Welcome back to Capitalism...and yet it was said to be the winning "system"... Maybe it really is, but certainly no longer for Americans, for more than a decade... and counting...
He’s the nicest guy in chess and still called out Hikaru, as he should. A multi million dollar streamer complaining about missing out on a paycheck for a week is beyond ridiculous. He simply didn’t want to play and uses money as his excuse and expects everyone to buy it.
@@jamesonklein9363 you completely missed the point of what he was saying. he is protesting chess players at the olympiad making so little by not playing
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.
@@ultrasound1459did you see the whole video? He literally says in the video it’s not just about his earnings. What he’s hoping for is to have a better earning capability for future players representing their countries. He wants more sponsors and money coming into chess so the future generation can represent their countries and still make a decent earning. Imagine football or cricket players get decent wages only if their teams win and rest of the time they just practice and play with pretty much no earnings.
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.
@@thl_leo That’d be reasonable but that’s not what he said. He said he didn’t go because he makes more money from streaming and not going (as a form of protest I guess) will incentivize the promoters to pay younger players more in the long run. Which I disagree with.
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 ?
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.
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.
What is national pride gonna do when you can’t feed your family? No country/government will ever give you a piece of bread when you’re starving, so you don’t owe anyone anything.
Do you live in US? Do you have a retirement plan? Do you have to pay US tax? Do you have to pay the mortgage? Do you play pro chess? National pride and your fellow citizens will support you on those stuff for real, especially in US? Come on, Hikaru is 37 by now. At the end of the day, chess is just a meaningless board game, bro.
Hikaru has financially struggled a lot in the past and he has talked about it. Magnus and Vishy won good prize money. Nowadays winning any tournament is tough and as someone said everything in US is very costly. I have see news about housing difficulty. Capitalism has made US too tough to live in. Vishy's father was govt engineer as far as I remember or in some decent job and thus he must already have a decent house and very few things to worry about and he did start winning tournaments. Magnus has been winning since he was a teenager. Hikaru's family condition is also very different as he has explained. There are many factors and money is a priority for anyone who struggled at any point with money.
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.
That's just recency bias nothing else magnus has ruled over decade no need to draw comparison with him too premature. Yes youngsters are in good form playing well doesn't mean keep comparing with legend like magnus
@@rajsub3884 i don't think he compared rather present a statistics. And every budding talent is being compared to previous generation from Carlsen to vishy Anand , casparov No harm in comparison
@@rajsub3884 I am not comparing with magnus, he is obviously the Goat, For Comparison both players don't have similar career length. I am comparing play style magnus was more standard, play style of Arjun helps him in beating lower rated players much more .
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..
Lol when you call So like that i got reminded of an old bot on YT which was meant to only criticise Magnus and that guy was like So is the real chess champ Magnus is not blah blah
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.
@@sscssc908 so true lol. hes just scared cuz there were low rated players there as well, and one loss would cost him a shit ton of points. hed then probably go on to cry about it as always
India should have been favored. I'd go out on a limb and say indias board 4 is better than usa board 2, 3 at the worst. And fabi is ever so slightly better than pragg and gukesh
money is just a form of showing appreciation. the US does show 0 appreciation for their top players but is happy to claim the renown when they win. its sketchy to expect athletes to basically pay out of their pockets to do that, at the highest level mind you (=where athletes should get eff you money rich if they ever manage to get there). Hikaru doesn't need to anymore, so he doesn't do it. good for him.
@@TNM001 i agree - there's the possibility of losing rating - he has to travel out there - plus he could make more from the comfort of his own home. he's proved how great of a player he is - magnus doesn't play the world championship - hikaru can pass on this - gives other players a chance - we know the US is up there as one of the best chess nations (with India, China, Norway, and Russia I'd say)...yeah no reason for people to be mad
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.
@@bhaskar7479 did you even watch the video? Wesley said if Hikaru played they would’ve won last Olympiad and this one? Do you really not think despite them knowing that they decided not to approach hikaru?… the player they knew would win them the tournament & without they would lose? 💀 bro…. Just stop hate watching you need to be a more positive person this is crazy to just ignore what’s been said and attack someone because of your irrational emotional bias against Hikaru 😂
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....
Hikaru will be remembered deciding to play for a draw in the candidates. He will be remembered as a good chess player, but never in the company of great chess players like Magnus Carlsen, Bobby Fischer, Capablanca, Paul Morphy. He’s a good chess player who made his money streaming.
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.
He clearly said he gets like 6-7 times less in chess tournament and if the prize money and other stuffs get double,he would still get 3-4 times less but would play
@@Nafim-kv6rg The US federation doesn't have enough money to do even that. They only have 100 k members and most of those are discounted scholastic memberships. Rex could do it-he recruited most of our team and paid them a bonus to come over here and represent us but he is already putting a ton of money into chess here. He's probably already bankrolling the team for something in the 200-300 k range. He probably feels that he shouldn't need to kick in another 200-300k to get 100% of the top players to play as opposed to 80% which do now.
That's on you The US is at the very least one of the three wealthiest countries in the world If you can't pay your players a decent wage to compete for weeks at the highest level, that's on you
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...
