USA’s World No 2 Nakamura beats Gukesh then tosses the Indian’s King into the crowd

For some reason, drama seems to follow D Gukesh, as World No 2 Hikaru Nakamura produced an act of showmanship after a thrilling game with India's young World Champion.

Nakamura left many in the chess-following world stunned when he picked up Gukesh's King immediately after stealing a late win before tossing it into the crowd.

In June this year, World No 1 Magnus Carlsen drew flak for slamming on the table after losing to Gukesh in a classical game in Norway Chess in Stavanger.

Nakamura's checkmate win sealed a powerful 6.5-1.5 win for Team USA against Team India in a fun event held at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Team India comprised GMs Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and Divya Deshmukh, and IMs Sagar Shah and Ethan Vaz. Team USA had GMs Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana and IMs Carissa Yip, Tani Adewumi and Levy Rozman. Sagar Shah and Rozman are popular chess content creators.

Except Shah and Gukesh, every other Indian lost their first game and surrendered their respective mini matches. Shah played a second game with Rozman and lost, while Gukesh played out two draws before losing in time trouble in the third game.

More than the outcome of the India vs USA battle, it was Nakamura's bizarre act that became a talking point. While Carlsen almost immediately atoned for his theatrics by giving a pat on the back of Gukesh, Nakamura seemed to revel in his act as he urged the crowd to cheer on and totally ignored the opponent.

The American even declared that the act was planned. “If I won I was always gonna throw the King,” Nakamura told ChessBaseIndia post-match.

Emil Sutovsky, CEO of FIDE, joined a debate on the matter on social media. "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," Sutovsky wrote on X.