 "D Gukesh calmly rearranges the pieces on the board after his defeat against Hikaru Nakamura in the 'Checkmate: USA vs India' event in Arlington, Texas, USA. Image credit: Screengrab/Chess.com")
The ‘Checkmate: USA vs India’ was expected to be a closely-fought affair with some of the top players in the world, including reigning Classical world champion D Gukesh as well as world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura among those in action. Especially since India had established itself as a powerhouse in the sport after their historic golden sweep in last year’s Olympiad and producing several world-class players in a short span of time.
The exhibition event at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas, however, turned out to be a completely one-sided affair with hosts USA completing a 5-0 sweep over India after playing on all boards as white.
The tournament, additionally ended on a controversial note with Nakamura picking up Gukesh’s ‘King’ and throwing it towards the crowd after beating the 19-year-old Grandmaster in a Bullet tie-break following back-to-back draws.
Nakamura’s behaviour was in complete contrast with Gukesh’s demeanour, with the reigning world champion known for being reserved and humble – traits that are also visible in fellow young Indian stars such as Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa.
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Nakamura – a popular streamer who is anything but reserved – has divided the chess world with his antics. Some believe the American was simply trying to spice up the exhibition event that was meant to boost chess’ popularity in the United States.
Others felt the gesture was disrespectful , especially considering his opponent is half his age in addition to being the reigning world champion.
Gukesh carries out post-match routine after Hikaru throws his king away
How did Gukesh react to the gesture? By carrying out his usual post-game routine – rearranging the pieces on the board.
Watch:
Besides Gukesh, Indian No 1 Arjun and FIDE Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh had represented Team India at the event. Erigaisi lost to world No 3 Fabiano Caruana in the opening game while Divya lost to International Master Carissa Yip despite the Indian being the higher-ranked player in the event.
The event also featured a battle of popular chess streamers, with Levy Rozman defeating fellow IM Sagar Shah.
The matches took place in the rapid format with 10-minute time controls, and were followed by a series of blitz tie-breaks with decreasing time controls until a decisive result was achieved.
Gukesh and Arjun will next be seen in action at the FIDE World Cup that takes place in Goa and gets underway later this month.