Hikaru slammed for throwing chess piece after beating Gukesh in ‘Checkmate’ event: ‘What an arrogant clown’

‘Checkmate: USA vs India’ turned out to be a surprisingly one-sided affair as the Americans completing a 5-0 sweep against the Indians in Arlington, USA on Sunday. Reigning world champion D Gukesh and Indian No 1 Arjun Erigaisi fell short against world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura and No 3 Fabiano Caruana respectively while Carissa Yip got the better of Divya Deshmukh despite the latter being the higher-ranked player.

Levy Rozman, similarly, defeated Sagar Shah in the battle of the popular streamers while Tanitoluwa Adewumi beat Ethan Vaz in a showdown between chess’ up and coming stars.

USA had home advantage over India not just in terms of the support of the Texan crowd at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, but also due to the fact that they played as white in all five games. The event, however, was not expected to be as one-sided as it turned out to be, especially since India have been something of a chess powerhouse in the recent years, completing a golden sweep at last year’s Olympiad.

Nakamura draws flak for his gesture after beating Gukesh

One of the highlights of the event, meanwhile, was Nakamura defeating an out-of-form Gukesh in what was billed as the main showdown of the evening. The two players produced back-to-back draws before the former triumphed in the bullet game to complete an American sweep.

And being the showman that he is, Nakamura celebrated the victory by picking up Gukesh’s King from the board and tossing it into the crowd. Nakamura, after all, is a popular streamer and is known not just for being quite the animated individual, but also for not holding himself back and speaking his mind from time to time, especially on controversial topics.

HIKARU THROWS A PIECE TO THE CROWD TO CELEBRATE THE USA 5-0! @GMHikaru

What an event!! 🔥👏 @CheckmateUSAIND pic.twitter.com/LGnM8JLulJ

— Chess.com (@chesscom) October 5, 2025

That is in complete contrast with the Indian contingent, especially young players such as Gukesh who are known to be quiet and humble and usually let their chess moves do the talking. Gukesh, on the contrary, is someone who takes time out to rearrange the board at the end of a game.

Whether Nakamura intended to disrespect Gukesh and the Indian contingent with his wild gesture or was simply trying to entertain a crowd that is used to watching sports that is infused with copious amounts of showbiz is something that remains to be seen.

It did not, however, go down too well within the chess community, with several criticising Nakamura. Here are 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 (@kevingohwm) October 5, 2025

Please don’t throw chess pieces.

— Alex Colovic (@GMAlexColovic) October 5, 2025

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 (@Quag1916) October 5, 2025

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 (@kaustubh_grrrr) October 5, 2025

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 (@EdmundAvalon) October 5, 2025

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 (@meZakir) October 5, 2025