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Chess Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura joins Misfits

Twitch sensation and five-time U.S. chess champion Hikaru Nakamura has joined Misfits Gaming as an affiliated content creator. Misfits... Benjamin Mock | 15. June 2022

Twitch sensation and five-time U.S. chess champion Hikaru Nakamura has joined Misfits Gaming as an affiliated content creator.

Misfits marks the second esports organization Nakamura has joined, following a 10-month stint with TSM between August 2020 and June 2021.

Misfits sign chess champion

Hikaru Nakamura, one of the greatest modern American chess players, initially entered the world of esports in 2020. With the COVID-19 pandemic at its peak, the former world number two had found a large audience for chess on Twitch. Soon after, he was approached by TSM and became an affiliated member of the iconic organization.

However, Nakamura and TSM parted ways in June 2021. While the split was publically amicable, a reason for why he was leaving was never given. Nakamura returned to in-person chess events in 2021, but still found the time to stream as well, continuing to grow his audience, as well as the greater awareness of chess with a contemporary audience.

His new esports home was announced on June 14, with Misfits Gaming revealing the collaboration on Twitter.

Misfits is one of the most recognizable brands in esports. Their many products include an eponymous team in League of Legends’ LEC, the Florida Mayhem of the Overwatch League, and the Florida Mutineers of the Call of Duty League.

The black-and-white revolution

Chess has seen a resurgence in popularity over the last three years. As Twitch saw viewer numbers spike during the lockdowns and other restrictions that came with the first months of the pandemic, one somewhat surprising category that viewers flocked to was chess. Players like Nakamura helped create a thriving Twitch community, that was only exacerbated by the release of The Queen’s Gambit, a chess-centric Netflix drama series that premiered in October 2020. October also saw Cloud9 acquire a chess streamer of their own in American Grandmaster Andrew Tang.

However, while Nakamura helped bring chess to Twitch, he was not the first chess player to join an esports organization. Just weeks before Nakamura signed with TSM, Woman Grandmaster Qiyu “Nemo” Zhou signed with Counter Logic Gaming. Zhou has also gone on to cultivate a popular Twitch channel, where she also streams League of Legends.

Even with the loosening of COVID restrictions around the world, the fascination with the ancient game has persisted. Chess still has thousands of active viewers on Twitch at any given time. Misfits’ move to sign Nakamura also shows that it is an area in which esports orgs are still interested in acquiring talent in.

The biggest unanswered question amongst pundits is when, if at all, world number one Mangus Carlsen will don a jersey. And if he does, whose jersey will it be?

But for now, it is very clear that the chess-esports partnership is alive and well.

Header: Hikaru Nakamura