@@melh937a legend always thinks about representing their country till the last breath , exp see Ronaldo , still wants to play and represent . Thts the difference you donuts 😂
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.
You have to prove yourself to deserve your elo rating. Not playing because he's too scared to be outplayed doesn't sound very promising coming from a GM.
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) 🎉
The best feeling is carrying your team is what he said. If the best feeling is to carry your national team though, surely you should be more mad at Wesley and Levon. I mean they are Filipino and Armenian respectively, why join the USCF? Surely they should just try to carry their native team instead? Or will you try to imply that them joining the USCF isn't about money, it's actually because Levon just suddenly realized that he loves the United States and decided to switch
@@prussia9255 I find that cringy too. However, who knows, they might be less hypocritical and could claim smt like: they've gained a lot from the US, so now they're representing it proudly, plus they genuinely like eacother hence the fighting spirit. Meanwhile, Hikaru claims its the most fun, most enjoyable, best ever feeling for him when he puts a team on his back and carries them BUUUUT creating videos about them is more money 🤑🤑
While I do believe that Hikaru has financial motives that don't make sense to me, it is absolutely true what he says about not wanting ro play if there isn't enough money. Even if you don't care about money at all, this is a good way of seeing this, it sends a statement
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.
"Boosting interest in the sport.... building your own personal marketability and brand" Would streaming and making videos be examples of that? Something he can't do if he goes?
"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.
@@muradinky I am talking about the hypothetical situation where Hikaru would join the olympiad team to win a medal, he is not to blame for them missing out a medal.
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
No it's not just 12 days of chess, if you are playing against other superGMs like the Indian team you have to spend many hours preparing and practicing, and even a single game can last hours and have a serious mental toll.
Its like saying oh its only 90 minutes of playing football anyway. Not counting all the preparation and training that needed to be done before that 90 minutes. But well football has so much money in it that it surely worth it to do that much.
1. you can not prove that Hikaru playing when he clearly isn't motivated to would change the result 2. The US did medal, they got silver which is more than respectable considering the strength of India 3.Explain to me what the United States gets from a gold medal in the chess Olympiad. Some tiny amount of attention? Like you think that the United States winning gold in a chess event that isn't even that popular within the already small scene that is professional chess is going to change the country? He for sure has more impact simply by continuing to run his livestream that thousands watch and enjoy. If you care so much about American chess what about the fact that his livestream will certainly inspire laymen to pick up the game?
The point Hikaru is making is that the chess funding in the United States is regrettable, and him not participating is really the only other way he can advocate for change outside of making his content. If he complains and still shows up, does US Chess have any real incentive to grow as opposed to maintaining the status quo?
16:20 he literally said that it suck that the the chess boom does not benefit players even though it should have been. He already played the olympiad enough times for the US and at the end of the day it is his choice to play or not
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.
@@MrBlablaologe I think he has represented his country enough times already, the country owes him respect and money for his contributions to the country.
@@Chad.Commenter I agree. Even as someone who isn't a big fan of Hikaru, it's just facts that US chess is privileged to have him. He could have chosen to never play in the Olympiad, or never go pro, or even play for the Japanese chess federation though it would be absurd to imagine that.
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.
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.
You are this stupid or just clueless. He is trying to make the next generation get paid for what they are worth. Not everyone can stream and make a living. It is always easy to sit from your home and tell players hey take 1 week off and you should be fine when they can barely stay afloat.
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.
I love your chess Hikaru but I disagree with you on this. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray, don’t play the Olympics for money. They do it because it means something. Likewise, Carlsen doesn’t either. And what’s stopping you from doing content creation at the Olympiad? Rarely have OTB tournaments stopped you. And there are actually many opportunities for content there, with top chess players all in the same place. Why not give sponsors a taste of what attraction you can provide to that event and try to improve sponsor support for next time?
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.
@@erwinsantiago-hz3ju the fact that people miss this is crazy, they are just so ignorant. It's also true for Levon, who explicitly stated that he left the Armenian federation due to lack of support (aka money). Just as he can choose to do that, Hikaru can choose to not attend for the sake of money.
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?
@@averagejoe5016why don't u play chess and represent country anyone can get good if they play 10 hours for a day everyday for a decade, see you in 10 years.
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.
I mean you can't compare him with Djokovic and others as they consider themselves as a sportsperson but on the other hand Hikaru considers himself a content creator so his primary job is to stream and make content. Though I agree that he should have played.
Humans are hilarious. Do you have any idea of the mental load required by the olympiads? You think he can make content after playing those games? Pls think again
@@AayushSaxena07 this isn't a fair point to say because he is participating in all top competitions like candidates, grand chess tours etc and creating content out of it too..... He can really do both at the same time, and think about the GMs who were representing the US, they don't even do this as a side job..... Hikaru could've available himself for board 2 or 3
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.
@@deshrajdabhade7537 he's the best player of all time, I assume he never has any money problems and can pretty much do whatever he wants unlike other top chess players.
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.
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.
