“Things happen in the heat of the moment…” — Nihal on Ohanyan’s Middle Finger at Titled Tuesday

Armenian GM Emin Ohanyan reacted after losing to Indian GM Nihal Sarin and showed middle finger during the Titled Tuesday stream.

Ohanyan blundered a bishop in the endgame, which made him angry and led to the rude gesture. The stream host Take Take Take explained the situation, noting that the gesture was not directed at Nihal Sarin:

Take Take Take

Mobile Chess App

“We don’t interpret the hand gestures to be towards Nihal, but towards the computer/game itself.

If it was intended towards Nihal, we obviously do not condone that or want to normalize it. However, a little rage after losing a game is not out of the ordinary.”

Nihal commented on the situation in an X post:

Nihal Sarin

Indian GM

“Regarding the recent incident, I want to clarify that I was not offended. Things happen in the heat of the moment — no big deal.”

Titled Tuesday is Chess.com’s weekly 11-round Swiss tournament for titled players, occurring every Tuesday. Indian GM Nihal Sarin (2716) won the event 8 times and Armenian GM Emin Ohanyan (2481) has never won it.