FIDE Candidates Tournament: French GM Alireza Firouzja and His Father Caught In Controversy, Here's Why

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FIDE Candidates Tournament: The controversy surrounding Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja in Toronto is showing no signs of dying as the Iran-born French chess star and his father, Hamidreza, find themselves caught in the eye of a storm which isn't going to end anytime soon.

A day after Alireza's claim on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he received a warning from the chief arbiter at the Candidates Tournament 2024 for the noise generated by his shoes during games, FIDE's Technical delegate for the event has now alleged that the number one-ranked French chess player's father made threats to involve the police if he was not permitted to watch his son's games from the balcony of the playing hall whenever he desired.

Reports from the venue indicated that Alireza's father, Hamidreza, was escorted out of the playing arena during Round 10 at the Great Hall. Alireza's defeat to Fabiano Caruana in Round 10 placed him seventh in the standings among the eight players. FIDE Candidates Tournament: Gukesh D plays a draw with Nepomniachtch as both stay joint leaders, Vaishali picks up her first win; Player Standings After Round 10

Why FIDE allowed only 15 minutes for fans in the viewing gallery?

Grandmaster Pavel Tregubov, FIDE's Technical delegate, provided insights to a reporter from Chess24 about the latest controversy. Tregubov explained that concerns were raised by some players' entourages during the technical meeting before the event regarding the presence of a viewing gallery for fans in the playing arena, from where information could be relayed in real-time to individuals outside, potentially facilitating cheating.

Consequently, access to the venue for players' entourages was prohibited for the first seven rounds. However, Alireza's father expressed dissatisfaction with this arrangement during the second round, prompting a reconsideration.

Firozja's father kicked off another controversy

Despite positive feedback and a trial period of allowing team members access to the playing hall in the initial 15 minutes of play, Hamidreza's subsequent actions led to a confrontation, with threats to involve law enforcement if his demands weren't met.

Regarding Alireza's future participation in the tournament, Tregubov stated a willingness to be flexible. However, it was later announced that he would be leaving the event.

Firozja asked to remove shoes by FIDE arbiter

In a separate incident, during Round 9, Alireza faced off against Ian Nepomniachtchi, who found himself in a difficult position but managed to secure a draw, maintaining his joint lead in the standings.

Alireza took to Twitter after the game, criticising the chief arbiter for actions he deemed disruptive, further contributing to the ongoing controversy.

Alireza posted on X, "Shameful action by the chief arbiter Marghetis towards me during the game. Middle of the game in the most intense moment when I was walking during Ian move, the chief arbiter, came to me and told me to not walk anymore because my shoe is making noise on the wooden floor.

"He told me to not walk and bring new shoes for tomorrow but i have the formal shoe that is apporved and am wearing it for more than 1 year. This was a big distraction for me during the game and i completly lost my focus. I told one of the organiser this arbiter needs to be punished.

"Honestly all these unprofessional things are happening to me in almost every tournament and really its taking me to point of exucstion."

Reacting over Alireza's tweet, Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri wrote, on X, "What's exucstion, is it like covfefe and disquasting, or is it something else?"