Hmm yeah not really the point. The way he's wrapping it is trying to ensure future generations are rewarded better financially. However, I'll say that he's also contradicting himself by saying he'd be making 7-8X times less money for the same time invested - this is strange to include as an argument because it doesn't really apply to other players who don't have a streaming (or other) career ongoing. So is it about money for YOU or for FUTURE generations? Don't really agree with all his points and not sure if he really believes him "protesting" would actually make a change for future generations, but who knows. Ultimately it's his choice, maybe at some point it's not worth it in regards to stress/time vs compensation.
@@halfriver He's not really contradicting himself, but it is a weird thing to mention. He's saying he's willing to take a paycut (hence "I'll be generous") as long as the reward is good enough. Maybe he's thinking mathematically, if he takes 3 weeks off for the Olympiad but could've earned $20k in that time then he hopes the incentive is at least $5k. And maybe he concludes that's a good enough reward for the time spent for other US players, by comparing how much he makes. Though I think Hikaru is just a narcissist
Thinking about this tournament!!! Day after day you have to sit down for 3-5 hours .. putting your head into the game .. exhausting all your mental energy in strategising and memorising moves!!! Hats off to all the players
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.”
@@kazz811 -- And it's not even in the spirit of the quote: JFK is talking about how you should take pride in bettering your country rather than thinking about how you can extract the most selfishly; he's not saying government shouldn't be thankful or reward such service.
Let's say I invent a new board game no one cares about then teach one person from each country how to play and invite them and some player decides not to play. Is that unpatriotic? Chess as a sport is not popular in the United States, most people just don't care. Maybe a couple news sites will write an article about the United States getting a silver medal, and if Hikaru attends maybe they win gold and it slightly changes the title. Hikaru doesn't become Captain America by attending. Him attending will be a tiny data point in the sea of pro chess games.
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!
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.
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.
Don't talk like he hasn't paid his due to his country for two decades it's just your new to this doesn't mean he hasn't played for his country countless time chess takes it mental toll even NBA players don't play around his age
@@pankajsharma7511 in his prime he should play not like there were better four USA candidates than him. Chess is not popular among sponsors in the USA, no govt can pump money to sports without Sponsors & audiences more than the USA. I agree the chess players are not getting support but at the top level this is not true, he can easily play with no money issues.
Yeah but they do not participate in olympics by risking their income. Tell them to participate in olympics and organize a NBA tournament at the same time.
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.
Hikaru would probably play board 2. So fabi still loses, and prag already lost (but maybe with hikaru he is more cautious, but let's assume he loses). Now it's upto wesely vs arjun, I do feel arjun has an edge. He's playing white and will be on the offensive here
@@hydrocult3508 as I said, fabi lost due to playing more aggressive lines because America couldn’t afford a draw. The reason for that is because they were so behind in match points. Which I don’t think they would have been if you add someone the level of Hikaru to the team. It’s all just speculation, but adding a top player in the world to your team is a pretty big difference. We wouldn’t have went 2-2 vs Romania and we would have likely beat Ukraine for example. If fabi is playing for a draw he has a good shot to hold.
@@MasterInHDand he beat caruana ,fedoseev,wei and magsoodloo. He was also the winner of board 1 and got gold for that . Phenomenal 9/11 score . He is an emerging player and idk if you know the candidates is not at all easy and still think winning against someone who is a candidate easy whether be vidit pragg or anyone else. Hope you got some brain
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
On one side Wesley is ready to be the reserve player sacrificing his board for USA to win if Hikaru would have played, whereas Hikaru just casually talks about money, atleast once in 2 years for nation's pride he could have participated
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 🙈
3:36 I think Hikaru may have undiagnosed mild turrets syndrome. I notice he says basic things over and over and over before he's able to say what he wants to say. For example, if he wants to tell you the sweater is blue, he'll be like, "the sweater is blue guys. Guys, the sweater is blue. I'm just being honest here guys, the sweater is blue. The sweater is blue guys. The sweater is blue." Only then, after repeating a phrase like 8 times, he's able to move on with the rest of his dialogue.
What Hikaru actually says is that USCF should treat its chess players more seriously and attract serious sponsors for this and future generations. It's not enough to get to the high level mostly through individual brilliance of these players and then stagnate. If opponents are getting better sponsorships, support and recognition then the richest country in the world should also be able to afford it or counter it. Playing for US 7 or more times in the past and always representing US through his lifetime achievements are the signs of the player who is deeply committed to his country. But now he recognizes that the country should commit as well to the excellence of its players and do more if they want to compete in the future.
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.
I have suggestion for your approach, If the money is not the important part for you (which I genuinely believe). I suggest to announce that you will participate in the next Olympiad if they increase the rewards and you fully donate that money. Maybe to some chess related fund or even to unrelated charity fund.
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".
Chess players in Ukraine are not superstars, they don’t meet with the president and don’t buy cars. Hikaru, this is not fair about Ukraine. I would say our players are rather poor. They just do their best to keep image of Ukraine, and they do not earn any significant money at all. That’s as it is. May be you are correct about other countries where dictators finance those players, but this is completely not the case with Ukraine. So I don’t think this was fair to bring Ukraine in the context you did it
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.
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.
Welcome back to Capitalism...and yet it was said to be the winning "system"... Maybe it really is, but certainly no longer for Americans, for more than a decade... and counting...
