World No. 2 grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura faced criticism online after throwing Indian grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju's king-piece into the crowd during an exhibition match at Esports Stadium Arlington on Saturday (October 4). The incident took place in front of over a thousand spectators and has sparked intense debate on social media about sportsmanship in chess.
About the match
The Nakamura vs. Gukesh game was the final match of the day, though India had already lost the series 4-0. The event began with Arjun Erigaisi, only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to cross 2800 Elo, losing to Fabiano Caruana. International Master Ethan Vaz was defeated by 14-year-old Tanitoluwa Adewumi, and Carissa Yip’s win over Women’s World Cup champion Divya Deshmukh secured victory for the USA.
Internet reacts
Reactions to Nakamura’s celebration were mostly appalled. Many called it disrespectful, with one comment on X reading, “I've said it before and I'll say it again. Both Magnus and Hikaru are doing this because they've lost to an Indian over and over again. Had it been a guy from any other race, they would've reacted differently. Indians need to stop living in a bubble, world hates us.” Even Singaporean grandmaster Kevin Goh Wei Ming wrote, “If the future of chess is one where it’s acceptable behaviour to toss opponent’s pieces into the crowd, I'm not sure I want anything to do with it.” Another user commented, “No player should show disrespect, irrespective of the result.” One more post read, “Hikaru acting Gukesh's age and Gukesh acting Hikaru's.”
Some users, however, pointed out that the players were allegedly encouraged to make the matches more entertaining. “Both teams were briefed that theatrics were encouraged and throwing kings, knocking them over etc to hype the crowd up was ok. It just so happened that hikaru won, and pretty sure he even spoke to/apologised to Gukesh backstage, saying it was all for show,” one X user wrote. According to YouTuber Levy Rozman, the idea originated from the organisers. “Without context, it will look like an unprovoked gesture. But we were encouraged by the organisers to do that stuff. I forgot that if I won my game against ChessBase India’s Sagar Shah, or he won, we were supposed to break the king. It was for the entertainment angle,” he said on YouTube.
{{/usCountry}}Some users, however, pointed out that the players were allegedly encouraged to make the matches more entertaining. “Both teams were briefed that theatrics were encouraged and throwing kings, knocking them over etc to hype the crowd up was ok. It just so happened that hikaru won, and pretty sure he even spoke to/apologised to Gukesh backstage, saying it was all for show,” one X user wrote. According to YouTuber Levy Rozman, the idea originated from the organisers. “Without context, it will look like an unprovoked gesture. But we were encouraged by the organisers to do that stuff. I forgot that if I won my game against ChessBase India’s Sagar Shah, or he won, we were supposed to break the king. It was for the entertainment angle,” he said on YouTube.
{{/usCountry}}This is not the first time an international player’s reaction to Gukesh has drawn attention. In June 2025, Magnus Carlsen made headlines after slamming his fist on the table following a loss to Gukesh at the Norway Chess tournament — a reaction that many described as uncharacteristic for the former World Champion.