The attention of the chess world is fixed on one of its greatest tournaments, starting this week, with one man drawing plenty of attention for all the right reasons.
The Candidates tournament is an eight-player double-round-robin event to decide who will be the next challenger for world champion.
Reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen has dominated chess for a decade.
Since claiming the title in 2013, the Norwegian has revolutionised how chess is played and become the game's most recognisable star.
But while Carlsen has reigned supreme there has been another man who, through brilliance and personality, has developed a brand arguably as big as the champion — his name is Hikaru Nakamura.
Nakamura, a 34-year-old American, is possibly the most recognisable and popular player among this year's Candidates.
The grandmaster has an impressive online presence and has thousands of fans tune in to his live stream to watch him beat the best in the world.
Chess personality and International Master Levy Rozman, who has forged a successful online career under the name GothamChess, says Nakamura is an ideal challenger for Carlsen as the sport fights for mainstream attention.
"I think of all the matches that could happen, Magnus-Hikaru could be the biggest," he told ABC Sport.
"I think it would attract the most sponsors, I think it would attract the most marketing and I think it would be amazing for the world of chess.
Chess has experienced a popularity boom in recent years.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the popularity of Netflix show The Queen's Gambit had many taking up the game for the first time.
Nakamura was at the forefront of the popularity surge, with his online content becoming a hit with new converts.
His ability to play chess with ease and grace that defies its difficulty, while being a likeable and engaging character online, is what has many excited about his appearance in the Candidates.
"Of all the top-50 players in the world, he is maybe one of three that possesses this ability," Rozman said.
"[He is] able to play fast time controls, win 90 per cent of the games he plays online, and just be a normal guy and talk about whatever with a live audience and keep them interested and keep them captivated."
Standing in Nakamura's way are seven of the world's best in the most difficult tournament to win.
Nakamura is a legend when it comes to short, time-controlled games of chess.
When players are given as little as three minutes to play all of their moves, Nakamura has consistently proven to be one of the greats.
But to be world champion and win the Candidates you must master classical chess; each player has two hours to complete 40 moves before more time is added if required.
Classical chess requires expert preparation and the ability to calculate multiple moves ahead.
Nakamura was not expected to qualify for the Candidates, with the American seemingly focused on his other chess ventures.
But a wildcard into this year's Grand Prix, a qualifying tournament for the Candidates, changed everything.
"Going into the Grand Prix nobody had any idea what to expect, and some people complained he was even given a wildcard," Rozman said.
"And he just straight-up won the Grand Prix. You can't make more of a statement than that."
Nakamura played in the Candidates tournament in 2016 but struggled.
After losing games early in the tournament, the American never gave himself a chance of winning.
With experience now on his side, he says he feels relaxed and is not putting himself under any pressure.
In an interview with chess.com in April, Nakamura said he wanted to relish the opportunity to play in chess's toughest tournament, something he did not think he would do a second time.
"Even if I don't win the tournament this time, I think just having that chance to play good chess and perform better than I did, just on that level, is probably for me the most important thing," he said.
"I really didn't think I would ever have the chance after 2016."
It is this carefree attitude that makes Nakamura even more dangerous to play and has many dreaming of a blockbuster world championship match.
