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The Grandmaster played a match right in his hotel room
French chess player of Iranian origin Alireza Firouzja had to turn his hotel room into an improvised chess arena, playing a game in the second stage of the Grand Chess Tour world series in Bucharest against Uzbekistan representative Javokhir Sindarov while lying in bed. This is reported by «Glavcom».
Reason for the action
This unusual format of the duel was due to a serious ankle injury that Firouzja sustained backstage after a dramatic third round. Then, in an absolutely draw position, Alireza made a gross error and lost to Dutchman Anish Giri, after which both players were in an extremely excited psychological state. According to Giri, due to severe excitement, his opponent accidentally fell after the game and injured his leg. Due to the injury, the Frenchman could not go to the board in the fourth round against American Fabiano Caruana. However, the medical examination, fortunately, showed that there was no fracture or crack. After consulting with the team and the organizers of the Grand Chess Tour, he decided not to withdraw from the tournament, and the opponent in the fifth round, Javokhir Sindarov, and the judging panel gave their official consent to hold the match directly in the hotel.
Match details
While Firouzja lay on the mattress with his right leg propped up on pillows, Uzbek Grandmaster Sindarov sat opposite on an office chair, demonstrating absolute calm and complete concentration, as if it were a normal friendly game, not a super tournament with a prize fund of $475,000. The entire process was closely monitored by the arbiter, who sat next to the bed, and the installed cameras broadcast every move between the home floor lamp, the hotel blanket, and the abandoned sneakers on the floor to thousands of online viewers. As a result, the match turned out to be quite even and ended in a draw on the 58th move.
Ahead of the participants of the 10-player round-robin system is a day of rest, during which Firouzja and Caruana will try to play their missed match of the fourth round.
Recall that titled American grandmasters played chess underwater.