Hikaru Nakamura explained why he, Javokhir Sindarov, and Bibisara Assaubayeva were at the same hotel in Cyprus at the same time. Nakamura says that all participants of the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 were given vouchers.

The vouchers provide a one-week stay at the hotel where the event was held. Hikaru claims that their use of the vouchers at the same time is a coincidence. Nakamura notes that he was at a Chess.com event in Greece before checking into the hotel.

Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura

World's No. 2

“[Question: Judging from social media posts, you were both vacationing in Cyprus the same time as we were here around the same time. So, was it a coincidence?]

First of all, it’s the exact same days, which makes it even better. But yes, it was a coincidence. I was in the region because there was a Chess.com event in Greece nearby, so I thought I would go to Cyprus afterwards.

Every player as well as their trainer received a voucher for a free week at this Cap St. Georges Hotel in Paphos, Cyprus. And it just so happened, because I was in the region, I went. Javokhir used his week then. I think Bibisara also used her week.

Who knows if the other players are actually going to use it. I’m going to say just a little bit here. I think that the odds of it being more than maybe 50% is very low. I think probably at best 50% of the players or seconds will use that week.

I think the vast majority will not use that week because they’ll be too busy playing chess or not wanting to travel there. We’ll see, but it was a pure coincidence.

[Question: Have you played a couple of training games?]

I was not part of his team, no. I saw him. I saw his whole team. I saw many people at breakfast many days.

But it’s kind of something where it doesn’t feel appropriate. If he wanted to ask me, or people on his team wanted to, then that’s one thing. But I’m not going to interfere or bother them in terms of their routine. So, no, we didn’t play any games.

But as one other point, it was very unfortunate because there’s another player who could have shown up but didn’t show up. Because, ironically, at the same time that we were there, there was also this gambling conference.

And one of the big companies that was a sponsor of it or involved in this three-day event was Betby. Which, of course, as many people know, is a sponsor of Magnus Carlsen. So, it was kind of a great tragedy that Magnus wasn’t there doing something chess related at the same time as well.”

This situation became known from the chess players’ posts on social media in early October. Nakamura commented on the situation on October 15. Hikaru joked that he advised Javokhir about the meme opening Bongcloud Attack.

The FIDE World Championship 2026 is the crowning match to determine the World Champion. Match features defending Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Uzbek GM Javokhir Sindarov, the winner of the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026. The match will take place in Geneva, Switzerland from November 25 to December 15.

Credit: Michal Walusza / FIDE