On a Kick stream, Hikaru Nakamura expressed surprise at Anish Giri’s disappointment regarding Magnus Carlsen’s Candidates 2026 predictions. Hikaru tells Giri to not be concerned by Magnus’s words, as they were said in a casual interview.

Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura

World No.2, streamer

“I mean, who cares? Magnus is just doing this because he was told to do it for content. So that Chess.com can get some views or clicks. So what? Why is Anish getting all pissed off at this?

And then he takes this backhand stab at Magnus: ‘Or perhaps give up chess entirely and switch to freestyle’. That’s also a little bit nasty too.

I will say, to be fair, Anish really cares way too much about Twitter and the amount of views that he gets. But still, just get off of Twitter, dude. That’s just insane to me.”

Dutch GM Anish Giri (2760) qualified for the Candidates Tournament by taking first place in the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss. Magnus Carlsen voluntarily declined participation in the Candidates, which allowed Hikaru Nakamura (2810) to qualify for the Candidates Tournament via second-place position on the FIDE rating list.