The irony doesn't get any better 😅
Welcome back to Capitalism...and yet it was said to be the winning "system"...
@@andreitiberiovicgazdoviciwaiting for the comment
@@andreitiberiovicgazdovici Cue in Hasan communist streaming Andy pushing socialism. Because it's "for people".
our boy wesley is so funny
He’s the nicest guy in chess and still called out Hikaru, as he should. A multi million dollar streamer complaining about missing out on a paycheck for a week is beyond ridiculous.
He simply didn’t want to play and uses money as his excuse and expects everyone to buy it.
Absolutely i love Hikaru to be there as he was there before
it's a free country but lame excuse by Hikaru
America purports itself to be capitalistic. Sitting out the Olympiad due to money reasons is 100% on brand imho
@@jamesonklein9363 you completely missed the point of what he was saying. he is protesting chess players at the olympiad making so little by not playing
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.
Yet we need to accept his performance was so so
Which is right. It will help him starve for perfectionism
@@prashantthakur9329but his last round win solely carried USA to the silver
@@ziyanma9833 get the pun man
@@prashantthakur9329 lol
"He makes videos on us that's his contact" bro wesley is so funny 😂😂😂
The clown 🤡 Hikaru cares about money (while being a millionaire) more than helping the team of US. Whata a clown 🤡
@@ultrasound1459did you see the whole video? He literally says in the video it’s not just about his earnings. What he’s hoping for is to have a better earning capability for future players representing their countries. He wants more sponsors and money coming into chess so the future generation can represent their countries and still make a decent earning. Imagine football or cricket players get decent wages only if their teams win and rest of the time they just practice and play with pretty much no earnings.
@@ultrasound1459 ADHD generation cant even finish the video
@@ultrasound1459like you don't ‼️
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
Are you intelligent
Bro they have same points (6,5)
Levon has 8 points
Yes they have same point but if Wesley draws the game then their opponent will win the silver not them@@saiko-1913
I think what Wesley said was meant by way of a compliment to Hikaru. And Wesley is being super modest.
yea
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.
Because it IS about the 💵
The Olympiad already has the biggest names in chess (minus the Russians). If they don't do it, how would adding one mord change anything?
Because he’s giving these spotlights to younger players who have longer careers ahead of them when Hikaru will probably retire sooner than them
@@thl_leo That’d be reasonable but that’s not what he said. He said he didn’t go because he makes more money from streaming and not going (as a form of protest I guess) will incentivize the promoters to pay younger players more in the long run. Which I disagree with.
he's main point was theres no benefit for him personally, he makes more money streaming
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 ?
@@jaimeduncan6167 nobody cares about actual reason my man.People want to spread venom and hate towards players(Hikaru especially).
@@Zoro-4lifeI wonder why oh wait maybe because of his clown behaviour
@@boogieman6529 everybody behaves like a clown every now and then. stop pointing fingers
But then why decide to play in the Candidates ? Could hve just sat home
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.
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.
What is national pride gonna do when you can’t feed your family? No country/government will ever give you a piece of bread when you’re starving, so you don’t owe anyone anything.
Do you live in US? Do you have a retirement plan? Do you have to pay US tax? Do you have to pay the mortgage? Do you play pro chess? National pride and your fellow citizens will support you on those stuff for real, especially in US? Come on, Hikaru is 37 by now. At the end of the day, chess is just a meaningless board game, bro.
well tbf it's truly a native's country all other are immigrants, Anglo saxons of europe shifted their empire from britain to washington
@danhhoainam oh and fabi and so are financially supported ..cmon ..they all hate hikaru for a reason and that's because he is an ass
Hikaru has financially struggled a lot in the past and he has talked about it. Magnus and Vishy won good prize money. Nowadays winning any tournament is tough and as someone said everything in US is very costly. I have see news about housing difficulty. Capitalism has made US too tough to live in. Vishy's father was govt engineer as far as I remember or in some decent job and thus he must already have a decent house and very few things to worry about and he did start winning tournaments. Magnus has been winning since he was a teenager. Hikaru's family condition is also very different as he has explained. There are many factors and money is a priority for anyone who struggled at any point with money.
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.
They won coz they were too smelly and disgusting to watch rather than playing against 🤢🇮🇳🤮
That's just recency bias nothing else magnus has ruled over decade no need to draw comparison with him too premature. Yes youngsters are in good form playing well doesn't mean keep comparing with legend like magnus
@@rajsub3884 i don't think he compared rather present a statistics.
And every budding talent is being compared to previous generation from Carlsen to vishy Anand , casparov
No harm in comparison
@@rajsub3884 I am not comparing with magnus, he is obviously the Goat, For Comparison both players don't have similar career length. I am comparing play style magnus was more standard, play style of Arjun helps him in beating lower rated players much more .
Dude im also indian but dont get disrespectful man. Hikaru's presence would surely have made soo much difference he is #2 in the world still
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..
Always been that way
lol you know it's bad when the jesus lord wesley so curses on an interview
Lol when you call So like that i got reminded of an old bot on YT which was meant to only criticise Magnus and that guy was like So is the real chess champ Magnus is not blah blah
It's so absurd that "shit" is considered a cursed
Yeah his name was niko or something with a women's pfp in black white.Right?He used to write paragraphs😆@@sreecharan4379
@@sreecharan4379his name was "nicbunten" right??
