 "Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri took a cheeky dig at Fide ahead of the 2026 Candidates tournament in Cyprus. Image credit: Fide")
Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri took a dig at Fide after the Lausanne-based governing body for chess finally addressed security concerns surrounding the upcoming Candidates tournament in Cyprus. Fide released a detailed FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on Tuesday addressing key security and infrastructure-related queries for the tournament that will be taking place at the Cap St. Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia from Saturday, 28 March.
The FAQ was shared two days after Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy withdrew from the Women’s Candidates citing security concerns over the tournament.
“FIDE finally giving a FAQ!” wrote Giri, who is among the eight Grandmasters in action in the ‘Open’ section, on X.
The security situation in Cyprus is due to its close proximity to the Middle East, where it’s been nearly a month since USA and Israel declared war on Iran with a series of preemptive strikes. And a suspected drone attack on a British military base in the Mediterranean island nation earlier this month further heightened security concerns.
Fide sticks to Cyprus for 2026 Candidates
Humpy, incidentally, wasn’t alone on her stance. World No 2 Hikaru Nakamura, too, had voiced concern over extended power cuts in the island nation. Additionally, a poker tournament that was scheduled to take place in Cyprus starting 25 April was called off.
Despite Humpy’s exit a week before the tournament, Fide has remained steadfast in its decision to host the Candidates in Cyprus, and are unlikely to put it on hold or move it out of the country altogether unless the situation becomes similar to that of Iran or other parts of the Gulf and the Levant regions including Lebanon.
Humpy’s exit leaves three Indians in the fray across the ‘Open’ and ‘Women’ sections; while R Praggnanandhaa is the lone Indian representative in the former, Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali are keeping the tricolour flying high in the women’s section.