WATCH: Hikaru Nakamura tosses chess piece towards fans after thrashing D Gukesh in USA’s 5-0 exhibition win

Hikaru Nakamura tosses chess piece towards fans after thrashing D Gukesh

In the exhibition Checkmate: USA vs India chess tournament, World Champion D Gukesh lost to world No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura in a bullet game on Saturday (Sunday morning in India). The outcome saw India endure a 0-5 loss against USA.

Unlike traditional chess competitions, which are played in silence, the Checkmate: USA vs India exhibition chess match was held in Arlington Esports Stadium in Texas and permitted live spectators to shout and jeer during the matches.

After putting up a fierce fight against the American Grandmaster, Gukesh watched helplessly as Nakamura picked up a chess piece and flung it towards the audience applauding USA's victory over India, after ending the match in a checkmate.

HIKARU THROWS A PIECE TO THE CROWD TO CELEBRATE THE USA 5-0! @GMHikaru

What an event!! @CheckmateUSAIND pic.twitter.com/LGnM8JLulJ

— Chess.com (@chesscom) October 5, 2025

The final match was between Nakamura and Gukesh, but India were already 0-4 behind at that point. Arjun Erigaisi, the only Indian to surpass 2800 Elo points after Viswanathan Anand, lost the opening match against Fabiano Caruana in the exhibition match.

USA grabbed a 2-0 lead after International Master Ethan Vaz lost to 14-year-old Tanitoluwa Adewumi. Carissa Yip's triumph over Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh completed the victory for the hosts.

Popular chess streamer Levy Rozman (Gotham Chess) and Sagar Shah of Chessbase India had an intriguing match as well, with Rozman winning and extending the score to 4-0.

Gukesh put up a fierce battle against Nakamura, fighting out draws in the 10-minute and five-minute games with the weaker black pieces, even though he had nothing to fight for. But in the one-minute bullet game, which included a one-second increment per move, Nakamura ultimately prevailed.

On the 56th move, Nakamura played Qd8 and checkmated Gukesh on the final rank. Gukesh's King on f8 had no way out thanks to a white Bishop on b2.

All American players used the white pieces because the USA was the host nation. The reverse fixture, which will be in India, will feature Indian players with the white pieces.