After a poor performance in a freestyle chess event, D Gukesh, India’s emerging chess prodigy and recent World Chess Champion, is under unaccustomed scrutiny. Although his classical chess abilities are clear-cut, several fans and experts have questioned his general supremacy based on his poor performance in the less conventional freestyle style. This argument has generated a tempest in the chess community since ideas on whether freestyle chess should compromise a player’s world championship status are split. The circumstances has sparked new debates on whether performance in one style should represent a player’s legacy and how several chess forms should be appreciated.