Denis Lazavik commented on his recent statements about Hikaru Nakamura, Abhimanyu Mishra, and women. Lazavik claims that his statements were humorous and absurd. Denis notes that he does not consider the situation serious. Lazavik spoke about it in an interview with a correspondent from the Chess with Mustreader channel.

Denis Lazavik

Denis Lazavik

Belarus' No. 1

“It was kind of a joke, just irony. I don’t remember with how serious faces we said it. I just thought that when you say something absurd with a serious face, it should be understood.

Because it’s clear that Nakamura is one of the best chess players in the world. And when you say that he doesn’t know how to play, it’s probably clear that you do not mean anything serious. The whole stream was like that. We didn’t discuss very serious topics, I joked here, joked there.

Maybe, when it’s all taken out of context, it should have been rephrased, probably. About women, about Nakamura, all of that. I do not think it is anything serious. Probably, it’s even interesting to get such an experience.

There were a couple of streams with my friend Yaroslav. I probably said some things before that too, but nobody watched them. Now I have apparently won a couple of tournaments, and people started following. And the right people saw it and posted these quotes, and then they spread.

At least I will keep in mind that this can happen in the future.”

Denis Lazavik made a series of statements in an interview on the Chess Yaroslav YouTube channel. Lazavik commented on his win over Hikaru Nakamura in the semifinal of the EWC 2026, on Abhimanyu Mishra’s statement about difficulties with financial support, and on the division of Mikhail Shereshevsky’s chess training camps into men’s and women’s.

Credit: Michal Walusza / FIDE