Overview
- Team USA swept India 5-0 at the Checkmate event in Arlington, with Hikaru Nakamura beating world champion D. Gukesh in the final bullet game.
- Nakamura told ChessBase India he had planned to throw the king if he won and said he hoped fans enjoyed the dramatic finish.
- American streamer Levy Rozman said players were briefed that theatrics, including tossing or toppling kings, were acceptable and that Nakamura later explained to Gukesh it was for show.
- Backlash followed from prominent voices, with Vladimir Kramnik calling the act vulgar and FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky criticizing it as distasteful, while event organizers replied with sarcastic posts and Nakamura responded with laughing emojis.
- Support also surfaced, as Peter Heine Nielsen argued the moment made chess look like a sporting event, and attention now turns to a planned return leg in India.