Koneru Humpy has won Rapid and Blitz Championships. She is yet to win the Classical FIDE Candidates in her illustrious career. Image Credit: X/@humpy_koneru
Koneru Humpy is considering withdrawing from the FIDE Candidates, with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East proving to be a hazard for safety. She is one of the three Indians in the eight-player FIDE Candidates to be held in Cyprus. It is safe to say that the two-time World Rapid Chess Champion was India’s best player with the maximum chances to win the FIDE Candidates. With the tournament being scheduled to take place in Cyprus from the 28th of March, Humpy believes that there is no sense in travelling to West Asia with the conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States still ongoing and increasing by every passing day.
With the closure of Dubai International Airport, travel to and from the Gulf region has been disrupted. Multiple sporting events have already suffered due to the ongoing war. Formula 1 has already cancelled its Grand Prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Humpy, in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, talked about her decision. The 38-year-old talked about how FIDE should consider its decision to host the event in Cyprus. “It just doesn’t make any sense. It’s dangerous to travel to anywhere near West Asia at this point when there’s so much tension and uncertainty. The war started around a fortnight ago, it’s still ongoing and the tournament is less than two weeks away. I don’t think any official body would dare host an event in the region at this point,” Koneru said.
Cyprus was announced as the venue for the FIDE Candidates in November, around three months before the conflict in the Middle East region began. While it is Israel, along with the US, that has been in a war-like situation with Iran, the rest of the countries in the region have not been safe either. On the 1st of March, a British air base in Cyprus was hit by a drone. This drone attack set off a domino effect of flight cancellations in the country. Akrotiri, the base hit by the drone, is one of the two British airbases in the country, alongside Dhekelia.
With 16 of the top players across the men’s and women’s divisions scheduled to participate at the Candidates, it is one of the biggest events in the world of chess. The Indian Grandmaster believes that holding the tournament on the announced dates in Cyprus puts the safety of the players at risk. “From an organisational point of view, it’s just not the right call. As someone who’s spent decades in chess, I thought I should speak up. Irrespective of whether you’re a champion or not if you can’t speak up when the situation so demands, it means that you’ve learnt nothing from sport,” Humpy said.
She talked about how she reached out to FIDE after the drone attack on Akrotiri air base in Cyprus. Humpy said, “This was right after the drone attack on the air base and the strikes on Lebanon when flights to Cyprus were cancelled. Fide’s response was that they’re monitoring the situation on a day-to-day basis.”
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