Hikaru Nakamura, five-time US chess champion and youngest-ever American Grandmaster, is now signed to esports organization TSM.
The 32-year-old has become a huge hit on Twitch after a number of big streamers turned to him for advice and challenged him to matches as the world went into lockdown earlier this year.
He single-handedly spurred a huge increase in the millenia-old strategy game's popularity after coaching streamers such as xQc, Forsen and Lirik, helping the game rise into the top 25 most watched games on Twitch. At one point it was higher than PUBG and Sea of Thieves.
Nakamura is currently ranked best in the world at chess by the International Chess Federation, and plays a number of fun twists on the strategy boardgame, including blitz mode – a fast-paced round of quick thinking combat.
We recently examined how Nakamura has helped resurrect the game's popularity in the 21st century, as part of our celebration of International Chess Day last month.
Nakamura joins TSM as the only sponsored chess player on the team (naturally) alongside teams for LoL, PUBG, Fortnite, Siege, Smash, Apex Legends, MTG, WoW, Valorant and Teamfight Tactics.