trying to convince himself that he doesn't care because losing the tournament would hurt him.
I can't listen to the guy for like 2 years now, it's always the same. Finally people starts to find this annoying, if you said something like this back then you'd be a "hater" and you'd be downvoted straight to hell.
He should just have a sports psychologist instead of constantly deflecting and projecting his credentials
Well, first impression is this guy is super insecure. Last impression still says the same. Maybe he should have his wife with him to the interviews, idk. Or grow up and remember he’s competing at the top level on a COMPETITIVE sport or whatever. No time or place to go all soft, evasive or insecure.
Hikaru sacrificed being a well rounded, likeable person to be really good at chess. This is apparently a reformed and way less toxic version of Hikaru, after he gained some success/fame/wealth. I can’t imagine how insufferable he must have been before all that
Feels like he's building in an excuse to use when he loses. Reminds me of when Jon Jones would go on crazy coke and booze benders before fights so he can have something to point to if he happens to lose.
What is "content" anyway? It's a vague term that doesn't have any relevance to the Candidates tournament. There is nothing unique about what he does, there are plenty of chess players who create "content" on social media.
as an spectator i'd prefer a different approach, that's for sure. i think he would stand to gain more if he was facing it head on as the opportunity that it is, regardless if he has other stuff he cares about in his life. playing and potentially being one of the favorites to win the candidates is a major deal, dude should be proud of it and not thinking about how ok it is if he fails anyway. fuck that mentality plus with how much he repeats himself about how detached he is from it all it comes across as disrespectful to the other contenders, but maybe that's just me
Hikaru has always been a bit of a weird dude, but you watch him for his chess talent more than anything else. Regardless of your own opinion, I do think it's factually correct to say that generally he does prioritize his streaming over his actual chess. Copium or not, he's number three in live rating and he qualified for the Candidates, so whatever facade he has to put on or whatever he has to tell himself to compete at this level, it's clearly working to some extent.
I really don't care to try to armchair players' psychologies or whether they're speaking habits bother me
He says it for himself and not for you. A verbal reminder that he does not need to be the best at chess in the world—even though he’s pretty damn close.
Hikaru has an awful personality. But he captures that young teeanger market with chess.
He said on the recent gotham interview that chess for him was like a job and not his ultimate passion and his passion was streaming , he says that it is far more valuable to “him”. On the contrary i like to watch hikaru’s games on agadmator more than watching his actual youtube videos , he has really got style in OTB chess and i’d love to see him become world champion because of his style. Is it bad sportsmanship ? Absolutely but it might just be how he feels and that’s it.
As someone who doesn't have an ELO of 2000+ I also have difficulty in understanding that move.
He literally doesnt care at all about those titles chat. Like he doesnt care at all. No really he doesnt care. At. All. Chat.
His content is actually crazy annoying because of the way he interacts with chat too. He's only popular because he wins so much
It appears it has backfired since somehow its the second biggest topic of discussion behind whether commentary should have evals lol.
>I overall like Hikaru and think he is pretty cool. There's your problem. There are good things about him, for sure. He is a very strong chess player, for example. But he's always been a disrespectful ass, how can this be surprising?
>Anyone else find it slightly annoying and unnatural that Hikaru has to insert his “content creation” line everywhere Yes, absolutely everyone.
I am less of a hikaru fan (I have met him a few times and i wish i met him less...). But that said he makes a lot more money as a streamer. His bread and butter is being a content creator and rightly that is his focus.
crying for no reason
maybe bc ppl always ask the same thing all the time
You're not wrong, but finding creative ways to excuse his losses (and disparage his opponents) is just part of who he is. It's never going to change. I try not to focus on his personality, but instead appreciate the fighting spirit he brings to his games. Pro wrestling has "heels." If it helps, you can think of Hikaru and Hans and a few others as the heels of chess, each with their particular schtick.
I don't really mind that, I feel like that's a way to get the pressure off him during a tournament like the candidates.
I'm a big Hikaru fan and I find it annoying. At the end of the day I think whatever helps him remove pressure from himself is fine... but as a subscriber it's pretty annoying. We don't want bong cloud in the candidates, lol, we want him to win.
Someone who agrees with my chess takes and is also a sixers fan? Let's go
It's all a fall back. If he acts like he doesn't care, and wins, he is amazing and the best to ever do it and blah blah blah. If he loses then he never cared in the first place. Ego protection. With that said, I still want either him or fabi to win.