I guess jesus won't give him an hand in playing chess anymore, why not asked him for help instead of hikaru?
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.
blah blah blah. If my mother has balls she would be my dad. blah blah blah.
@@sscssc908 so true lol. hes just scared cuz there were low rated players there as well, and one loss would cost him a shit ton of points. hed then probably go on to cry about it as always
what kind of bs is that if this if that, them blundering is just their incompetence and lack of preparation lol
He is in it 4 the money 💰 🤑 💸
India should have been favored. I'd go out on a limb and say indias board 4 is better than usa board 2, 3 at the worst. And fabi is ever so slightly better than pragg and gukesh
So, it's not money but it is money?
money is just a form of showing appreciation. the US does show 0 appreciation for their top players but is happy to claim the renown when they win.
its sketchy to expect athletes to basically pay out of their pockets to do that, at the highest level mind you (=where athletes should get eff you money rich if they ever manage to get there).
Hikaru doesn't need to anymore, so he doesn't do it. good for him.
@@TNM001 i agree - there's the possibility of losing rating - he has to travel out there - plus he could make more from the comfort of his own home. he's proved how great of a player he is - magnus doesn't play the world championship - hikaru can pass on this - gives other players a chance - we know the US is up there as one of the best chess nations (with India, China, Norway, and Russia I'd say)...yeah no reason for people to be mad
@@IbokRock811Norway is not a top chess country.
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.
hes crying, as always, cuz they didnt approach him at all lol
In it for the money
He makes videos about those who will get him views and is current busy farming views from india
Don't cry if you want usa to be represented go do it yourself. Its his choice to not play and focus on money i mean everybody does the same.
@@bhaskar7479 did you even watch the video? Wesley said if Hikaru played they would’ve won last Olympiad and this one?
Do you really not think despite them knowing that they decided not to approach hikaru?… the player they knew would win them the tournament & without they would lose? 💀
bro…. Just stop hate watching you need to be a more positive person this is crazy to just ignore what’s been said and attack someone because of your irrational emotional bias against Hikaru 😂
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....
Making money is certainly something to like the most.
Hikaru will be remembered deciding to play for a draw in the candidates. He will be remembered as a good chess player, but never in the company of great chess players like Magnus Carlsen, Bobby Fischer, Capablanca, Paul Morphy. He’s a good chess player who made his money streaming.
@@kirkmason7079 that's obvious and irrelevant
@@kirkmason7079What will you be remembered for? Shitty UA-cam comments?
@@the_bravedave never ending a sentence with a preposition
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.
this lmao
He clearly said he gets like 6-7 times less in chess tournament and if the prize money and other stuffs get double,he would still get 3-4 times less but would play
@@Nafim-kv6rg The US federation doesn't have enough money to do even that. They only have 100 k members and most of those are discounted scholastic memberships. Rex could do it-he recruited most of our team and paid them a bonus to come over here and represent us but he is already putting a ton of money into chess here. He's probably already bankrolling the team for something in the 200-300 k range. He probably feels that he shouldn't need to kick in another 200-300k to get 100% of the top players to play as opposed to 80% which do now.
Bingo!
That's on you
The US is at the very least one of the three wealthiest countries in the world
If you can't pay your players a decent wage to compete for weeks at the highest level, that's on you
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...
I mean it's his choice. USA is the land of the free, and you are free to decide what you want to do
As entitled as it gets
Hikaru represented the US 7x in the Olympiads
What about you, good sir?
And when Hikaru represented the US 7x while msking peanuts, you were where?
very disappointing choice, the power of money is strong.
@@melh937a legend always thinks about representing their country till the last breath , exp see Ronaldo , still wants to play and represent . Thts the difference you donuts 😂
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.
You have to prove yourself to deserve your elo rating. Not playing because he's too scared to be outplayed doesn't sound very promising coming from a GM.
I agree. I think that is the real reason he didn’t play. He is too afraid to loose his hard earned elo.
I also think active players should be penalised in elo for not participating in big tournaments like the olympiad.
There is no question Wesley is good enough to be on any American team, too.
even the basketball team?
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) 🎉
The best feeling is carrying your team is what he said. If the best feeling is to carry your national team though, surely you should be more mad at Wesley and Levon. I mean they are Filipino and Armenian respectively, why join the USCF? Surely they should just try to carry their native team instead? Or will you try to imply that them joining the USCF isn't about money, it's actually because Levon just suddenly realized that he loves the United States and decided to switch
@@prussia9255 I find that cringy too. However, who knows, they might be less hypocritical and could claim smt like: they've gained a lot from the US, so now they're representing it proudly, plus they genuinely like eacother hence the fighting spirit.
Meanwhile, Hikaru claims its the most fun, most enjoyable, best ever feeling for him when he puts a team on his back and carries them BUUUUT creating videos about them is more money 🤑🤑
@MAF-08 it's not really hypocritical. He likes that feeling but he also like money. You can like 2 things at the same time.
