World Champion D. Gukesh will lead India against GM Hikaru Nakamura and the USA in a new five-board team match which will take place at the Esports Stadium in Arlington on October 4.
Titled ‘Checkmate: USA vs. India’, the event will also see GM Fabiano Caruana take on GM Arjun Erigaisi, including a duel between two of the world’s biggest chess ambassadors, IM Levy Rozman, known as GothamChess, and IM Sagar Shah, the Chessbase India founder.
IM Carissa Yip, one of the most exciting young players in U.S. chess, goes up against the world’s highest-rated female player under 21, 19-year-old IM Divya Deshmukh.
The full slate of five boards includes a mix of established stars, content creators, women’s champions, and junior prodigies. Team USA will be white on all boards for home advantage, while the second leg is expected to take place in India soon.
Matchups
Hikaru Nakamura (USA) vs. Gukesh Dommaraju (India)
Fabiano Caruana (USA) vs. Arjun Erigaisi (India)
Levy Rozman (USA) vs. Sagar Shah (India)
Carissa Yip (USA) vs Divya Deshmukh (India)
Tanitoluwa Adewumi (USA) vs. Ethan Vaz (India)
Basic rules
The match consists of 5 rounds, played sequentially, one board at a time. Each round follows this time control structure:
Regular Game: 10 minutes per player
If drawn → Overtime Game: 5 minutes per player
If drawn → Shootout Game: 1 minute per player
If drawn → Additional 1 min per player games until winner emerges
