Jared Wynne 
Hikaru Nakamura typically makes headlines for his greatness in chess, but the latest discussion around the chess grandmaster involved cease and desist orders and the Botez sisters.
Hikaru Nakamura, Alexandra Botez, and Andrea Botez are three of the biggest personalities in both the chess and streaming worlds. While they’d previously appeared together on screen, the trio hasn’t had much to do with each after Hikaru and the Botez sisters had a falling out.
A latest episode is unlikely to improve those frosty relations, as Nakamura was forced to respond to a legal allegation by a Botez sister that had gained traction.
Hikaru Nakamura says he didn’t send cease and desist to Andrea Botez
Hikaru Nakamura made it clear during a recent stream that he did not, in fact, send a cease and desist letter to Andrea Botez regarding a cardboard cutout display she’d been using. Nakamura apparently felt the need to address the matter after discussion around it had blown up on social media.
The original claim goes back to a discussion had during a stream between Andrea Botez and fellow high-level chess streamer Anna Cramling. During their talk, Cramling asked Botez about a cardboard cutout display featuring Hikaru Nakamura’s image that had been shown during Botez’s streams. Botez responded that she’d removed the cardboard display after receiving a cease and desist request from Nakamura.
While Botez may have intended that her comment be taken as a joke, it immediately caught on across social media in both the chess and livestreaming spheres. This led to Nakamura addressing the matter just a day later, insisting that it wasn’t true.
Andrea Botez apologizes to Hikaru Nakamura over legal issue
Given the furor, Andrea Botez reached out to Hikaru to clear the air and apologize for the legal claim being made on stream. Andrea admitted in a direct message to making the claim, and to it being false. Botez insisted that it had been intended as a joke, and blamed the resulting controversy on “haters.”
It’s just the latest in a series of controversies for Hikaru and the Botez sisters, and it seems that neither party was interested in any unwarranted drama given how quickly it was addressed.
With the issue now seemingly behind him, Nakamura will return his focus to the ongoing FIDE World Cup and his usual chess streams. And viewers can expect Andrea Botez to be a little more careful joking about legal claims involving other public figures in the chess and streaming worlds.