While I do believe that Hikaru has financial motives that don't make sense to me, it is absolutely true what he says about not wanting ro play if there isn't enough money. Even if you don't care about money at all, this is a good way of seeing this, it sends a statement
He already represented US 7 times
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.
"Boosting interest in the sport.... building your own personal marketability and brand" Would streaming and making videos be examples of that? Something he can't do if he goes?
That was going to be a better excuse. He was the top seed and having Fabi on board 2 was going to ensure the gold for the US
The US is the only country on the planet that didn't have government funding for olympians
"Our carrers will be ending soon", that actually breaks me, wth man. I can't imagine Hikaru not playing anyone 😢
Problem is, Hikaru, you didn't do anything to carry the team. Moreover, you chose not to even try to carry the team.
The team still won a silver.
Because of underpaid
"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.
Wesley didn't blame anybody
@@muradinky I am talking about the hypothetical situation where Hikaru would join the olympiad team to win a medal, he is not to blame for them missing out a medal.
But he is right if hikaru played in shape insted of wesley he wont blunder and he would've won his games and lead them to the gold medal
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
No it's not just 12 days of chess, if you are playing against other superGMs like the Indian team you have to spend many hours preparing and practicing, and even a single game can last hours and have a serious mental toll.
Its like saying oh its only 90 minutes of playing football anyway. Not counting all the preparation and training that needed to be done before that 90 minutes. But well football has so much money in it that it surely worth it to do that much.
A medal for your country is more important than a few days of streaming.
1. you can not prove that Hikaru playing when he clearly isn't motivated to would change the result
2. The US did medal, they got silver which is more than respectable considering the strength of India
3.Explain to me what the United States gets from a gold medal in the chess Olympiad. Some tiny amount of attention? Like you think that the United States winning gold in a chess event that isn't even that popular within the already small scene that is professional chess is going to change the country? He for sure has more impact simply by continuing to run his livestream that thousands watch and enjoy. If you care so much about American chess what about the fact that his livestream will certainly inspire laymen to pick up the game?
Nakamura has already gotten a medal for his country
@@prussia9255Kepp COPING 💅🤡💅
Maybe. But the man is trying to drive his point about the lack of support. So I can understand his situation.
clearly you haven't watched the whole video
hikaru moaning about the money when hes obviously a millionaire..
The point Hikaru is making is that the chess funding in the United States is regrettable, and him not participating is really the only other way he can advocate for change outside of making his content. If he complains and still shows up, does US Chess have any real incentive to grow as opposed to maintaining the status quo?
@@jordan.maldonado just seems thin gruel to me at the expense of his team mates and country.
@@jordan.maldonado i think he just wants more money
16:20 he literally said that it suck that the the chess boom does not benefit players even though it should have been. He already played the olympiad enough times for the US and at the end of the day it is his choice to play or not
He's world #2. I think it's fair to expect more money
Hikaru cares about that bag nothing else lol.
Hikaru talks like the players play in the olympia for money, none of them play for money lol
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.
And in the end of the day chess did so much for Hikaru. Its no blaming. For so many players its a great honor to play for their national team.
@@MrBlablaologe I think he has represented his country enough times already, the country owes him respect and money for his contributions to the country.
finally someone talking sense
@@Chad.Commenter I agree. Even as someone who isn't a big fan of Hikaru, it's just facts that US chess is privileged to have him. He could have chosen to never play in the Olympiad, or never go pro, or even play for the Japanese chess federation though it would be absurd to imagine that.
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.
Thats a valid point, yes. But it has nothing to do with Olympiad.
@@MrBlablaologe it has. Coz US would celebrate if they won but wont take an responsibility for the players.
Mr. So was kicking ass this tourney. Dudes sense of humor is unparalleled.
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.
You are this stupid or just clueless. He is trying to make the next generation get paid for what they are worth. Not everyone can stream and make a living. It is always easy to sit from your home and tell players hey take 1 week off and you should be fine when they can barely stay afloat.
This is his life and you have nothing to do with it
And america it not his real country
Just let him do whatever he wants dude.. besides he already represented US 7 times thats more than enough
I think Wesley just wanted to play with you and have fun !
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.
I love your chess Hikaru but I disagree with you on this. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray, don’t play the Olympics for money. They do it because it means something. Likewise, Carlsen doesn’t either. And what’s stopping you from doing content creation at the Olympiad? Rarely have OTB tournaments stopped you. And there are actually many opportunities for content there, with top chess players all in the same place. Why not give sponsors a taste of what attraction you can provide to that event and try to improve sponsor support for next time?
Yeah live streaming from the Olympiad..$$$$$
Hikaru: "It's all about the money. Team USA can suck it."
Everybody should skip the Olympiad until FIDE opens the books and makes the revenue they generate public.
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.
Money is the reason why Wesley So abandoned the Philippines😂😂
@@erwinsantiago-hz3ju the fact that people miss this is crazy, they are just so ignorant. It's also true for Levon, who explicitly stated that he left the Armenian federation due to lack of support (aka money). Just as he can choose to do that, Hikaru can choose to not attend for the sake of money.
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?
I think the idea is having a contract for a paycheck instead of relying on probability to win.
@@crazykhespar8487 but how much do the USA players get from the Olympiad this year for getting 2nd place?
