"If you don't enjoy it, skip it" - GMHikaru responds to those criticizing his gambling content on Kick

Popular streamer and Chess Grandmaster Hikaru "GMHikaru" Nakamura has responded to criticism of his recent content. For those out of the loop, on April 26, 2024, GMHikaru hosted his first-ever gambling livestream on Kick. This quickly went viral on social media, with Hans Niemann commenting on the situation.

While Niemann did not specifically name Hikaru, he did state that his "main competition" was actively promoting an unregulated gambling platform to his audience. Expressing his optimism at becoming number one on Chess.com, Hans Niemann tweeted:

The following day (April 27, 2024), Neimann seemingly threw shade at GMHikaru by commenting on his viewership. He remarked:

On April 29, 2024, Hikaru took to X to announce his livestreaming schedule for the upcoming week. He also addressed criticism of his gambling content, stating that if someone does not "enjoy it," they can "skip it."

He added:

GMHikaru is one of the most prominent figures in the livestreaming and Chess communities, having joined Twitch in September 2015. On March 29, 2023, the Japanese-American personality surprised fans by revealing that he had signed with Kick.

After more than a year of broadcasting on the Stake-backed platform, Hikaru finally hosted his first gambling stream on April 26, 2024.

As mentioned earlier, he addressed the criticisms on April 29, 2024, and several netizens have chimed in with their thoughts. Some fans supported the 36-year-old, with X user @RooceColer writing that GMHikaru had "given a lot of content" to the Chess community and that his followers "aren't owed anything" from him.

On the other hand, some followers were not pleased with GMHikaru's decision to gamble on his livestreams, with X user @crispakarati writing that the Chess