Nakamura Defeats World Champion Gukesh, USA Sweeps India 5-0 in Controversial Chess Exhibition

Hikaru Nakamura's Celebration Sparks Controversy After USA Sweeps India in 'Checkmate' Event

In a surprising turn of events at the 'Checkmate: USA vs India' exhibition event in Arlington, USA, the USA team secured a dominant 5-0 sweep against India. The victory was capped off by Hikaru Nakamura's win over reigning Classical world champion D Gukesh, but Nakamura's post-match celebration sparked controversy.

The One-Sided Affair: USA's Dominant Performance

The 'Checkmate: USA vs India' event proved to be much more one-sided than anticipated. Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana secured victories against D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi respectively, while Carissa Yip defeated Divya Deshmukh. In other matches, streamer Levy Rozman prevailed over Sagar Shah, and Tanitoluwa Adewumi emerged victorious against Ethan Vaz.

The USA's home advantage, including the support of the Texan crowd and playing as white in all five games, may have contributed to their success. However, given India's recent successes, including a golden sweep at last year's Olympiad, the lopsided result was unexpected.

Nakamura's Controversial Celebration

The highlight of the event was undoubtedly Nakamura's victory over Gukesh. After drawing the first two games, Nakamura won the bullet tie-breaker to complete the sweep. The controversy arose when Nakamura, known for his showmanship, picked up Gukesh's King and tossed it into the crowd. This gesture, while perhaps intended as entertainment, drew criticism from within the chess community.

Nakamura's actions stand in stark contrast to the demeanor of young Indian players like Gukesh, who are known for their humility and respect for the game. The contrast was highlighted by the observation that Gukesh often rearranges the pieces on the board after a game.

Reactions from the Chess Community

Many members of the chess community took to social media to express their disapproval of Nakamura's celebration. Here are some select reactions:

If the future of chess is one where it’s acceptable behaviour to toss opponent’s pieces into the crowd, im not sure I want anything to do with it. - Kevin Goh Wei Ming

Please don't throw chess pieces. - Alex Colovic

Its understandable to see people feel disgusted about it even tho this was apparently preplanned. We skipped some levels here, could've just knocked his king over and that'd be it Especially since it's Gukesh who respects the game so much that he rearranges the pieces everytime - Quag

Hikaru is not like this usually. He's known to be graceful even in bad losses. Looks like all these theatrics were by design. Nevertheless, it's in extremely bad test and destroys the sanctity of the game irrespective of the results. - kaustubh shinde

So much hype and performative nonsense surrounding so little chess. I tried to watch but 1 hour in they were still talking about sponsors and I gave up at that point. - Dave Austin

What an arrogant clown this Hikaru is. Throwing opponent’s king into the crowd who is half of his age. The hate is real against Gukesh - Zakir Hussain