Why Hikaru Didn't Play 2024 Olympiad 

15 years ago i'd have never imagined someone sitting in US saying that Indian Chess players are well supported financially & US players are not.

our boy wesley is so funny

Wesley is so (no pun intended) self critical. He's a great Chess player, there are so many great chess players at the Olympiad and he made a great showing for America.

Hikaru surved USA for 15 years... He has won olympiard in 2016... He has done everything won everything he could for USA... Now leave him alone... Let him do what he likes the most....

Wesley is the reason they won silver, winning the last two rounds when Fabi lost 1 and drew 1. No one else won on US either round

"He makes videos on us that's his contact" bro wesley is so funny 😂😂😂

lol you know it's bad when the jesus lord wesley so curses on an interview

Magnus also has sponsorships, he is a model in Norway and he wins all the time. As Hikaru has said before the number of players that can live from chess is very modest, particularly in the open section. Remember that to stay strong you are most likely paying a second, training traveling, and more often than not if you are not one of the top 15 players you are not getting price money. Computers are helping it's not enough. If you are a man to go winning tournaments you need an Elo of 2700 and it's not clear that is going to cover your expenses. Women have it far easier in terms of strength, you can become a 2500 elo player and win enough tournaments to live, but there is less money in women's chess and you will get invited less. Maybe more team events will help and sponsors. Maybe the technology companies will see the value on promoting chess ?

Wouldn’t playing in these tournaments bring more attention to the game, and in the long run, more money? I don’t see how not playing will help the young players.

SO redeemed himself, but Hikaru doesn't even feel the need to recap or shout out to the US team on Twitter. I honestly think that he just doesn't care to play with most of the American team.

Heres the thing. USA was still the top seed without Hikaru. Their players didnt just show up on full potential. If Fabi didnt blunder against Guki and So didnt blunder against Ivanchuk, they pretty much had a chance at glory. Hikaru played quite a couple of olympiads and i understand if he has a fatigue with this thing and just likes his chair, his room and streaming chess.

I think what Wesley said was meant by way of a compliment to Hikaru. And Wesley is being super modest.

One sad reality of world Hikaru pointed out really struck me that how entertainment value has influenced capitalism. Most profit generated by people are not the people who are best at it but those who can make it fun for general audience..

There is no question Wesley is good enough to be on any American team, too.

India dominated Because the players are young and they all have killer instinct and Many GM's have also said that Arjun Erigaisi is now even better than Magnus when it comes to beating lower rated players with black which is very tough. So Hikaru's Presence wouldn't make any difference. India started with wins.

Problem is, Hikaru, you didn't do anything to carry the team. Moreover, you chose not to even try to carry the team.

What Hikaru is basically saying is 'I cannot play for my country because I don't get enough money for doing that'..I make 6 or 7 times the money through streaming.Its candid but it feels very amiss..players like Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand represented their nations for years even when Norway and India did not have strong teams.They did not play for money..they played for national pride and love for their fellow citizens.

A medal for your country is more important than a few days of streaming.

Absolutely true. The money matters -- and you see it outside of chess. I had a very promising career in academia (biomaterials and mechanical engineering), receiving several societal awards and publishing high impact papers. But in the end, I left because there wasn't enough money. And there is continued brain drain because the money in finance, industry, and consulting is just more appealing.

Do you know how much NBA players got paid to play for their country in the olympics? For the US it's zero. Maybe other countries give their players a bonus but it's nowhere near their salary. Some events just aren't about the money and are for boosting interest in the sport, representing your country and building your own personal marketability and brand. I would have more respect for Hikaru if he just said "The Olympiad just isn't my favorite format and I wanted to give other players a chance to play". But Hikaru has had a love/hate relationship with public relations over the years. Ultimately he's under no obligation whatsoever to play, but corporations (In the US) aren't going to come flocking to sponsor players until chess gets a wider general acceptance through exposure in events like this.

Hikaru does have a very valid point that the chess boom has not benefitted the players enough. And not just the top players. Second and third tier players really struggle.

