Bedside manners – chess grandmaster Alireza Firouzja takes fight to the mattress
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Indian chess grandchess Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (left), the world defending champion, makes the first move with the white pieces against Iranian-French chess grandmaster Alireza Firouzja on the first competion day for the 1-st stage of Grand Chess Tour - 'Super Chess Classic Romania 2026' - held at the National Bank of Romania Palace in Bucharest, Romania on May 14, 2026.
PHOTO: EPA
PARIS, May 18 - Alireza Firouzja traded the tournament hall for a hotel room on Monday, stretched out across a bed with his injured ankle raised on a pillow while fellow chess grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov sat opposite him in an office chair, turning the Bucharest leg of the Grand Chess Tour into something closer to a late-night blitz session between friends.
After suffering the injury over the weekend and missing Sunday’s game against Fabiano Caruana, France's Firouzja returned to action in surreal fashion, playing from his room with the board balanced on a small bedside table as arbiters, cameras and online viewers peered into an improvised battleground.
The image of the Iranian-born Firouzja in red shorts and black T-shirt for his round-five game quickly spread across social media.
Uzbek Sindarov, meanwhile, appeared entirely unfazed, calmly leaning over the board while Firouzja played horizontally from his mattress, creating a scene that may become one of the enduring images of this year’s tour.
For a sport built on ritual, silence and immaculate playing halls, it was gloriously absurd as world-class chess unfolded not beneath chandeliers and sponsor boards, but between a bedside lamp, a hotel duvet and a pair of abandoned training shoes.
The Bucharest leg of the Grand Chess Tour is a 10-game round-robin tournament that started on Thursday. Caruana and Firouzja will play their game in hand on Tuesday's rest day. REUTERS
