Despite the limitations and extremities of holding the first OTB tournament of the year and at a location that was dampened by an extended lockdown and political turmoil, Tata Steel organized a laudable event in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, in the second half of January 2021.
Yet, the chess tournament that commenced on the 15th of Jan and ended on the 31st couldn’t escape the tangled cobweb of controversy. An incident involving 17-year-old chess talent Alireza Firouzja partly overshadowed the historic triumph of the 21-year-old Jorden van Foreest.
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It all began in the last round when the arbiters approached Firouzja and his opponent Radek Wojtaszek to ask if they could shift to another table down the row to make way for the playoff.
Meanwhile, Anish Giri had brought David Anton to a draw while Jorden van Foreest had scored over Nils Grandelius. It was a rare moment for chess where the field was ready for a playoff between the two Dutch talents and on the Dutch soil. It would be the second in Wijk aan Zee's history of 83 years after Magnus Carlsen defeated Anish Giri in the 2018 playoff.
As for Alireza, who was scoring towards a win against Radoslaw Wojtaszek, he found it offensive that the organisers were interfering in his game and possible victory to make way for the Dutch men’s face-off. He had the opportunity for a tie for first on 8.5/13. And a win would have been sure, but would lose the chance to play for the title thanks to a bad Berger- Sonneborn tiebreak.
For Firouzja there were ample rewards:
He would match the 17-year-old Carlsen's feat in Wijk against Levon Aronian
Could get promoted to world no. 11 – in the threshold of becoming one among the top ten.
The sweet reward of 3rd place and the prize money.
For the organisers, as per the regulations, the playoff was scheduled for 18:00 and, it was mentioned in the previous update of the official website that other games would be shifted, if required, to another part of the venue. The arbiters had followed that plan accordingly when they suggested that the game between Firouzja and Wojtaszek be moved to another table.
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But the suggestion sparked fire both with the young player as well as his fans. The incident did not go well with many of the avid followers of the event and also with some of the eminent players.
Alireza’s brother who was streaming the game live got angry and reacted with angry comments. Hikaru Nakamura on social media shouted “justice for Firouzja”, and spoke harshly against the organisers commenting that the incident was “100 percent wrong” and that it should never have happened”.
Many others raised the question of whether the organisers would have suggested the same to the champion Magnus Carlsen or the legendary Garry Casparov.
FIDE supports the organisers; Tata Steel apologises
FIDE authorities’ had a mixed response to the incident. Vice President Nigel Short opined that some arbiters may not be up to the task while the Director General Emil Sutovsky was defensive about the organisers. He appreciated the way Tata Steel had organised the event amidst difficult conditions and openly posted his dislike over the entire hype on his Twitter handle. He remarked that the outcry to crucify the arbiter isn’t fair. He added that the time for tie-break could have been better arranged though that doesn’t in any way overshadow the fabulous job done by Tata Steel.
Following the protests and accusations, Tata Steel Chess came forward to offer apologies to both Firouzja and Wojtaszek. They said that they “deeply regret the unrest around the situation”. In their statement on Twitter, they explained that the incident would serve as a learning experience for them on avoiding similar unpleasant circumstances happening in the future.
In their apology, Tata Steel explained that the players had been briefed about the starting time in case of a tiebreak. And out of courtesy to both the players, the arbiter waited till the 60th move to approach them and enquire if they would like to continue the game at another table so that Giri and Foreest could proceed with their match. But the decision was up to the players.
Tata Steel said they deeply regret the disturbance the incident has caused Firouzja and that the Tournament Director had clarified matters with both the players and offered his apologies. They ensured that they would consider the tiebreak procedures gravely so as to avoid further situations and hurt the players’ feelings.
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For Firouzja, it is not the first time to be caught up in controversy. During the World Blitz Championship 2019, the young player had dramatically lost to Magnus Carlson a game where he was in an "unlosable" position.
Firouzja stirred up an argument where he wrongly claimed the rules of chess. He made controversy by going for an appeal stating that Carlsen had distracted him by talking during the game. As the video footage didn't support his claims, the appeal was rejected.
Winding Up
In the Tata Steel Chess, the five draws at the end of the event placed him in 5th place after Esipenko and Caruana. Nevertheless, Alireza Firouzja had once more proven his mettle as a huge talent and we will see the brilliant player at the helm of chess in the years to come.
Despite the single controversy in the final round, Tata Steel can be proud of the fact that they managed to pull off an otherwise impeccable event – the first OTB of the year amidst the pandemic cloud and in the words of Chief organiser Jeroen van den Berg, “the most challenging tournament that he organised in two decades.”
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