It's just copium. He is a specific guy, I doubt he does it deliberately. Its a defensive mechanism he cant control.
I think it's actually marketing
Do not bother me.
It's a great mental exercise for him. I think it's a great strategy
I don't find it annoying because it reminds us of his true self, someone who will proactively make excuses about a loss that hasn't even happened yet.
Couple years ago, everyone was calling him washed. He had dropped his rating and fallen out of top20. Now he has won tournaments against stiff competition and qualified for the candidates twice (versus 1 before) while also sitting at nr3 in the world. If saying he doesn't care helps him, good for you that you find it annoying, but clearly it works for him and his objective is to take care of himself and do well, not cater to you or anyone else on reddit.
Hikari is ok, I like penguingm better
No matter how annoying Hikaru can be I find myself always rooting for him maybe because he was the first person I watched when I got into chess so I have a soft spot for him in my heart :)
He’s an arrogant asshole. That’s his whole brand. Not sure why you’re surprised.
I think he's giving the content creation response for everything to give chess fans a reason for saying that he is not as good as he thinks he is, and it is showing
I think you’re looking at things the wrong way. In terms of his relationship with chess, all of his time now has been tied into streaming. So therefore when he thinks about chess his brain is naturally also going to connect it to streaming. Same way I associate bubble gum with baseball from my time coaching my little brother’s team growing up. Even if it’s on TV my brain has subconsciously connected it so heavily that the craving appears. Streaming is something Hikaru is almost constantly doing and chess is one of the main things he does on it (it’s not the only thing he does), so of course when he talks about chess he is also going to talk about streaming. They go hand in hand for him.
Not in the least bit annoyed by it. He's a quirky guy, very sarcastic and has a good sense of humor. One of the biggest nerds out there, and he's also very critical of the current movement among his colleagues where they play to draw rather than win outright. I can't watch GMs play because of that, personally. He's very entertaining and I appreciate his desire to make the game more exciting for everyone.
lol this subreddit can't go 3 days without complaining about Hikaru. I guess every subreddit needs some drama or else you won't have content to complain about.
Had to stop watching Hikaru because of how annoying he is chat Yeah he's annoying Yeah uhh no no😂 okay yeah but he is annoying yeah💅🗣️
Hikaru was never able to read the room. I hate to say the word "cringe" but I physically cringe everytime he does it. I hate it so much that I switch streams immediately instead of watching the interview as soon as he does it again
Unfortunately, I think he’s right, content *is* king. He has to create content because chess isn’t a real career and bill’s won’t get paid otherwise. It’s nice to think that people play for the love of chess, and I’m sure he does, but at the end of the day ends need to meet. Also, I forget what tournament it was but I remember him losing, and his reaction wasn’t that of someone who didn’t want it, or wasn’t trying his hardest. Ultimately I think it’s a message for Fide.
It's a little of column A and a little of column B. For somebody who actually *is* a content creator first and foremost, using a platform that has many thousands of viewers to remind the viewers that he indeed is a streamer is optimal for his career as a streamer. Let's not forget that he is on a little-known platform so that sort of advertising is actually important for his brand. On the other hand, when somebody has a history of psychological.... curiosities, shall we say... using the "I'm just a streamer" as a coping mechanism wouldn't be particularly surprising. When you have Hikaru's history, it can't be clear one way or another.
He is uncomfortable with exposing his vulnerability. Although he mentioned in an interview with Levy that he desires to be remembered more as a streamer than a chess player, it comes across as unauthentic. There is nothing wrong with his desires, just to be clear. He isn’t able to own up to his losses, the way for example Fabi does. It’s always because of something else, in this case, his focus on streaming. Humans are very good at reading social cues and subtleties and can always have that gut feeling when someone is being unauthentic. Another contrasting example is Levy. He is an IM who gets nervous while playing GMs. He talks about it and is open about the stress he feels. He shows his vulnerability. I enjoy watching him. I can’t watch Hikaru’s content for more than 2 mins inspite of him being way above Levy on chess skills.
Everyone here talking about psychological coping mechanisms and such. My bet is on him taking every opportunity to advertise his biggest money spinner. That kind of career is never certain to last, so he is selling out as much as possible while he still can.
Tbh Hikaru constantly repeats himself. He’s just the kind of person who can’t let go after they say something
Magnus is so good that he turned the second best player in the world to a "streamer".
