Ten year old Ridgeway School student Hikaru Nakamura has been receiving a lot of media attention for becoming the youngest American master ever. Since the April USCF ratings became official, his achievement has been highlighted on CBS, ABC, and FOX newscasts. Articles have appeared on the Gannett Newspapers front page (April 7), in the NY Post (April 8), and in the NY Times Metro Section (April 11). He has been highlighted on Good Morning America, WFAS, WINS, and the BBC. He was on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee", Monday April 13, where he played chess against members of the audience.

Amid all this attention, he has not relaxed his chess-playing activity. Rather, he has reached a new milestone, by defeating an International Grandmaster! This event took place against former U.S. Champion Arthur Bisguier, on April 5 at the ACN Action Swiss in Somerset, New Jersey. Hikaru won the tournament 5-0. Hikaru's brother Asuka (a USCF expert) finished second with 4-1.

Over the phone, Hikaru told your webmaster that he thought all of the attention he was getting was "kind of fun". He then rattled off the moves of the Bisguier game from memory!

Follow the play on the Java Chessboard

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Bg5 0-0 6. f4 c5 7. d5 b5 8. cxb5 a6 9. bxa6 Bxa6 10. Bxa6 Nxa6 11. Nf3 Qb6 12. Rc1 c4 13. Qe2 Rfc8 14. Qf2 Nc5 15. 0-0 Ng4

16. Qe2 Nxe4+ 17. Kh1 Ngf2+ 18. Kg1 Nh3+ 19. Kh1 Nef2+ 20. Rxf2 Nxf2+ 21. Kg1 Ne4+ 22. Kh1 Nxc3 0-1

For more about Hikaru, see this interview from February 1997, and play over his recent wins against IM Jay Bonin and IM Alex Stripunsky.