India, Oct. 5 -- It has become a common mainstay for opponents to pull out the theatrics when it comes to D Gukesh. The reigning World Champion is arguably the most popular GM in the world currently, probably a bigger name than Magnus Carlsen, when it comes to media attention in recent times. Hikaru Nakamura was the latest to pull out a 'distasteful' stunt against the Indian GM, when he checkmated him on the board in a bullet game at the exhibition chess event, Checkmate: USA vs India. The Americans sealed a 5-0 clean sweep against the Indian team, but Nakamura's antics caught everyone's attention, as he threw Gukesh's King into the crowd in celebration after checkmating him.

Gukesh managed to muster draws in the 10-minute and five-minut...