When you make $10 million a year streaming you can't expect the U.S. federation to compensate you with an equivalent appearance fee. If they did it for you then they would have to do the same for Fabi and close to the same for Wesley, Levon, and Leinier. The U.S. federation doesn't remotely have that kind of money. You act like you're a guy desperately hustling to put together his next rent payment.

"Hikaru is making videos" I laughed really loud for that line. But, Hikaru is right, I think it is not fair to blame a person who did not play in the team for the team's own failures to produce results.

So to sum it up, Hikaru is mad that the Indian players have large contracts from their country and he doesn't. Nobody plays the Olympiad for money. Perhaps we could start a GoFundMe in Hikaru's name to incentivize him to play in two years.

summary: its cuz there were low elo players in the tournaments as well, and one loss against any of them woulda cost hikaru a shit ton of points, prolly throwing him out of 2800 level.

Really sad contrasting Hikaru's "they won't give me enough money" attitude with the real team spirit and doing it for their country you can see if you watch the Chessbase India videos. There were a couple of beautiful moments today when Arjun and then Gukesh joined them in the commentary room and they were all so happy in sharing their achievement together. Hikaru literally couldn't give a flying f about that, despite having made far more money at chess than any of these guys. Its almost like his soul is missing in just chasing a few more bucks...

"Our carrers will be ending soon", that actually breaks me, wth man. I can't imagine Hikaru not playing anyone 😢

Mr. So was kicking ass this tourney. Dudes sense of humor is unparalleled.

At the end of the day, Hikaru has done so much for chess and for American chess, if he doesn’t want to play in the Olympiad so be it; it’s his choice and hes not going to be playing at this high level forever, let him enjoy the next few years in chess the way he wants. The US team are exceptionally strong an can’t blame someone else for their unfortunate tournament.

hikaru moaning about the money when hes obviously a millionaire..

Hikaru talks like the players play in the olympia for money, none of them play for money lol

So, it's not money but it is money?

Your team missed you Master Hikaru 😢

Wesley seems like a nice humble guy

Everybody should skip the Olympiad until FIDE opens the books and makes the revenue they generate public.

I have a 200 IQ question, could there be more sponsors for chess if hikaru played the olympaid and it is more in the spotlight?

It's not always about the money, man. It's an opportunity to represent your country. Your abandonment will not get more sponsors. You will not win the World championship if you don't participate in the grueling tournaments like these.

the true american mindset, explains how the best fewling is to carry your national team than somehow concludes that its actually more important to have more money (while being insanely rich alrdy) 🎉

I think Wesley just wanted to play with you and have fun !

It is understandable for other players to skip because of money, but not Hikaru. He is already in the top 1% in Chess. Why do Djokovic, Rafa, the NBA players etc play in Olympics? Hikaru could have still made a video about his game every single day.

Damn, these thumbnails getting better and better

Hikaru cares about that bag nothing else lol.

hikaru just did a "i love wesley, no homo" =D 9:35

Hikaru, I really enjoy your content, but not everything has to be about money and motivations. I don't think Magnus is playing in the Olympiad for money, and many streamers played there with pride for their countries. There’s honor in representing your country, and I believe you'd create great content from the experience. Taking 10 days off wouldn't hurt-it might even help you gain more subscribers. I hope you'll consider it in 2 years and won't retire before then.

Its your own Country FFS ! Everything shouldn't be about Money, it's just 10-12 days of Chess. You might not win it anyway but at least give it a shot. Make videos after your games and earn from them

If it's any consolation to Wesley and USA, in the 2022 Olympiad, Gukesh blundered against Abdusattorov and India came 3rd. This year India won. If history repeats, USA should win in 2026!

Looking back, Indian chess boom was completely different from American chess boom. While in american boom, streamers and ppl around chess infrastructure were winners, in India the players have been winners whereas ppl like sagar are still underappreciated. I am not saying one is better than the other, but definetly interesting angle to look at.

