Indian chess star Koneru Humpy is set to pull out of the Women’s Candidates 2026, but the prestigious Fide Candidates 2026 and the women’s tournament will go ahead as planned from 28 March in Cyprus, despite a recent drone attack on a British air base, the CEO of the chess global body – CEO Emil Sutovsky – has confirmed.

While Cyprus was picked as a venue for Fide Candidates 2026 last November, the situation has changed rapidly after the USA and Israel launched attacks on Iran. On 1 March, a British air base was hit by a drone. While European warships and Turkish fighter jets are guarding the Mediterranean island, there have been serious question marks over whether it should be hosting the Candidates, which will decide the next challenger for the World Chess Championships.

Fide says Candidates 2026 will be played in Cyprus

Speaking to ChessBase India, Fide CEO Emil Sutovsky has clarified that Cyprus is not involved in war, hence there are no plans to change the venue for the tournament.

“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, let’s say, the war zone or conflict zone, but at the same time, it is not directly involved in any way and is not in a state of war,” Sutovsky said.

“There is no emergency situation or anything like that. Of course, about ten days ago there were some worrying news, but since then the situation has appeared quite calm.

“But we are, of course, not just hoping that nothing will happen. We are constantly monitoring the situation and also staying in contact with the state authorities who are assisting us with everything related to the tournament.”

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Sutovsky added that tournament postponement or venue change is possible, but that would only happen if the situation worsens from here.

“We are considering various scenarios, even the most unlikely ones. But we firmly believe that the current situation provides no grounds or reasonable reasons to postpone the date or move the tournament from Cyprus.

“Could something happen? Possibly. But at the moment, we don’t see anything even remotely dangerous enough to consider moving it.”

Koneru Humpy slams Fide over lack of action

Meanwhile, Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy, who is the third Indian in the Women’s Candidates along with Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali, is unlikely to participate in the Cyprus tournament, considering the tension in West Asia.

“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,” Koneru Humpy told Hindustan Times. “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.”

Humpy also slammed Fide for sticking with the pre-decided calendar despite a war breaking out in West Asia.

“From an organisational point of view, it’s just not the right call. It’s one of the most crucial tournaments and you have just 16 top players (combining Open and Women) to think of, why not look at alternatives and different dates? As someone who’s spent decades in chess, I thought I should speak up. Irrespective of whether you’re a champion or not if you can’t speak up when the situation so demands, it means that you’ve learnt nothing from sport.”

For the unversed, R Praggnanandhaa is the only Indian Grandmaster in the Fide Candidates 2026. The winner will face world champion D Gukesh in the World Chess Championship.