Team USA beat Team India 5-0 on Saturday evening at the highly innovative Checkmate: USA vs India match in Arlington, Texas. In the last game of the day, GM Hikaru Nakamura defeated GM Gukesh Dommaraju, literally grabbed his opponent’s king, and threw it into a cheering crowd before waving his arms in the air, taking the concept of chess as a stadium sport to the next level.
The Checkmate: USA vs India exhibition match was another innovative take on what might be the future of competitive chess. Starting with the presence of a live audience—like at the Speed Chess Championship Finals, the Las Vegas Freestyle tournament and Esports World Cup—this time neither competitors nor spectators were wearing headsets. In fact, the audience was encouraged to make noise as long as they wouldn’t shout actual moves, and the players seemed to embrace the concept.
Perhaps even more impactful were some of the event-specific rules, such as the time control. It was 10 minutes per side and a one-second increment that was only added once a player dropped below one minute (a setting not supported by standard chess clocks). In case of a draw, five-minute and even faster games would follow.
Additionally, the organizers decided to get rid of not just draw offers (which we’re kind of used to) but also resignations (wait, what?). Games had to be played out until checkmate (or flagging) or until bare kings or otherwise theoretically drawn positions.
From the get-go, it was clear that we were watching something completely different from your typical, classical round-robin tournament. Both teams, consisting of top players, women’s champions, influencers, and rising stars, entered the playing hall wearing team jerseys and having to make their way through (and high-fiving) a cheering crowd as if we were witnessing a boxing match.
Fantastic scenes as Team India make their way into the Checkmate: India vs USA match – games start soon! The players are cheered on by a huge crowd as they come in. pic.twitter.com/JDDa69xpkN
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) October 5, 2025
The actual line-ups were as follows:
Also quite convenient for the spectators was the fact that just one game was played at a time, so the commentary could fully focus and explain things. The opener was played between Caruana and Arjun and straight away, the cheering of the spectators lifted the atmosphere as if we were witnessing an NBA match.
The noise would get even louder as Caruana, who had started the game with 1.c3, was building up a winning advantage. Afterward, he commented: “I was winning, the crowd knew I was winning, so I was really happy to hear all the noise!”
I was winning, the crowd knew I was winning, so I was really happy to hear all the noise!
—Fabiano Caruana
Fabiano Caruana takes down Arjun Erigaisi, and Team USA is now leading 1-0 against Team India! Up next is @ethanvaz_goa taking on @TaniAdewumi. pic.twitter.com/1X6OemAtcB
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) October 5, 2025
Next up were the rising stars, both of the same age: just 15 years old. For Team USA it was Adewumi, the Nigerian-born American international master who made headlines when he won the 2019 New York State K-3 Chess Championship while living in a homeless shelter as a refugee. He is now an international star, thriving in the chess community.
His opponent, Vaz, became the youngest IM in the world when he earned the title at the age of 12. He is from Raia, Goa. Last year, he won the gold medal in the under-16 category of the Commonwealth Chess Championship.
In the game, Vaz showed his fighting spirit as he turned down a possible move repetition and sacrificed an exchange instead. Then, in an absolutely wild position, Adewumi’s attack turned decisive as Vaz played a slightly careless pawn move on move 36 and his king got into trouble.
TANIIIIIII WITH THE WIN 🔥
2-0 TEAM USA 🇺🇸@CheckmateUSAIND pic.twitter.com/AsXNV264nZ
— Chess.com (@chesscom) October 5, 2025
So that was 2-0 for Team USA, and so the pressure was on for Team India. They would try to fight back with Women’s World Cup winner Desmukh, playing against three-time U.S. Women’s Champion Yip.
Asked about her level of confidence, Desmukh replied: “I’m pretty good!” But that could definitely be said about Yip too, who, earlier than expected, already clinched match victory with a third win for the U.S. Desmukh simply did not survive the opening and ended up losing on time in a lost position.
“I thought it was pretty clean after 14.Bd8 but things got a bit messy up there at the end… It’s for the fans!” joked Yip, adding: “No, Divya played really well I think, she came back from a pretty iffy position. I got really stressed at the end there.”
It’s for the fans!
—Carissa Yip
Carissa Yip takes the crown!!! 👑
She locks up the win for Team USA 🇺🇸, and there are still two more games to go!
Levy Rozman vs. Shah Sagar
Hikaru Nakamura vs. Gukesh Dommaraju pic.twitter.com/i5CgSEPSAh
— Chess.com (@chesscom) October 5, 2025
Influencers Rozman and Shah were next, and obviously the two knew how to please a crowd. Initially, Rozman allowed his opponent to choose his first move for him, when Shah asked the spectators instead to make that choice. It was 1.f4, and the game ended as the first draw of the day after a rather early repetition of moves, only after Rozman had asked the crowd if he should go for it.
They moved to a five-minute game next, which saw more principled chess from both players. In a Scotch Game, Shah won a pawn early on and should have been winning at several points, but severe time trouble for both players, with less than 10 seconds each, heavily influenced what followed. Rozman was even awarded an extra 15 seconds at some point after Shah had knocked over some pieces, and then the Indian GM blundered a piece and also flagged.
“The second game was exactly what we want to see, which is chaos, nonsense. I would have loved to play him also in bullet but that’s how it went,” said Rozman.
The second game was exactly what we want to see, which is chaos, nonsense.
—Levy Rozman
@GothamChess being the showman we’ve come to know and love pic.twitter.com/6F5kQBRvBL
— Chess.com (@chesscom) October 5, 2025
The final dish on the menu was the one with the biggest names. Nakamura and Gukesh started with a good, solid draw in which we saw a bishop endgame played out. Then, in the five-minute game, Nakamura played the crowd with his opening move 1.b4. Initially getting a nice space advantage on the queenside, he slowly got outplayed and Gukesh was winning for quite a while.
This game was also decided in what was horrendous time trouble for both players. There was simply not enough time to think clearly as the world champion blundered into a tactic related to his weak dark squares.
While the eval bar would jump up and down a few more times, Gukesh eventually allowed a mate in one just when he could have repeated moves for another draw, that would have forced a bullet game. Instead, Team USA set up an incredible 5-0 final score vs. Team India. Once again rising to the occasion, Nakamura took Gukesh’s king and threw it into the crowd.
Absolute Cinema by @GMHikaru🔥
Edit: @ram_abhyudaya#chess #chessbaseindia #gukesh #hikarunakamura pic.twitter.com/5TJV81WYgM
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) October 5, 2025
At the closing ceremony, the American players all received a watch made by Tag Heuer, the official timekeeper of the event. (It was the Carrera Chronograph, of which different models are priced in the range of 7,000-15,000 USD.)
Checkmate USA vs. India was a full-day chess festival with ticket holders not only able to watch games, but also getting the chance to visit a dedicated Fan Zone. Among the guests was Chess.com’s own Chief Chess Officer, IM Danny Rensch, who hosted a signing for his book release, Dark Squares, along with meeting and greeting fans.
BTS w/ your Checkmate champions 🇺🇸🥇 @CheckmateUSAIND pic.twitter.com/zmWPNQKD0X
— Carissa Yip (@carissayipchess) October 5, 2025
The 2025 Checkmate: USA vs. India exhibition match took place on October 4, 2025, in the Esports Arena in Arlington, Texas. Two teams of five players battled in 10+0 games but with a one-second increment as soon as the clock would go under a minute.
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