Firouzja holds Sindarov to stalemate while lying on hotel bed in unique game of chess | WATCH

Javokhir Sindarov and Alireza Firouzja played out one of the most unique games of chess in recent memory during the fifth round of Super Chess Classic Romania in Bucharest on Monday. The tournament, which is the second event overall and the first in the Classical format in the ongoing Grand Chess Tour, is taking place at the Museum of the National Bank of Romania.

Sindarov and Firouzja, however, did not arrive at the designated venue for their fifth-round meeting. Instead, they faced off in a hotel room. The Iranian-French Grandmaster, additionally, was lying on bed, clad in loungewear instead of formals – as is mandated in GCT and Fide events.

Sindarov was seated in a chair next to his bed with a table placed between them for the unique over-the-board game of chess. And though he wasn't as casually dressed as Firouzja, the Uzbekistani GM didn't really follow the dress code to a tee either, taking a leaf out of Magnus Carlsen's book and turning up in jeans with a formal shirt.

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Why Firouzja was allowed to play on a bed

The reason behind the unique arrangement was an injury that Firouzja had suffered following his third-round defeat at the hands of Anish Giri, which thankfully for him wasn't a fracture but forced him to sit out of his fourth-round clash against world No 3 Fabiano Caruana nevertheless.

Given his situation, the tournament organisers made a special arrangement for Firouzja to play his games "in a special room with the agreement of his opponents in the presence of an arbiter." And the first game under this arrangement was against Candidates winner Sindarov, which ended in a 58-move draw in which Firouzja played with white pieces.

"It was a hard game of course. I was always under pressure. But it was interesting. I got some play at the end and some chances. But not easy also for black," Firouzja told the tournament organisers after his stalemate against the Uzbekistani GM.

"It’s a leg problem so I thought I have to sit anyway and rest. So if organisers, they made very good conditions for me to play on the bed because the doctor said this was the only way, and they made it. Otherwise, I had to withdraw of course. But the organisers put the effort, players also they are nice, they agreed, so all is good.

"There is pain but it’s okay. I have to get used to it, because it will be a long time. Fortunately, chess is kind of like, you can lay on the bed. I just wanted to play more because I have five more games, it’s nice games and I will learn something," he added.

It wasn't just the Firouzja-Sindarov showdown that ended in a draw, none of the other games in Round 5 achieving a decisive result, with Indian GM R Praggnanandhaa shaking hands with American GM Wesley So in 45 moves while playing as black.

German GM Vincent Keymer is in sole lead after five rounds with 3.5 points to his name while Praggnanandhaa is sharing the second spot with Dutch GMs Giri and Jorden van Foreest on 3 points. Sindarov is joint-fourth with 2 points while Firouzja is at the bottom of the 10-player standings with just 1 point.