Koneru Humpy doubles down on criticism of Fide, says penalty threat will not shut her up: ‘I am not scared’

Koneru Humpy faces a hefty financial penalty threat for withdrawing late from the Women's Candidates 2026, but the Indian chess star has said that the fear of no punishment can make her keep her mouth shut when she had lost a "lot of things" due to backing out of the Cyprus tournament amid security fears. Two-time World Rapid champion Humpy pulled out of the Fide Women's Candidates 2026 on Monday, just five days before the tournament, due to the ongoing war in West Asia.

Cyprus's proximity to West Asia and the ongoing war between the USA and Iran have led to massive security concerns. And while the 15 other participants in Open and Women's Candidates 2026 are most likely to take part in the competition, Humpy rightly decided to prioritise her safety.

Humpy hits out at Fide after withdrawing from Candidates 2026

Humpy, however, faces a monetary penalty of up to €10,000, or Rs 10.88 lakh, if Fide feels that the reason for her withdrawal was not satisfactory enough. But that is not a concern for Humpy, who has told PTI that pulling out of Candidates has been a tough decision after all the sacrifices she has made in her career.

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"See, that's the point. That is why they (international chess federation FIDE) keep these things (penalties) so that players will not speak out the facts. No, I'm not scared about it. I'm not playing just for money or monetary benefits. I just enjoy the sport," Humpy said.

"The past three months, I have been only working for this tournament. I haven't spent quality time with my daughter also. So, if a player like me is skipping the tournament, it's not fun for me to skip such an important tournament. I'm losing a lot of things."

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Humpy added that Fide could have postponed the tournament by a few months or held it somewhere else to avoid any such security concern.

"They could host the tournament anywhere in the world. Or, if they were particular about holding it in Cyprus, they could have waited for the situation to settle down," she added.

"They could wait for another month or so. The tensions would ease and there wouldn't be any hazards," she said.

Meanwhile, Fide on Wednesday announced that there's no warlike situation in Cyprus and enough security arrangements are in place to help the player focus only on chess.

Besides Hump, Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali are also part of Women's Candidates, while R Praggnanandhaa is the only Indian in the Open section.