Hikaru Nakamura explained his position in the ‘Twitter drama’ with Anish Giri over the EWC and GCT clash of dates conflict. Nakamura points out that Anish is not the initiator of calling attention to the problem, and complains that Giri tries to turn the focus on himself. Nakamura shared his opinion during a stream on Kick on February 17.

Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura

World No. 2, streamer

“Let’s start from the top. Who do you think actually wrote the letter? Who was the person who contacted the other players, explained that there was a date conflict, and got everybody to sign the letter? Who is the main character in this? Hint — it was not Anish!

It was actually done by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. And then what happens? Anish takes this situation — which he merely joined by signing the letter — and starts making it all about himself. And that is very-very bizarre to me.

Someone in chat says: ‘Why is Anish so mad about?’ Well, that is the question! If Anish had actually done all this work — figured out the dates, contacted people, written the letter, etc. — I would understand. But it was done by MVL, not Anish. And because of what Anish did, everybody takes the whole thing as a complete joke. And it is kind of a joke…

One more thing is — speaking of Anish — if he wins the Candidates Tournament, it will change his career. It will change the view that people have of him in the world of chess. So, why is he busy picking Twitter fights instead of preparing for the tournament that could actually change his life?

The only thing that I would say to Anish is: Bro, go study, get ready for the Candidates!”

Elite world chess players have published an open letter addressed to the organisers of GCT and EWC on February 10. Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Vincent Keymer, Praggnanandhaa R and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave called on the organisers to consider adjustments or practical solutions that would allow players to participate in both events.

The Esports World Cup is a premier annual international gaming tournament and festival held in Riyadh, with a $1,500,000 prize fund. Grand Chess Tour is an annual circuit of international chess tournaments with a $2,000,000 prize pool across 2 Classical tournaments, 3 Rapid & Blitz events and the Grand Finals.

Credit: Lennart Ootes