Candidates Chess walking controversy: Arbiter ‘shoes’ away Firouzja

New competition, another chess controversy. In the ongoing Candidates in Canada, Alireza Firouzja, one of the contenders, was in the eye of a storm thanks to a shoe. A look at the incident and why it generated heat. Here’s what happened…

What happened?

In the ninth round of the event, Firouzja, the French-Iranian GM, took a walk during his match against Ian Nepomniachtchi on Sunday. Sometime during the match-up, an arbiter warned the 20-year-old as ‘his shoes were making a lot of noise’. Firouzja had a small advantage during the match but allowed his opponent to escape with a draw.

How did Firouzja react to the warning?

He claimed that the arbiter’s words made him lose focus. “Shameful action by the chief arbiter Marghetis towards me during the game,” he tweeted. “Middle of the game, in the most intense moment when I was walking during Ian’s move, the chief arbiter came to me and told me to not walk any more because my shoe is making noise on the wooden floor. He told me to not walk and bring new shoes for tomorrow (Round 10) but I have the formal shoe that is approved and I have been wearing it for more than 1 year. This was a big distraction for me during the game and I completely lost my focus. I told one of the organisers this arbiter needs to be punished.”

(When asked if they were high heels by one of the respondents on the social media site, he replied: “It’s a normal formal men’s shoe. In the women section they are wearing high heels and no action by arbiter.”)