It has become a common mainstay for opponents to pull out the theatrics when it comes to D Gukesh. The reigning World Champion is arguably the most popular GM in the world currently, probably a bigger name than Magnus Carlsen, when it comes to media attention in recent times. Hikaru Nakamura was the latest to pull out a 'distasteful' stunt against the Indian GM, when he checkmated him on the board in a bullet game at the exhibition chess event, Checkmate: USA vs India. The Americans sealed a 5-0 clean sweep against the Indian team, but Nakamura's antics caught everyone's attention, as he threw Gukesh's King into the crowd in celebration after checkmating him.
Gukesh managed to muster draws in the 10-minute and five-minute games, and then in the one-minute bullet game, he was checkmated on the back rank by Nakamura's queen. Meanwhile, another bishop was cutting off the escape square.
Also Read: D Gukesh slips out of top ten in official FIDE chess rankings, Arjun Erigaisi India No. 1
At one point in the game, Gukesh had the advantage on the clock, and the evaluation bar was also on his side. But Nakamura managed to use his experience to his advantage and soon went ahead of Gukesh on the clock.
Here is the full video of Hikaru Nakamura throwing D Gukesh's king:
But Hikaru's theatrics have been slammed by some fans on social media. One fan wrote, “A grown man tossing his opponent’s King who’s half his age into the crowd. Real classy, Hikaru. The hate Magnus and Hikaru have for India’s Gukesh is just unreal.”
{{/usCountry}}But Hikaru's theatrics have been slammed by some fans on social media. One fan wrote, “A grown man tossing his opponent’s King who’s half his age into the crowd. Real classy, Hikaru. The hate Magnus and Hikaru have for India’s Gukesh is just unreal.”
{{/usCountry}}Commenting on the fan's observation, FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky remarked, "Nothing to do with India. In case of Magnus it was an absolutely organic outburst. Raw emotion. Appropriate or not is another matter."
"In case of Hikaru, it was just a showmanship. Rather distasteful if you ask me. I understand this entire match was about show, but there should be some red lines IMO. However, in both cases it had nothing to do with India", he added.
Another fan stated, “Hikaru threw @DGukesh‘s King into the crowd. Magnus and Hikaru aren’t able to take Indian’s dominance in chess in the right way. By publicly displaying their conceit and jealousy, they are displaying their lack of moral integrity. Go India. Let the haters burn with more jealousy.”
Gukesh also recently slipped out of the top ten standings in the FIDE rankings after a poor performance at the FIDE Grand Swiss.