Published on: Oct 06, 2025 03:47 pm IST
Hikaru Nakamura threw D Gukesh’s king into the crowd after checkmating him on the board in a bullet game.
Controversy struck at the exhibition chess event, Checkmate: USA vs India, and it saw Hikaru Nakamura pull out a threatrical stunt after defeating D Gukesh. The American GM threw Gukesh’s king into the crowd after checkmating him on the board in a bullet game. The exhibition event saw USA bag a 5-0 clean sweep against the Indian team.
Reacting to the controversy, FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky took to X to question Hikaru’s behaviour and asked fans if they could name any other ‘top player who would do what’ the American GM did.
“The event was a show. Fans were ecstatic. Players were encouraged to behave accordingly. All true”, he wrote.
“Now, for better or worse, name me one top player who would do what Hikaru did”, he added.
The organisers defend Hikaru Nakamura
Reacting to Sutovsky remark, the exhibition event’s organisers responded with their explanation and revealed that Hikaru was ‘forced to have fun’.
Checkmate: USA vs India wrote, “On behalf of the organizers, we admit having forced the players to have fun, to please the crowd and to forego the FIDE Etiquette. We sincerely apologize if the players, the live audience and the vast majority of online viewers had a good time.”
Gukesh saw his poor form continue in the event as he managed draws in the 10-minute and five-minute games. Then in the one-minute bullet game, he was checkmated on the back rank by Nakamura’s queen. Also, another bishop was cutting off the escape square. Meanwhile, Gukesh did have advantage on the clock in the early phase of the game, and the evaluation bar was also on his side. But Hikaru, known for his skills in the faster formats, soon went ahead of Gukesh on the clock.
