Gukesh, the World Chess champion, is at the centre of an unusual chess controversy after American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura tossed his king into the crowd during their exhibition match at Checkmate: USA vs India in the United States.
However, following the incident, Nakamura has defended himself, stating that the act was meant purely for entertainment and that he did not intend any disrespect towards his opponent.
“It was not an insult… If it were a serious event, like the Candidates, of course, you would never do such a thing. Nobody would! It doesn’t matter if it was Magnus Carlsen, Hans Niemann, Anish Giri, or me. But this was a purely entertainment event,” Nakamura said on his YouTube stream.
Clarifying further, the 36-year-old said that the organisers had encouraged players to “throw the king into the fans or even break it” to make the show match more engaging for spectators.
“No player would ever do such a thing in a serious chess tournament,” he added.
Explaining the moment, Nakamura said, “Because of the way the king is shaped, I could not really throw the king like a baseball. If the king were like a baseball, I would have probably thrown it halfway deep. But with the king, I could have actually hurt someone. And there was no other way to give it to the fans… unless I was going to walk and hand it over.”
With a reverse fixture reportedly set to be held in India later this year, Nakamura even offered Gukesh a lighthearted idea for a celebration. “Assuming we go to India and play a match in India. I would tell you what Gukesh should do if he wins. He should stand up, they should queue up the Bollywood music, and he should start dancing or something. He should start dancing on the chessboard in front of me. Something like that. And that would not insult me. That would be no insult whatsoever,” he said.