A graphic comparing the USA and India with flags, titled 'Checkmate: USA vs India - Two nations, one winner'.

USA VS. INDIA

Saturday October 4th 2025, 6:00pm

E-Sports Stadium Arlington, Texas

Partners

Single Key Logo - Black and white line drawing of a key.
Black and white logo with a cube icon on the left and the words 'TAKE' repeated three times in bold, stylized font on the right.
Simplified black and white icon - Texas Chess Center Logo.
Logo of Arlington Chess Club with stylized chess knight and text.
A chess king piece decorated with the American flag pattern of stars and stripes.
Black and white portrait of a smiling Hikaru with a beard, wearing a checked shirt and a dark blazer.

  • Christopher Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess grandmaster, streamer, and five-time U.S. Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2816, Nakamura achieved the tenth highest rating in history.

    World #2 / USA #1
    World #1 Chess Streamer
    Grandmaster

Fabiano Caruana with curly hair, glasses, smiling, wearing a suit and white shirt.

  • Fabiano Luigi Caruana is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana achieved the fifth highest rating in history.

    World #5 / USA #2
    WC Runner Up (2018)
    Grandmaster

Carissa Yip with long dark hair smiling outdoors in black and white.

  • Carissa Shiwen Yip is an American chess player and the winner of the 2021, 2023, and 2024 U.S. Women's Chess Championship

    USA Women's #1
    World Women's #35
    International Master

Levy Rozman with glasses and a beard playing chess, looking directly at the camera with a focused expression.

  • Levy Rozman, known online as GothamChess, is an American chess player, content creator, commentator, and author. Often referred to as "The Internet's Chess Teacher" he produces content on the online platforms Twitch, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube

    Creator - GothamChess
    World #1 Chess Youtuber
    International Master

Tani Adewumi in a suit with arms crossed, standing indoors, in front of a textured wall, at a formal event.

  • Tanitoluwa "Tani" Adewumi is a Nigerian-American chess prodigy and International Master-elect. He first made headlines in 2019 when, at just 8 years old, he won the K-3 New York State Chess Championship while living in a homeless shelter. That experience inspired his book, "My Name Is Tani . . . and I Believe in Miracles," sharing his journey of resilience, hope, and determination. Tani’s remarkable story and rapid rise in the chess world continue to inspire people around the globe.

     14-Year-Old Prodigy
    1x N.A. U12 Youth Chess Champion,
    IM Elect

Illustration of a chess king piece with the colors of the Indian flag: orange at the top, white in the middle with a blue Ashoka Chakra, and green at the bottom.
Gukesh Dommaraju with a beard smiling, wearing a suit jacket , outdoors with a blurred landscape background.

  • Gukesh Dommaraju is an Indian chess grandmaster and the reigning World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, Gukesh is the youngest undisputed world champion. He earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 12.

    World Champion 2024
    World #3 / India #1
    Grandmaster

Arjun Erigaisi with dark hair and a beard, wearing a suit and a white shirt, smiling at a chessboard in black and white.

  • Arjun Kumar Erigaisi is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 13 days. In December 2024 he achieved his peak rating of 2801. Which was the fifteenth highest rating in history. He is sometimes referred as the 'Mad man' of the board

    World #4 / India #2
    Grandmaster

Divya Deshmukh with long dark hair sitting at a table with a chessboard, smiling at the camera.

  • Divya Deshmukh is an Indian chess player who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster and International Master. She is a three-time gold medalist at the Olympiad. Deshmukh has also won multiple golds at the Asian Championship, the World Junior Championship as well as the World Youth Championship.

    U20 Women World Champion
    World Women's #19
    International Master

Sagar Shah with glasses and a beard smiling while playing chess, wearing a dark blazer and a t-shirt, in a room with what appears to be bookshelves or soundproof panels.

  • Sagar Shah is an Indian chess, player, journalist, commentator, and YouTuber who holds the title of International Master (IM). He co-founded ChessBase India in late 2015 with his wife Amruta Mokal.

    Creator - ChessBase India
    International Master

Ethan Vaz smiling at a chessboard with chess pieces set up for a game, in a classroom or competition setting.

  • Ethan Vaz is an Indian chess player who holds the title of International Master. A chess prodigy, he achieved the International Master title at the age of 12, becoming the youngest player in the world hold the title at the time

    13 Year Old Prodigy
    International Master

Format

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

  • There will be an increment

This is Leg 1, with a return match in India at a later date.

American players will play white on all boards for home advantage

Black and white photo of Aris Marghetis, wearing a suit and tie, with a name tag that reads 'Chief, Open Section, Aris Marghetis, FIDE International Arbiter.'

  • Referee

    International Arbiter (IA)

    International Organizer (IO)

    FIDE Rules Commission (RC) Councillor

    FIDE Arbiters' Commission (ARB)

    Lecturer / Education (EDU) Team