Alireza Firouzja complains about arbiter (Aris) at Candidates

[Kerry Liles]

Alireza Firouzja wrote the following on Twitter (X) today:

shameful action by the chief arbiter Marghetis towards me during the game.
Middle of the game in the most intense moment when i was walking during ian move, chief aribiter ,
came to me and told me to not walk anymore because my shoe is making noise on the wooden floor, 1/2

He told me to not walk and bring new shoes for tomorrow but i have the formal shoe that is apporved and am wearing it for more than 1 year.
this was a big distraction for me during the game and i completly lost my focus.
I told one of the organiser this arbiter needs to be punished. 2/3

Honestly all these unprofessional things are happening to me in almost every tournament and really its taking me to point of exucstion.

(any typos in the above are in the original tweet. If you search Twitter for @AlirezaFirouzja you can see it as it was posted...

Anyone have any insight into this "incident"? It does seem a bit odd to confront a player in the middle of the game
but I suppose the argument can be made that the noise was being made at that moment so delaying the conversation would render the situation moot...

I wonder if Firouzja's opponent complained or another player (Firouzja's opponent was Ian Nepo... in Round 14 today)

[Paul Leblanc]

"Squeeky" Firouzja. I'm sure Aris wouldn't intervene unless there was a complaint.

[Kerry Liles]

I don't know Aris well at all (I believe I met him once briefly at a Canadian Open several years ago...)
*BUT* I certainly believe he is someone of very high principles and absolutely acute sense of fairness.
I'd really like some additional information since all we have at this time is whatever Firouzja posted on Twitter.
I'm sure emotions run high in this tournament (an understatement from a patzer) but I would point out that FIDE
has put forward a number of dubious "improvements" to its rules in recent months and years and the dress code
(if it can be called that) is one such absurdity.

I'm in favour of giving arbiters the green light to make judgement calls if some behaviour pushes the envelope of fair play
rather than having a zillion rules for any inconceivable situation (see NHL rules - brought to you by lawyers...)

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Disclaimer: I have not been at the playing venue.

From video streams looks like that the floor has carpets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyvl1BHUF68
starting like at 21 min.

[Neil Frarey]

Disclaimer: I have not been at the playing venue.

From video streams looks like that the floor has carpets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyvl1BHUF68
starting like at 21 min.

It's some kind of matt black painted board.

you can clearly hear other players walking around in his game ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpdmH4wJuGU

What a shitty venue, ha!

My fav comment on YT ...

@ToivoChess
3 hours ago
Arbiters with small d energy should leave their insecurities outside playing hall. This chess arbiter is acting like a base ball umpire, injecting themselves into the result of the game..

Congrats Aris ... LOOL!!

[Kerry Liles]

Disclaimer: I have not been at the playing venue.

From video streams looks like that the floor has carpets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyvl1BHUF68
starting like at 21 min.

I have not been at the venue either... other posters here (Neil) seems to think it isn't carpet but more like some sort of painted flooring.
I understand the venue was renovated to some degree before the event (no idea how much or what was done...)

I listened to some of the video and could not hear footsteps but that is not a particularly good test.

Clearly we need more information about whether any players complained etc. I don't know if the arbiters have to submit reports to FIDE
about any warnings, sanctions etc that were assigned during the tournament...

[Brian Profit]

On Reddit, it was confirmed that another player complained about his shoes and the noise they made on the floor, so Aris stepped in to stop it from happening.

[Kerry Liles]

On Reddit, it was confirmed that another player complained about his shoes and the noise they made on the floor, so Aris stepped in to stop it from happening.

Here is a link to an interview with Aris about the incident:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1779708169582727283

(apologies in advance for thrusting a link on Twitter - I was hoping the video might be on Youtube or some other more sensible platform).

Listening to Aris' account of the incident it seems to me he was more than reasonable and as he pointed out, the arbiter team has an obligation
to protect the interests of ALL players.
Worth a listen in my opinion...

[Neil Frarey]

Alireza Firouzja wrote ...

He told me to not walk and bring new shoes for tomorrow but i have the formal shoe that is apporved and am wearing it for more than 1 year.

So some hypersensitive player or arbiter in this particular tournament tries to overrule Alireza's FIDE's approved formal shoes??? He has been wearing them for over 1 year, ha!

