Almost like a split running down the heart of chess, the sport finds itself divided over Hikaru Nakamura throwing D Gukesh’s king into the crowd after beating the world champion at an exhibition game in Texas. There has been a fair amount of criticism for the American who is currently the world no 2 in the ratings list, including from FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who accused Nakamura of damaging the game while calling the act as a “vulgarity”. Others, like Anish Giri, have Regardless of whether the act disrespected Gukesh or not, the incident has set the stage for future Gukesh vs Nakamura clashes to be spicy. So when are Gukesh and Nakamura facing off next over the board? Very soon. In fact, the next time Gukesh takes on Nakamura will be later this month at the St Louis Chess Club, where the two players will be joined by World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, and World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana in an event called Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown. The event will take place from October 27-29 in the newly-expanded Saint Louis Chess Club. The organisers have said that the format will be similar to another exhibition game that starts tomorrow between former world champions Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov. With $412,000 in prize money, including daily win bonuses and a Champion’s Jackpot, the stakes have never been higher. The event’s 18-game rapid double round-robin format (10 minutes plus a 5-second increment) will feature escalating point values each day: Wins are worth 1 point on Day 1, 2 points on Day 2, and 3 points on Day 3…a comeback-friendly format that cultivates increased tension and fan excitement into the very last round. Gukesh and Nakamura will also face off in the Global Chess League later in the year where they will be on the icon boards for their teams: Gukesh representing PBG Alaskan Knights and Nakamura turning out for the American Gambits. “Hikaru versus Gukesh is going to be an epic, especially since Magnus Carlsen is not playing. Hikaru versus Gukesh is basically the match to see in the GCL this season,” predicts Prachura, the co-owner of the Gambits in an interview with The Indian Express. The Checkmate: USA vs India exhibition event, where the controversy over Nakamura tossing Gukesh’s king into the crowd happened, will also return to India later this year for a return clash with India as hosts.
