'Checkmate: USA vs India': All you need to know about exhibition event featuring Gukesh, Nakamura and other top stars

It will be India going up against the United States of the America on the chess board starting Saturday with the two nations set to lock horns in 'Checkmate: USA vs India' – a tournament that features some of the best players from these two powerhouses of the sport. Reigning world champion D Gukesh will be among those in action at the event that will be taking place in the United States.

And with the cream of the crop of American chess including world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura and No 3 Fabiano Caruana in action, the event provides the 19-year-old Grandmaster the opportunity to regain his form and confidence heading into the FIDE World Cup in Goa that gets underway later this month. Gukesh, after all, has been going through a lean patch in 2025 and has consequently slipped out of the top-10 in the FIDE ratings.

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Among the other Indians in action are fellow GMs Arjun Erigaisi and Divya Deshmukh who will also be participating after competing in the FIDE Grand Swiss recently alongside Gukesh. Arjun is high on confidence after surpassing R Praggnanandhaa to become the new Indian No 1 while Divya is on a roll, having recently won the FIDE Women’s World Cup to qualify for next year’s Candidates.

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The tournament also features two popular streamers, one for each team. USA will be represented by IM Levy Rozman, a.k.a. GothamChess, while IM Sagar Shah will be playing for India.

Here’s everything you need to know about ‘Checkmate: USA vs India’:

How many players are participating in ‘Checkmate: USA vs India’?

A total of five players are representing the two teams – USA and India. Here is the full list of players by team:

USA: GM Hikaru Nakamura, GM Fabiano Caruana, IM Carissa Yip, IM Levy Rozman, IM Tani Adewumi.

India: GM D Gukesh, GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM Divya Deshmukh, IM Sagar Shah, IM Ethan Vaz.

What is the format of ‘Checkmate: USA vs India’? 

The event will feature five matches with a time control of 10 minutes. Each player gets a one-second increment per move when they are left with less than a minute on the clock. USA plays as white in all of the matches and India as black.

Additionally, there is no option for a draw in this event – matches must go on till one person is adjudged the winner. If the two players arrive at a stalemate, they will compete in an overtime game with five minutes per player, that will be followed by a shootout game with a minute for each player followed by additional minute-long games until a winner emerges.

Following are the fixtures:

Hikaru Nakamura (USA) vs D Gukesh (India)

Fabiano Caruana (USA) vs Arjun Erigaisi (India)

Levy Rozman (USA) vs Sagar Shah (India)

Carissa Yip (USA) vs Divya Deshmukh (India)

Tanitoluwa Adewumi (USA) vs Ethan Vaz (India)

Time control:

Regular Game: 10 minutes per player

If draw, Overtime Game: 5 minutes per player

If draw, Shootout Game: 1 minute per player

If drawn, additional 1 min per player games until winner emerges

When and where is ‘Checkmate: USA vs India’ taking place? 

The event is taking place at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas, USA on 4 October.

Where can I watch ‘Checkmate: USA vs India’ LIVE? 

‘Checkmate USA vs India’ is being streamed live on the YouTube channels of Chess.com as well as ChessBase India.