Did Hikaru Nakamura go too far by tossing D Gukesh’s king into crowd?

An incident at the Checkmate: USA vs India exhibition event in Texas sparked a massive controversy on Sunday (October 5) after American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura threw Indian prodigy D Gukesh’s king piece into the crowd following his victory. The act drew widespread criticism from chess fans on social media, many of whom argued that such behaviour has no place in the sport.

Also read | Gukesh overcomes Wei Yi challenge, presses hard for Norway Chess title with Carlsen

Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik was among the most outspoken critics of the incident on social media. However, reports have now revealed that the “tossing the king” act was actually a planned stunt by the event organisers.

Organisers defend chess stunt

Critics had labelled Nakamura’s gesture as “tasteless,” “vulgar,” and disrespectful, particularly since it involved the opponent’s king, a central symbol of the game, and was directed at the reigning World Champion. But amid the intense backlash against Nakamura, it has emerged that the act was choreographed in advance.

“Without context, it will look like an unprovoked gesture. However, we were encouraged by the organisers to do that. 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. The winner of Gukesh's and Hikaru's game was supposed to toss the king into the fans. I'm not sure if Gukesh would have done that. Hikaru spoke to Gukesh later and explained that it was all for show and no disrespect was meant,” chess expert Levy Rozman explained in a YouTube video.

Nakamura also addressed the incident and reflected on the event in a YouTube video, calling it one of his most memorable experiences. “This was one of the best in-person experiences I’ve ever had in my long chess career,” he said. “We’re so used to celebrating victories alone, chess can be such a solitary profession, with little validation for what we do. Even the Indian players, despite the losses, enjoyed themselves. Overall, the event far exceeded my expectations.”

Kramnik slams chess theatrics

Russian chess legend Vladimir Kramnik, however, strongly disapproved of the theatrics, regardless of whether they were planned. “This is not just vulgarity, but a symptom of the degradation of modern chess,” Kramnik wrote on his X handle, shortly after clips surfaced of Nakamura tossing Gukesh’s king into the crowd at the Texas Esports Stadium in Arlington.

Also read | Norway Chess: Gukesh loses to Nakamura; Erigaisi, Humpy, Vaishali win

In another post, Kramnik accused Nakamura of hurting the sport’s image, saying, “There are players who display respect and mature, gentlemanly behaviour, many prominent ones, including Wesley So and Gukesh himself. But promoting, for years, a player known for his awful behaviour is, in my opinion, damaging to our game.”

Ultimately, the controversial stunt reflected a growing push among some players and organisers to infuse chess with flamboyant showmanship in an effort to attract a wider audience.