Watch: Hikaru Nakamura Throws D Gukesh’s King In Wild Celebration After Chess Triumph

USA's Hikaru Nakamura throws India's D Gukesh’s king into the crowd after a dramatic win. Theatrics have been suggested to be pre-planned, but the gesture sparked backlash online.

Nakamura and Gukesh pictured during an earlier match-up in 2024

Source : PTI

India's D Gukesh took the chess world by storm of late after beating five-time World Champion, Magnus Carlsen. He is currently ranked 11th in the world, and while defeats are hard to come by, one loss did stroll in recently.

During a recent chess series between India and USA, Gukesh lost to Hikaru Nakamura. The latter celebrated his victory in a rather odd manner, chucking the former's King into the crowd.

Nakamura chucks Gukesh's King into the crowd: Watch

That moment when @GMHikaru Nakamura turned around a lost position and checkmated World Champion Gukesh - picking up and throwing Gukesh's king to the crowd, celebrating the 5-0 win of Team USA over Team India!

Video: @adityasurroy21 pic.twitter.com/GuIlkm0GIe

— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) October 5, 2025

This chess match was a close encounter, with the Indian chess-wiz having drawn the first two games against Nakamura, but an oversight in the final round resulted in a loss, leading to this wild celebration.

Nakamura's actions have attracted widespread criticism, with many questioning the need for such a gesture. 

Notably, while speaking with ChessBase India, he stated that he had already planned on throwing the King if he won, and hoped that the fans enjoyed it.

"From the start, if I won I was always gonna throw the King - the fact that it was a dramatic bullet game made it even better. I hope the fans enjoyed it"

Levy Rozman, another member of the USA chess team, also weighed in on the matter, suggesting that theatrics were a part of the plan from the get-go.

"Both teams were briefed that theatrics were encouraged and throwing kings, knocking them over etc to hype the crowd up was ok. it just so happened that hikaru won, and pretty sure he even spoke to/apologized to Gukesh backstage, saying it was all for show. "

both teams were briefed that theatrics were encouraged and throwing kings, knocking them over etc to hype the crowd up was ok. it just so happened that hikaru won, and pretty sure he even spoke to/apologized to Gukesh backstage, saying it was all for show. 👍🏻

— GothamChess (@GothamChess) October 5, 2025

Rozman had defeated India's Sagar Shah earlier in the same series.