D Gukesh defeated Hikaru Nakamura at the Clutch Chess Champions Showdown 2025, their first meeting since the king-toss controversy. After his win, Gukesh humbly shook hands and rearranged the board, earning praise for his grace and sportsmanship.
The reigning world champion, D Gukesh, has made the internet talk for his calm and grace after defeating American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura in the Clutch Chess Champions Showdown 2025 at St.Louis in the USA. This was the first face-off between Gukesh and Nakamura since the viral king-toss controversy during the exhibition event, Checkmate: USA vs India, earlier this month.
The 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster, who became the youngest world chess champion, displayed his composure and maturity as he defeated the American Grandmaster rapid format with confident and flawless endgame play, edging past Nakamura 1.5–0.5 to seal the match in style.
As usual, D Gukesh has always been calm and composed even in difficult situations, but the grace he showed in victory against Nakamura.
Gukesh’s Reply to Nakamura’s King-Toss Controversy
Earlier this month, the American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura sparked a massive controversy after he tossed D Gukesh’s King to the crowd after defeating the Indian chess star in the exhibition event, Checkmate: USA vs India. This raised questions about sportsmanship and respect in professional chess, with fans criticizing Nakamura’s behaviour as ‘disrespectful’ and ‘arrogant’.
However, D Gukesh was quite the opposite of what Nakamura displayed that day, choosing humility and grace over showmanship. Rarely, the 18-year-old shown any kind of emotional outburst, and this match was no different. After defeating Hikaru Nakamura, Gukesh humbly shook hands with the American Grandmaster, and what he did after caught the attention of the fans.
After shaking hands with Nakamura, D Gukesh rearranged the pieces on the board and even picked up fallen pieces before leaving the table, a simple yet powerful spoke volumes about his character.
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Interestingly, when Hikaru Nakamura tossed Gukesh’s King to the crowd after the win, the Indian Grandmaster rearranged the pieces to their original positions and left the board, the gesture spoke much louder than any reaction could.
‘Character Makes You a Champion’
D Gukesh’s gesture after defeating Hikaru Nakamura in the rapid format at Clutch Chess Champions Showdown 2025 has earned widespread praise from fans, who lauded him for his grace and humility, despite he was on the receiving end of disrespect from the American Grandmaster just weeks earlier.
Taking to their X handles (formerly Twitter), fans were quite vocal in their admiration for D Gukesh, as they hailed him for his composure and humility, calling him a ‘champion in character’, while others trolled Nakamura for his earlier antics, saying Gukesh had given him ‘perfect checkmate’ through his sportsmanship.
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Following Day 1 of the Clutch Chess Champions Showdown 2025, D Gukesh leads the standings with 4 / 6 points, ahead of Magnus Carlsen (3.5) and Hikaru Nakamura (3).