@@averagejoe5016 He has ALREADY gotten gold dude. There's virtually no reason to go waste your time with 0 incentive at another olympiad
@@averagejoe5016why don't u play chess and represent country anyone can get good if they play 10 hours for a day everyday for a decade, see you in 10 years.
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.
I mean you can't compare him with Djokovic and others as they consider themselves as a sportsperson but on the other hand Hikaru considers himself a content creator so his primary job is to stream and make content.
Though I agree that he should have played.
Humans are hilarious. Do you have any idea of the mental load required by the olympiads? You think he can make content after playing those games? Pls think again
@@melh937 You know he made content in the candidates. Sure he could with the Olympiad.
@@AayushSaxena07 this isn't a fair point to say because he is participating in all top competitions like candidates, grand chess tours etc and creating content out of it too..... He can really do both at the same time, and think about the GMs who were representing the US, they don't even do this as a side job..... Hikaru could've available himself for board 2 or 3
Wesley seems like a nice humble guy
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.
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?
Magnus played...
@@davidjoseph54 because he is there for competitive chess and play best players of globe and not for monetary gain
Nope, the issue is in America govt here who doesn't give too much attention to chess and chess players when they have super GMs like Hikaru and Fabi
@@deshrajdabhade7537 Norway had really little chance to play with the top players tbh
@@deshrajdabhade7537 he's the best player of all time, I assume he never has any money problems and can pretty much do whatever he wants unlike other top chess players.
Poor Hikaru the money grubber.
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 always has to find a way to make it about him.
Damn, these thumbnails getting better and better
This video should be on the main channel
Your team missed you Master Hikaru 😢
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.
Large contact 😂😂 dude in india people rarely give a damn about any other games except cricket
Hmm yeah not really the point. The way he's wrapping it is trying to ensure future generations are rewarded better financially. However, I'll say that he's also contradicting himself by saying he'd be making 7-8X times less money for the same time invested - this is strange to include as an argument because it doesn't really apply to other players who don't have a streaming (or other) career ongoing. So is it about money for YOU or for FUTURE generations?
Don't really agree with all his points and not sure if he really believes him "protesting" would actually make a change for future generations, but who knows. Ultimately it's his choice, maybe at some point it's not worth it in regards to stress/time vs compensation.
@@halfriver He's not really contradicting himself, but it is a weird thing to mention. He's saying he's willing to take a paycut (hence "I'll be generous") as long as the reward is good enough. Maybe he's thinking mathematically, if he takes 3 weeks off for the Olympiad but could've earned $20k in that time then he hopes the incentive is at least $5k. And maybe he concludes that's a good enough reward for the time spent for other US players, by comparing how much he makes.
Though I think Hikaru is just a narcissist
@@snehatallapuThat's true sneha but chess is followed by a huge number of people here.Even our 0.1% is a lot bigger number
@@snehatallapuSneha google how much the top chess players are paid in india and then come back here.
Thinking about this tournament!!!
Day after day you have to sit down for 3-5 hours .. putting your head into the game .. exhausting all your mental energy in strategising and memorising moves!!!
Hats off to all the players
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.”
That's an absurd exploitative quote by JFK. The relationship between people and the nation should be symbiotic.
@@kazz811 -- And it's not even in the spirit of the quote:
JFK is talking about how you should take pride in bettering your country rather than thinking about how you can extract the most selfishly; he's not saying government shouldn't be thankful or reward such service.
Let's say I invent a new board game no one cares about then teach one person from each country how to play and invite them and some player decides not to play. Is that unpatriotic? Chess as a sport is not popular in the United States, most people just don't care. Maybe a couple news sites will write an article about the United States getting a silver medal, and if Hikaru attends maybe they win gold and it slightly changes the title. Hikaru doesn't become Captain America by attending. Him attending will be a tiny data point in the sea of pro chess games.
You also have to realize that these youngsters are still practicing pretty much 24/7. While these old timer gen are now kinda just living😂
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!
836,000 $ is divided among our chess player in india recently so yes
Money over country
its beneath him at this point in his career, Naka getting old
these people are not native's
@@ap-rw3mjyou talking about the country of immigrants?😂
@@ap-rw3mj us is the country of immigrants , other than red indians everybody is immigrant .
money over participating in an event the vast majority of Americans have never heard of and don't care about
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.
hikaru just did a "i love wesley, no homo" =D 9:35
Oh, it was worse than that. 😂
"I love Wesley.. uh.. I mean.. I mean.. n-not literally..."
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.
Hikaru Should have Played for USA & for chess
Pajeet u could have done better than shama's kid.
He did 7 times and won gold in 2016, what more do u want for him?
There are many tournaments to make money, this is about country. Like NBA stars doesn't want to play in Olympics.
Don't talk like he hasn't paid his due to his country for two decades it's just your new to this doesn't mean he hasn't played for his country countless time chess takes it mental toll even NBA players don't play around his age
@@pankajsharma7511 in his prime he should play not like there were better four USA candidates than him. Chess is not popular among sponsors in the USA, no govt can pump money to sports without Sponsors & audiences more than the USA.
