New Delhi: World No. 2 American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has slammed world chess governing body FIDE for what he believes are excessive anti-cheating measures at the 2026 Cyprus Candidates Championship. Nakamura, who lost to fellow American Fabiano Caruana in his fourth Candidates Round, vented his frustrations on his YouTube channel alongside Norway GM Jon Ludwig Hamer and Luxembourg WIM Fiona Steil-Anthony.“My overall view on delays, blanket cheating, and all of these things is that, frankly, I think it’s nonsense,” Nakamura said. “Given the number of machines they need to scan players in the room, this is complete nonsense. I really do. “
The chess star criticized the security measures, jokingly questioning the extent of scrutiny. “It’s not that I have any problem with it. I just think the fears expressed by some players are completely exaggerated. I’m just being honest… They scan us before the game. They scan us after the game. They have metal detectors. They have all kinds of other stand-alone scanners. I mean, who are we? Are we Mossad agents inside Iran or something? Come on, we are chess players! Let’s be honest,” he said.When asked if he had raised concerns with FIDE, Nakamura admitted that he had not. “FIDE? No, of course, I have not expressed this view to FIDE. I really don’t see any reason to do that. When I see FIDE or what they are doing, I don’t really have to argue with them or say anything,” he commented.“My overall view is that this is all exaggerated. In smaller open tournaments where you don’t have all these scanners and equipment, I can understand the concerns. But at an event like this, where everyone is in a room, the arbitrator is looking at everyone, everyone has cameras… I mean, without inside help, nothing is going to happen. I just think it’s all nonsense. “Also read: ‘We saw tanks on the road’: What it’s like to play chess in a regional conflictNakamura started the tournament with 1.5 points through four rounds, sharing the score with Anish Giri, Andrei Esipenko and Wei Yi after the first loss. The current leader is Javokhir Sindarov, who has three wins from four rounds.
