Joint statement concerning Hikaru Nakamura’s failure to attend press conference following Round 6

March 19, 2016 — Moscow, Russia — Following Round 6 of the Candidates Tournament, Hikaru Nakamura, one of the eight competitors in the field, failed to appear at the official press conference for the round. By not appearing, he breached two important Candidates Tournament regulations governing player attendance at press conferences.

As a result he will be fined 10% of his eventual tournament winnings.

Zurab Azmaiparashvili, FIDE Supervisor for the Candidates Tournament, said: “Rules are rules. They are clearly communicated to the players and their teams prior to the start of each tournament. Players are not at liberty to pick and choose which rules they want to follow."

Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive of Agon, the organiser of the Candidates Tournament, said: “I realize that Mr Nakamura was upset by what had happened in his game. Yet it is following these moments of high drama and controversy that chess fans particularly want to hear from the players involved. We had a very large global audience on worldchess.com that was left disappointed by Mr Nakamura’s failure to abide by the Tournament rules. 

Near the end of his Round 6 match, Mr Nakamura touched his king and in accordance with the laws of chess, he was obliged to then move it. He quickly resigned his match against Levon Aronian as a direct result.

The relevant FIDE regulations concerning players’ media obligations are as follows: 

3. 12. 2 All players are required to make themselves available for post-game press conferences, of not more than 20 minutes duration, immediately after the game. All winners and medalists are obliged to attend the final press conference after the event has ended and to provide an exclusive interview for the FIDE website, if requested by the FIDE Press Officer. Players violating these rules will be subjected to the penalties mentioned in the event regulations.

3. 11. 2 If a player fails to appear at the Players' Meeting, the Opening or Closing Ceremony or any approved function of the Championship such as official receptions, press conferences or interviews, or conducts himself in a manner contrary to the spirit of sportsmanship or the FIDE Code of Ethics, then he shall suffer the following penalty: 5% of his prize money shall be forfeited to the Organisers and a further 5% to FIDE for each breach. In cases of serious misconduct the player may be disqualified from the event and the World Chess Championship cycle. 

For the background on the story go on http://worldchess.com/2016/03/18/jadoube-or-touch-move/