"FIDE told Nepo that he can't come with his thermos anymore..." — Former Ian's Coach Vitiugov

Nikita Vitiugov

English GM

“I don’t know if Ian keeps this habit these days, but back then he was coming to a game with his thermos. First, I had to buy this special Chinese tea. And not just one, but a few of them. Second, of course, it’s very important to be able to make a good brew. You know, the proportions and everything. I finally kind of mastered it during the event.

And at some moment, someone on the internet realized that his thermos has this logo of Norilsk Nickel, the company of a Russian oligarch who got under sanctions, maybe immediately in the spring of 2022. And so, a wave of anger came up. And someone from FIDE approached Nepo and told him he can’t come with his thermos anymore to the next round.

Obviously, it was very important psychologically. We are all creatures of habit. For a chess player, when you have a routine, and it’s working — it’s very important to have it. It should be up to you, not up to them, to change it. And of course, I just completely stopped checking some lines, and I rushed to the nearest store to buy a new, neutral thermos. I was certain it would be a big psychological blow for Ian.

Of course, moves matter, right? But we still have these ‘points of power’. Important things which we stand on. And this was one of them. So, it was clear to me that it was more important than checking some random opening.”