American chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura began streaming on Twitch in 2018 under the username "GMHikaru." Since then, he has developed into one of the website's most prominent chess-based content creators. Most recently, he became part of a controversy at Checkmate, an exhibition match between the USA and India, which was held on October 4, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. The controversy sparked after Hikaru Nakamura grabbed and threw Gukesh Dommaraju’s king into the crowd after beating him via checkmate in a round of speed chess. The time control was 10 minutes per player, with a one-second increment triggered only after a player’s clock fell below one minute. The scene leading up to Nakamura's stunt was intense, featuring a series of quick back-and-forths between the two country representatives. The climax came as Nakamura smirked in victory and Gukesh looked away, dejected. Nakamura then stood up and tossed Gukesh's king into the crowd. Russian chess grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik later took to X and criticized Hikaru for his celebration, saying:"This is not just vulgarity, but already a diagnosis of the degradation of modern chess." Nakamura, in his breakdown of the Checkmate matches, responded to the backlash, mentioning that despite the controversy, the event was "one of the best in-person experiences" he's had:"This was one of the best in-person experiences I've ever had. As someone who has been playing chess for a very long time, some would say that having fans cheering for you is very distracting. But ultimately, I think for most of us, it was a very positive experience because when we play chess, we're so used to enjoying our victories and our losses on our own. And chess at times can be a very, very lonely job."Hikaru Nakamura's stunt at Checkmate was reportedly staged[Timestamp - 27:29]YouTuber and competitive chess player Levy Rozman, who goes by GothamChess on YouTube, shared his breakdown of Checkmate and mentioned that Nakamura's celebration was encouraged by the event planners beforehand:"Without context, it seems like Hikaru did that unprovoked, and it was like some really disrespectful gesture, but we were encouraged to do that stuff." Further, Rozman explained that even his matchup against Sagar Shah was scripted to end similarly:"The winner of our match, me and Sagar, was supposed to also break the king. That was kind of the point, like, you know, this kind of entertainment angle... I don't know if Gukesh would have done that, but Hikaru decided to do it. That was not unprompted."Overall, Rozman mentioned that Nakamura apologized to Gukesh:"[Nakamura] even spoke to Gukesh after and was like, 'Look, that was obviously all for show, and I didn't mean any disrespect.' But the people at home don't know that."In late 2024, Tristan Tate applauded World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, claiming that he "deserved more recognition."