Vantika Agrawal pulls out of 3rd President Cup A in Uzbekistan midway

Indian chess player Vantika Agrawal pulled out of the third International President Cup A in Uzbekistan on Sunday due to the arbiter's faulty result publication.

International Master Vantika, who won the Chess Olympiad with the Indian women's team earlier this year, started the tournament with 1.5 out of a possible 2. She drew her third-round game and submitted the scoresheet with the correct result to the tournament's arbiter.

However, to her surprise, the arbiter listed her game as a loss after the third round. Upon discovering their mistake Vantika immediately approached the organizers and sought correction of the result.

However, the arbiter refused to correct the error citing FIDE’s rule that pairings once published cannot be altered.

In the wake of this development, an annoyed Vantika decided to withdraw from the event.

"I have withdrawn from the tournament. I can’t continue playing in a tournament where wrong result and pairings has been published because of arbiter’s fault and there is no way to correct it inspite of immediate information. There is no guarantee that this will not happen again," Vantika wrote on X.

Earlier, the 22-year-old sought rule change and wrote on Instagram, "FIDE should change this rule with immediate effect. This time I am the victim, next time anyone else could be. I don’t want anyone to suffer like me. If anyone is fighting for a GM norm, such mistakes can easily affect their chances. Because of this FIDE rule, the arbiter can change the result or pairing anytime at their will and claim it’s FIDE’s rule that pairings can’t be changed."

“The whole thing became so stressful for me,” she shared. "If it is the arbiter's mistake, why should I suffer? I have spent a lot of money to play in this tournament," she asked.