Magnus Carlsen claims Hikaru Nakamura is his biggest rival in chess

Magnus Carlsen has claimed that Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura is his biggest rival in chess… apart from “no one”.

The Norwegian player, who is also the highest-rated player in the history of the game, recently discussed who his biggest challengers in the competitive chess scene were on stream, where he sorted his rivals into two categories.

However, the first category, which is where his strongest rival would have gone, was “no one”, which goes to show how confident Carlsen is in his position as one of the best chess players alive right now.

He doubled down on his comments later on Twitter, where he said: “What am I supposed to do? Make stuff up?”

Magnus Carlsen says “no one” is his biggest rival

While streaming, Carlsen started discussing who his biggest rivals in the chess world were.

He said: “In terms of rivals, there are tiers. The first tier is like no rivals, and then a little bit after that it’s Hikaru… He’s definitely second after no rivals”.

It’s a bold statement, but a lot of fans seemed to agree with him, with one commenter saying: “It’s not bragging when it’s all just true.”

However, some fans did wonder if Carlsen could have been more humble in his analysis. Carlsen and Hikaru have developed a professional rivalry in the game that has been helped by their recognisability in the streaming world and their ability to break into mainstream news.

For more news and updates on the weirder side of chess, check out the bizarre allegations that Hans Niemann was facing that involved the use of an adult toy to cheat in matches.