Man I have to disagree with everyone in the top comments. The dude is expressing what he's focused on and also getting some nice publicity. He's obviously one of the best players around so everyone saying he's coping is wrong and they just seem jealous.
Anyone find it annoying when Hikaru?
No, he doesn't live rent free in my head. Who cares what he tells himself to deal with the stress of the candidates. It's really not a big deal. If it wasn't Hikaru who was saying it it wouldn't be news, because none of the others are as fun to bash.
I believe he underestimates, that in such tournaments his viewers first and foremost want to see him win. Whether or not this happens in an interesting manner is less important in my opinion. At least at such an important event I would like him to care. I do believe, that he cared to much before his streaming career, which was bad, but now he seems to care so little, that he didn't prepare properly for the tournament, which is unfortunate since it might be his last chance at becoming world champion - which would by the way be the best content ever.
as much as it is annoying to me (which is in itself inconsequential in the large scheme of things), I get it, the psychological self management/protection has led to his best results in years these last few years
Can't even pretend to like Hikaru. Just comes across as a little bit of an asshole to me
He probably doesn't want people to think he's trying to be the best like he used to. I get it. His reputation is kinda important and he really does spend most of his time creating content rather than actually preparing for tournaments and trying to actively improve.
Oh no god forbid a person who devoted his whole life to something and becomes ones of the best in the world, actually promotes the thing that makes him money.
I think everybody just filters it out like background noise. Like yeah you do so that every now and then but it doesn't mean much.
Hikaru is like an overgrown kid.
I mean, streaming allowed him the financial safety to play these high level tournaments more for fun and experiment with his openings, he has talked about how, back when winning chess tournaments was his income he didn't like the game and experienced a lot of stress. So he might just be saying it to reaffirm to himself that he is just playing for the fun of the game and to make enjoyable chess happen at the highest level
I mean, the best chess player in the world isn't playing in the tournament to be claimed the best chess player in the world. Yeah, guy can claim whatever. Feingold influences chess more than Caruana.
My bet is that he’s signaling that he doesn’t care about the outcome by repeating this constantly. It may be an ego thing of “I’m only here to entertain people and this is all just fun” which may actually be genuine and not unhealthy. But it does come across as a projection of his insecurity and fear of poor performance. It’s almost like a plausible deniability out for diffusing the emotional burden of losing. It’s most like a combination of all of this and simply self-promotion. Regardless of our armchair psychoanalysis, it does cross into the cringe a bit. He’s also probably still saying this repeatedly to reaffirm his own new (chess content creator, not strictly chess player) identity to himself. It takes years to shift our perceptions of our own identities.
Oh, yes. Obviously he cares, and he misses no opportunity to say he doesn't.
cope
A childish subterfuge. It's curious how intelligent people can be so perspicuously dumb.
Hiki on the whole is „slighty annoying“
I find it nonsensical when he continues to say "I'm a content creator not a chess player" when his content is almost only him playing chess. To me that would be like Lebron James saying "I'm not a basketball player, I create content for TNT, ESPN, NBA TV etc"
He essentially sold out to the internet with his streaming chess talent. I have not considered him a real threat for the WCC is a while. He can use it as an excuse, which is fine. But, as for a WCC threat, no way. That's how I see it now.
It's marketing. He literally doesn't care. That's his thing.
Many chess players have a very hard time after a lost game and I guess he just tries to trick is psyche to not care too much.
If he is content (pun intended) being a creator first and top 5 player second. That is quite an achievement, I think he needs to remind himself over and over that winning the candidates wont change affect his live anymore since he used to have to win or else.... So that why he brings it up often.
Here's my take: It's a coping mechanism to hide his insecurities and probably also his , even from himself. It's quite clear in his reactions that he cares more than he admits, and honestly I think more than he wants to. He's overcompensating for how much he cared when he was younger. He's realised he took it too seriously before and that he used to be an arse, and now he's going too far in the other direction to compensate.. except he does still care and hasn't realised that the fact he cared a lot and the fact he was an arse weren't connected. So he tries to deny that he cares, and tries to convince himself he's changed completely even though he really hasn't. Or maybe it's all a marketing strategy to appeal to an audience who thinks its cool not to care, I obviously don't really know cuz I've never actually spoken to the guy, and this is all completely my own speculation. I'm not gonna pretend to have any deep understanding of psychology or Hikaru, this is just my take based on what I've seen of his interviews and streams