Bengaluru: Koneru Humpy – one among three Indians in the eight-player field of the Women’s Candidates – says she’s unlikely to play the tournament scheduled in Cyprus later this month, given the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran.
In an exclusive chat with HT, the two-time world rapid champion said: “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.”
Cyprus was announced as the host of the Candidates tournament last November. Both the Open and Women’s Candidates – they will decide who battles the reigning classical world champion and women’s world champion – are scheduled to be held simultaneously from March 28-April 16. The island nation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea is to the south of Turkey, and north west of Israel and Lebanon.
The US-Israel attacks on Iran and subsequent retaliatory strikes has put the country on alert. On March 1, a drone hit a British air base in Cyprus and set off a spate of flight cancellations. Cyprus is home to two British air bases, Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Following the strike on Akrotiri, European warships along with Turkish fighter jets and air defense systems gathered around Cyprus to form a protective cordon, further heightening apprehensions among those in the country.
Humpy reached out to the world chess body Fide expressing her concerns over the safety of the tournament being held in Cyprus.
“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. Since they have already announced the tournament, irrespective of the players’ safety, it appears Fide wants to go ahead with it without taking the current situation into account.
“From an organisational point of view, it’s just not the right call. It’s one of the most crucial tournaments and you have just 16 top players (combining Open and Women) to think of, why not look at alternatives and different dates? 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.”
In an interview to Chessbase India, Fide CEO Emil Sutovsky said that “at the moment we don’t see anything even remotely dangerous to think about rescheduling the event”.
For Humpy, a trailblazer who became the world’s youngest female Grandmaster at 15 and then rose to world No.2 and has won both the world rapid and blitz crowns, a classical world title has been missing. She qualified for this year’s Candidates after finishing runner-up in the 2025 Women’s World Cup.
“The Candidates means a lot to me. It might even be my last Candidates. I’m already 39 and there’s no guarantee I’ll qualify again or I may not even be professionally active. Who knows? But I think it’s only fair to look at the larger picture. I was in a dilemma about pulling out because I worked hard for two years to qualify for the Candidates and have spent months training for it. I’ve been following the news closely and speaking to family and friends. I don’t think it makes sense to risk yourself to play one tournament.”
Humpy has her flight ticket to Cyprus ready so she can travel if tensions ease.
“I’ll be flying via Frankfurt instead of Doha in case things improve and there’s a ceasefire. I have the right to play till the last moment and I wanted to be ready for the tournament. At this point though, it doesn’t seem like the situation is getting any better.
“At the end of the day, life is bigger than sport.”