I agree the chess players are not getting support but at the top level this is not true, he can easily play with no money issues.
Yeah but they do not participate in olympics by risking their income. Tell them to participate in olympics and organize a NBA tournament at the same time.
@@vijayantpratapsingh so Fab, Magnus, rest of the world risked their income, I don't know which high prize tournament was held during Olympiad
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.
when only 20-30 players can live off of chess you know the system is broken. if a sport can't generate more than that...its broken.
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.
Hikaru would probably play board 2. So fabi still loses, and prag already lost (but maybe with hikaru he is more cautious, but let's assume he loses). Now it's upto wesely vs arjun, I do feel arjun has an edge. He's playing white and will be on the offensive here
@@hydrocult3508 as I said, fabi lost due to playing more aggressive lines because America couldn’t afford a draw. The reason for that is because they were so behind in match points. Which I don’t think they would have been if you add someone the level of Hikaru to the team. It’s all just speculation, but adding a top player in the world to your team is a pretty big difference. We wouldn’t have went 2-2 vs Romania and we would have likely beat Ukraine for example. If fabi is playing for a draw he has a good shot to hold.
@@hydrocult3508Hikaru would’ve been Board 1
Bruhh vidit beat hikaru twice in candidates and he was on board 4 in Olympiad. Just leaving at that.
But he beat prag who was on board 2 where hikaru would probably have played so whats the point xd
@@anorlondo2002hikaru would have played on board 1
@@divyanshmaurya9496And played the draw Master Gukesh. Remember Gukesh won the candidates by beating Pragg, Vidit and Abasov 😂😂😂
@@MasterInHD vidit prag beat hikaru what's the point?
@@MasterInHDand he beat caruana ,fedoseev,wei and magsoodloo. He was also the winner of board 1 and got gold for that . Phenomenal 9/11 score . He is an emerging player and idk if you know the candidates is not at all easy and still think winning against someone who is a candidate easy whether be vidit pragg or anyone else. Hope you got some brain
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.
Very well said. As huge fan, it hurts watching him waste his last few years of his prime “just” streaming.
Understandable
US Federation just makes tournaments that charge $2000 for entry fee if you want to play in Super Swiss Open
So the only Way to get hikaru playing lol either we get him more money or we stop watching him so the Delta gets smaller
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.
Lets be honest - Except for Hikaru, no one plays at Olympiad for the money lol
They needed Hans (not Hikaru), then US would have won
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.
Guys usa win silver in open and bronze in women that is actually great result. Us team played very well .
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.
But what if u dont want to? Do u have right to force anyone?
@@addicted_4876 absolutely not. But if the reason is money, thats kinda not right
For Hikaru making videos is worth more than playing with US country team: as simple as that
I like how Hikaru had to clarify that he didn't love Wesley literally.
we take shit for granted way too much
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.
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.
Trust me. It's for our own good.
On one side Wesley is ready to be the reserve player sacrificing his board for USA to win if Hikaru would have played, whereas Hikaru just casually talks about money,
atleast once in 2 years for nation's pride he could have participated
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 🙈
3:36 I think Hikaru may have undiagnosed mild turrets syndrome. I notice he says basic things over and over and over before he's able to say what he wants to say. For example, if he wants to tell you the sweater is blue, he'll be like, "the sweater is blue guys. Guys, the sweater is blue. I'm just being honest here guys, the sweater is blue. The sweater is blue guys. The sweater is blue." Only then, after repeating a phrase like 8 times, he's able to move on with the rest of his dialogue.
Money ruins everything.
Hikaru has a solid point NGL
What Hikaru actually says is that USCF should treat its chess players more seriously and attract serious sponsors for this and future generations. It's not enough to get to the high level mostly through individual brilliance of these players and then stagnate. If opponents are getting better sponsorships, support and recognition then the richest country in the world should also be able to afford it or counter it. Playing for US 7 or more times in the past and always representing US through his lifetime achievements are the signs of the player who is deeply committed to his country. But now he recognizes that the country should commit as well to the excellence of its players and do more if they want to compete in the future.
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.
I have suggestion for your approach,
If the money is not the important part for you (which I genuinely believe).
I suggest to announce that you will participate in the next Olympiad if they increase the rewards and you fully donate that money.
Maybe to some chess related fund or even to unrelated charity fund.
"I love Wesley.....i mean, not literally" 😂
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".
Hikaru is 100% correct. We need to support all of our national athletes, and especially need to support our chess players.
I just got a Pun in my head :
Hikaru moving to the side holding a gun pointing at you.
Me : Is that a threat ?
Chess players in Ukraine are not superstars, they don’t meet with the president and don’t buy cars. Hikaru, this is not fair about Ukraine. I would say our players are rather poor. They just do their best to keep image of Ukraine, and they do not earn any significant money at all. That’s as it is. May be you are correct about other countries where dictators finance those players, but this is completely not the case with Ukraine. So I don’t think this was fair to bring Ukraine in the context you did it
Do people forget that Hikaru is 5x US Chess champion?
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.
Also, someone like Mishra should be streaming /right now/. The goal is to get good at streaming by the time you are also elite at chess.
already 3 players born abroad in the team without Hikaru
The thumbnail looks like magnus