'This makes chess look like sporting event': Magnus Carlsen’s coach defends Nakamura over Gukesh King toss viral act

Magnus Carlsen’s coach defends Nakamura over Gukesh King toss viral act

Peter Heine Nielsen, the coach of Magnus Carlsen, has backed Hikaru Nakamura's viral act of tossing D Gukesh's King into the crowd. The incident took place after Nakamura's win over the Indian in the exhibition event Checkmate: USA vs India.

Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik and current FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky were among the many who have harshly criticised Nakamura for his wild celebration.

However, Nielsen as quoted in a report by The Indian Express felt otherwise. Weighing-in on the incident, he observed: “There are a lot of things elderly conservative chess-guys like myself find hard to accept. But at least we should agree this makes chess look like a sporting event. Spectators at the venue who care. Teammates who act like teammates in a sport. Players celebrating when they win.”

Also Read | Highs greater than lows for D Gukesh despite dip in graph

The act has been deemed repulsive by many Indian fans, who have accused Nakamura of demeaning Gukesh and the game. A culture of hatred towards Indian players was evident noted a fan while arguing with Nielsen.

Nielsen responded by reminding him that he had been Viswanathan Anand's second in four World Chess Championship victories, noting: “I am by a considerable margin the most winning Indian chess coach ever. Please have some respect.”

Meanwhile, Nakamura's act was labelled "just vulgarity" from Kramnik. “This is not just vulgarity, but already a diagnosis of degradation of modern chess,” Kramnik wrote on X.

I don’t know who came up with this childish, tasteless act. Likely this “thinker” had no specific intention to humiliate Gukesh, but could have realized that this public gesture (using opponent’s KING) looks offensive and provocative ESPECIALLY against the World Champion

— Vladimir Kramnik (@VBkramnik) October 6, 2025

In another tweet echoing similar views, Kramnik accused Nakamura of damaging the game. “There are players who show respect and mature gentleman behaviour, many prominent players in fact (Wesley So, Gukesh himself, and many others). Promoting for years the player known for his awful behaviour instead, deliberate action, damaging our game in my opinion.”

There are players which show respect and mature gentleman behaviour, many prominent players in fact ( Wesley So, Gukesh himself, and many others )
Promoting for years the player known for his awfull behaviour instead, deliberate action, damaging our game in my opinion

— Vladimir Kramnik (@VBkramnik) October 5, 2025

Levy Rozman, who goes by Gotham Chess and played for the American team, is among the most popular streamers in the world. He defended Nakamura and stated that the gesture was planned and promoted by the organizers. He claimed that Gukesh was aware of it as well.

“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. The winner of Gukesh and Hikaru’s game was supposed to toss the King into the fans. I don’t know if Gukesh would have done that. Hikaru spoke to Gukesh later and explained that it was all for show and no disrespect was meant,” said Rozman in a YouTube video.