US team is in that weird void where once young talented players get weary but new ones haven't yet come up. A newer, hungrier batch of GMs may have performed better at the olympiad.

People who praise Capitalism complaining about capitalist mindset.

Adding another million dollars per couple of months to already big net worth isnt really "earning a living" plus Hikaru also said himself he made more money from stocks and trades than content.

What’s Naka on about? How much money does he think he’s supposed to get? From the USA federation? What’s the pay and what do you get for getting a gold medal?

Wesley is such a great human being - self critical oozing with humility. For other countries chess has a lot more profile compared to the U.S.

Money ruins everything.

Great take. At first before hearing your side I was curious to why you didn't want to compete. Like wheres the competitive edge that you showed when you whooped Hans in the SCC. But know I see. It's for a higher purpose. To move forward the support of our game within the states. Respect it.

Hikaru is annoyed that America doesn’t really care for chess very much, and won’t give some elaborate awards like 🇺🇿 or 🇮🇳. Fair I guess, but do recall JFK’s quote, where he stated “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what can do for your country.”

Hikaru doesnt need the money that he would miss out on making for the 2 week period. Hes making a point by not playing in hopes that we press for nore sponsors

Guys usa win silver in open and bronze in women that is actually great result. Us team played very well .

This video should be on the main channel

After hearing Hikaru's reasoning for not playing, I feel that the concept of patriotism is very different in the USA compared to India, Russia, or China. This difference comes from the fact that the USA is a country of immigrants. It seems that people in the USA are proud primarily because of the country’s achievements whereas in other countries, pride comes foremost from a deep love for the land and its history which unites all citizens. Most immigrants to the USA go there to become part of a success story and to gain the bragging rights of being called American but they may never feel the same connection to the soil as people in countries like India or China do. This is just my observation, which I find very interesting.

Hikaru, I understand you want to make money with streaming... however, someone very close to me has said... Money will always come to you, these chances to play in the Olympiad while you are THIS STRONG is only once. You represent USA and we the fans want to see you fight! You are a top player NOT PLAYING... that hurts dude. I'm sorry to see you say this, it's super disappointing. Glory will always matter more for your future financial health than streaming for another 2 weeks. As an artist and a mentor you have to draw from experience and you dropped the ball on the US team. That's your teammate, you could have helped actually win this for the US and made the team stronger. Using your abilities for streaming is below you during the Olymiad, the Olympics are not about money. It's not worth more, I refuse to believe that.

Do people forget that Hikaru is 5x US Chess champion?

Of course, Hikaru can play or not play for any reason at all. But his explanation is pure BS. He simply makes more money streaming than playing. It has NOTHING to do with trying to help future generations.

Poor Hikaru the money grubber.

The irony is... in order to bring in more money, they need the coverage from people like yourself. So if they bring more money in and you don't cover it because you enter instead, then there will be less incentive to "re-invest".

US Federation just makes tournaments that charge $2000 for entry fee if you want to play in Super Swiss Open

Hikaru Should have Played for USA & for chess

Bruhh vidit beat hikaru twice in candidates and he was on board 4 in Olympiad. Just leaving at that.

There are many tournaments to make money, this is about country. Like NBA stars doesn't want to play in Olympics.

What hikaru is saying is so true chess needs to be funded more otherwise it's really hard to keep playing chess for great players.

Understand the point but there would probably be much less people joining the Olympics if everyone was there for the money alone

When you don’t win any gold medals in the Olympics like India you’ve got to dump money into chess to not be a complete embarrassment

Understandable

I think with Hikaru in the lineup that America is at least 2-2 against India. Fabi, Hikaru, So, and Levon. Likely wouldn’t have also been in the situation where a draw wasn’t acceptable anymore, which is what got fabi in trouble. India is a great team but that American team is also great.

