After watching D Gukesh finish last at Norway Chess 2026, the World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura has one clear message for the reigning world champion: stop trying to be someone you are not.
D Gukesh, who turned 20 recently during the Norway Chess tournament in Oslo, had a very bad tournament. He scored 8 out of 10 points in a six-player field and lost five Classical games, including two against World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen.
He ended up at the bottom of the standings, but this didn’t shock Hikaru Nakamura at all. What disturbed him more was the playing style of D Gukesh.
Nakamura was quoted by Endgame AI, saying, “I wasn’t surprised to see him finish last, but what really surprised me about Gukesh’s event (Norway Chess) was his style of play. When I look at the match against Sindarov, the way that I see it is basically Gukesh, if he plays his game, has a very real chance to win the match.”
Hikaru Nakamura Warns D Gukesh
Mikhail Tal, the eighth World Chess Champion from the Soviet Union, is remembered as one of the most fearless attacking players in chess history.
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His chess game was purely built on sacrifices, complications, and positions that made opponents uncomfortable. He was nicknamed ‘The Magician from Riga’ for a reason.
If we look at Gukesh, his game style is purely different. He is sharp and tactical, but his strength has always come from grinding out positions, staying accurate, and finding the right moments to strike. This is the game play which got him the world title.
At Norway Chess 2026, Hikaru Nakamura feels that Gukesh has moved away from his original style of play and really needs to play his own game.
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He said, “Gukesh has to play his game. By his game, what I mean is that he needs to play a very solid tactical style where he needs to be solid, but in positions that lend themselves to tactics. “
He continued saying, “I feel like Gukesh continues to play like he’s Mikhail Tal or something. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be Mikhail Tal, but if he tries to play that style against Sindarov, he’s going to get blown off the board. Sindarov is a great tactical player who loves double-edged sharp positions, so I don’t really understand why Gukesh continues to try to play like that.”
Gukesh To Defend His World Championship Title
Gukesh’s form is really concerning, right now, for the Chess masters, as he needs to be all set to defend his World Championship title against Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov later this year.
Since winning the World Championship in December 2024, Gukesh has not won a single classical tournament.
At Tata Steel 2025, he finished second after losing the tiebreak to Praggnanandhaa.
Norway Chess 2025 gave him some relief, where he finished third and famously beat World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the classical format for the first time. But 2026 has been a different story entirely.
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He finished joint-last at the Prague Masters in March, and then last again at Norway Chess 2026, losing five classical games along the way. His FIDE rating has dropped to 2732, and he has slipped out of the world’s top 20.
Whereas the man waiting on the other side, Javokhir Sindarov, is in the form of his life. Javokhir Sindarov, 20, currently sits at World No. 5 with a FIDE rating of 2776.
He won the 2025 World Cup as its youngest-ever champion, then aced through the 2026 Candidates Tournament with an undefeated 10/1. He clinched the Candidates with a round to spare.
Right now, he is one of the most aggressive young players in the world, as someone who actively seeks messy, double-edged positions.
Trying to play like someone else against a player who thrives in exactly those positions would be giving Sindarov the benefit, and that is why Nakamura is worried about Gukesh.
He said, “Sindarov is a great tactical player who loves double-edged sharp positions, so I don’t really understand why Gukesh continues to try to play like that.”
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