Hikaru Nakamura: ‘Would be lot of fun to meet Samay Raina in India’ | Chess News

World No 3 Hikaru Nakamura has said that he will be travelling to India for the FIDE World Cup later this year and was looking forward to meeting stand-up comic Samay Raina during his visit. During the pandemic, Raina’s online shows on chess were one of the reasons behind the sport’s boom in India. Raina also had a small part to play in the start of the Global Chess League. It must be clarified it’s unlikely Nakamura is aware of the controversy surrounding Raina in India at the moment.
While the American chess star is playing at the Freestyle Chess event in Weissenhaus at the moment, Raina is currently in the USA. The stand-up comic is expected to return to India soon. He courted plenty of controversy over comments YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia on his show India’s Got Latent. After the controversy blew up, Raina has taken down all episodes of the show from YouTube. There are at least two FIRs — one Maharashtra cyber police and another Assam Police — regered against Raina and Allahbadia over the comments from Allahbadia in a recent episode.
While confirming that he will be travelling to India to compete at the FIDE World Cup, Nakamura also revealed what else he was keen on doing: “It would be fun to finally meet Samay! I think I haven’t met him yet. I know he’s in the US and he’s done some stuff (performing in stand up shows in the USA and UK). It would be a lot of fun (to meet Samay). It’s wild to see — obviously I don’t follow Indian culture super closely — but at the start of the pandemic he was kind of a comedian, kind of known. And now he’s like a big superstar! Everywhere! It’s definitely amazing to see what he’s done with comedy and chess. Hopefully I will have a chance to meet him,” Nakamura said on the ChessBase India broadcast on Friday after finishing fifth in the first event of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in Weissenhaus.
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While India has not officially been named as the host country, AICF officials have confirmed that the event will be held in India, although the federation is still contemplating on the host city.
Nakamura said he will take lessons from his last visit to India to ensure he is not jet-lagged.
“For people wondering why I didn’t play in the last Tata Steel Kolkata event (in 2024), the last time I was there for the Tata Steel event, I was jet lagged the whole time. And then there were a couple of blunders I made specifically against Arjun (Erigaisi). But for the World Cup, I will probably try and go a little bit early.”
He added that he will be playing in the St Louis Rapid and Blitz and the American Cup events in March. Then, he will compete in the Norway Chess event. Story continues below this ad
“If I don’t do well in the American Cup and or Norway Chess, I will put all my hopes into the FIDE World Cup to try and qualify for the Candidates tournament. If I do well in the American Cup and or Norway Chess, I will try and chase the ratings spot,” added Nakamura.
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