Chess
Women’s Candidates 2026: Koneru Humpy likely to pull out
Security concerns due to ongoing war in West Asia has prompted the Indian to consider skipping the Cyprus event.
Koneru Humpy (Photo credit: FIDE)
Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy is likely to give the Women’s Candidates 2026 a miss due to the ongoing war involving the US-Israel alliance and Iran.
The tournament, to be held alongside the Candidates Tournament 2026, is scheduled to take place in Cyprus from March 28 to April 16. Humpy is part of the eight-player field for the Women’s Candidates.
“It just doesn’t make any sense. It’s dangerous to travel 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,” the two-time world rapid champion was quoted as saying by HT.
Humpy has reached out to FIDE, the world chess body, expressing concerns over the safety of holding the tournament in Cyprus.
However, FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky clarified that Cyprus is not involved in the conflict and that there are currently no plans to change the venue.
“Our plans have not changed. We are in the final stages of preparing the Candidates Tournament. Of course, we are monitoring the situation. Cyprus is not too far from the conflict zone, but at the same time it is not directly involved in any way and is not in a state of war,” Sutovsky was quoted as saying by ChessBase India.
Cyprus was confirmed as the venue for the FIDE Candidates 2026 in November last year.
Apart from Humpy, Divya Deshmukh and Vaishali Rameshbabu will be representing India.