You and Levy could definitely create a supportive chess players foundation to lay out the structure and public and political voice for it, at least for the USA or first just pick a certain state in it, and this can start small

One thing to keep in mind is that Hikaru LOSES money if he plays in the Olympiad, and apparently it's a substantial amount of lost streaming income for the time he would have to take off. Other top chess players may participate in the Olympiad, and pro athletes may participate in the Olympics without extra payment, yes, but they won't actually lose a significant amount of money doing so. So how much money should Hikaru be willing to lose to play in a tournament that counts zero towards the World Championship qualification, which is his main goal? He also seems to have in mind the example of Bobby Fischer, whose apparently insane demands for astronomical appearance fees eventually led to increased interest in chess and more funding for top players.

we take shit for granted way too much

Even though I am German, I totally agree - there is so little support in Germany and it is so sad. I am very grateful for Jan Henric Buettner for his support and ideas! I hope this will make a difference in the upcoming years. Germany has a promising team!

Hikaru takes money over pride. Sad I thought he had already enough money to never worry about it. Also I think streaming it like he did during the candidates would have worked for him.

Imagine if India complains that Vishwanath Anand is not playing Board 4 ... this is just ridiculous 😂😂😂

Hikaru is 100% correct. We need to support all of our national athletes, and especially need to support our chess players.

Hikaru next time you will get 2 million dollars,a car and a house and you will get chance to meet the president. I'm requesting you to play next Olympiad please 🙈

If Hikaru had played, Arjun and Gukesh would have become 2 or 3rd ranked maybe. And for Hikaru, money is more important than Country. What a shame!!

Absence shows the true worth of someone rather than presence.

A lot of people are not seeing Hikaru’s point. If Hikaru played this olympiad and they win the funding won’t be increased and its ok for the US but now that they wont he number 1 would raise some flags and hopefully they will realize why they did not get the best players.

Chesscom buying all these other companies also didn't help. Not many online tournaments anymore and they control the market. 0 competition. And the tournaments they hold, they invite the same players mostly...

Money isn't everything. Sometimes you just do what you gotta do. There are so many countries that has less budget and their players are eager to play. I don't think Hikaru is right.

hikaru plays with bot judit polgar to a classic rhythm

Maybe it's time to start asking what these top players are doing to expand the game...? I guess Fabi has a podcast he occasionally is on. (it's a good podcast, but that isn't audience expanding). The biggest streamers are 2000 rated women who frankly have very little reason to expand chess (little ROI here). No disrespect meant here, but I'm talking about bringing money to the olympiad and other top level events which they aren't playing in. Nor is Gotham. Danya isn't really either. I think I can count the number of semi-regular streamers in the top 100 on 1 hand. Feel free to tell me if I'm wrong. How many top 100 players are trying to do what Hikaru is doing? (i'm not even talking about streaming, because I'd give Magnus credit too) I get it that they might not all be great personalities on camera (though, did you see Hikaru when he first started???) but sponsors aren't bending over backwards to throw money at a tournament with a bunch of people no one cares about (outside of the chess community). So few of them are working on building brands that of course there isn't much money flowing into chess. This isn't a 5 minute fix. Can you imagine what would happen if Gukesh booted up a twitch stream? That chat would crash Twitch.

Hikaru has a solid point NGL

This olympiad Magnus got completely overshadowed

You need to play events to maintain relevance. It makes your content more exciting to watch

Let's be real he didn't wanted his rating to drop below 2800 after facing lower rated opponents. He can make as may excuses as he wants.

Money over country

It def benefited you guys. You’re literally celebs now

I do think the president should meet the Olympiad team. You could make an olympiad team of Magnus, Fabi, Hikaru, and Nodirbek and India could still win gold.

You came to the US at a very young age and you are MORE Americanized. Many Asians do not feel like that. They think it is a burden and they feel the pressure.

There s been literally 0 posts in Instagram pages in India regarding India s victory other than chess pages. Feels as if nothing happened. There are more posts related to Coldplay performance in India. Maybe this sums up chess in India.

He was a sk8rboy, he said see ya l8r boys

He really has some valid points on the future of professional chess in different parts of the world.

HIKARU ,FABI ,WESLEY AND HANS WOULD BE JUST CRAZY 🥶