What's next some other hypersensitive player or arbiter complains about farts ... farting ... and more farts???

Get over it!!!

[Erik Malmsten]

I was there and it was very loud stomping, pacing back and forth, in the snack area which is a bare wooden floor.

[Neil Frarey]

I was there and it was very loud stomping, pacing back and forth, in the snack area which is a bare wooden floor.

The snack area? LOL!

Not even in the 'playing hall' ???

This is the event's shitty venue fault. Not Alireza's fault.

[Paul Leblanc]

"FIDE approved shoes" Hahaa.

[Kerry Liles]

And in new news, it seems Firouzja's father is complaining about only being able to observe from the gallery for the initial 15 minutes (I think).
Looking for the interview...

At this link: https://m.twitch.tv/videos/2120667517

you can see live interview in the middle of the coverage of the Caruana-Firouzja game today
(starting at around 1:04:15 mark to 1:10:45 with the commentators talking about the situation a little bit longer.. until about 01:12:30 or so)

Whew. A lot to unpack. I could not fully understand everything his father was saying but it include claiming that Firouzja is considering not playing chess anymore....

[Edit to add this: does anyone know what the rules are for the spectators in the upper gallery? I have heard that if you leave that area you cannot re-enter, but I also heard that family/team members have a maximum length of stay both absolute length of time and perhaps restricted to the first 15 minutes of playing time...
Anyone actually know?? ]

[Alex Ferreira]

Hi,

Those living within reasonable distance of Toronto, should probably consider visiting this event. Tickets being sold-out is not a real reason not to make the trip. A 3-week-long event with multiple side-events happening around it. Even going by the venue's main intersection, hanging out at the nearby pubs would absorb some of the vibe. There are those who stand outside the venue's entrance awaiting players to arrive / exit and take a snap-shot. The Candidates are, after all, the single biggest chess event in Toronto's history. And certainly one of the biggest in Canada's history.

Commenting on Chesstalk, sitting at a computer in a far-away land (or even not-so-far-away), is too easy.

The Candidates venue is an older building with creaky wooden floors. The images online of the playing hall display what looks like an arena, walled on most-sides, with balconies above for spectators.
The "ground floor" has artificial "walls" / banners surrounding the playing area. These banners vertically match the balcony's edge, so it looks like a continuous wall from the balcony down. The banners dividing the playing area therefore, separate an inner square / rectangular area, from a wider rectangular area, comprising the outer space.
Although the venue's floors are wooden, the inner space (playing venue) had a half-to-one-foot-high stage put in place, which is carpeted. The outer space (underneath the balcony), where players can pace, sit on a couch, get a snack, wasn't carpeted. And it's directly adjacent to the boards, separated by this banner "wall".

Re: Kerry: spectators have a time-slot to visit the balcony and are not allowed re-entry once they exit.

As for the shoe situation... there have been multiple accounts that Firouzja kept stomping nearby. Not an issue in previous rounds seemingly. Not an issue later in the same round seemingly.
With 16 players plus staff, all in formal dress-code, likely including some women with heels (tendency to be noisier on delicate flooring), the only complaint came in Round 9 about Firouzja.
When Firouzja writes about "all these unprofessional things are happening to me in almost every tournament" - when others don't have the same complaints, it makes me wonder...

Alex Ferreira

[Neil Frarey]

And in new news, it seems Firouzja's father is complaining about only being able to observe from the gallery for the initial 15 minutes (I think).
Looking for the interview...

At this link: https://m.twitch.tv/videos/2120667517

you can see live interview in the middle of the coverage of the Caruana-Firouzja game today
(starting at around 1:04:15 mark to 1:10:45 with the commentators talking about the situation a little bit longer.. until about 01:12:30 or so)

Whew. A lot to unpack. I could not fully understand everything his father was saying but it include claiming that Firouzja is considering not playing chess anymore....

[Edit to add this: does anyone know what the rules are for the spectators in the upper gallery? I have heard that if you leave that area you cannot re-enter, but I also heard that family/team members have a maximum length of stay both absolute length of time and perhaps restricted to the first 15 minutes of playing time...
Anyone actually know?? ]

As I understand, family members are allowed the first 15 minutes free gallery spectating. And then after that time control ... they are forced to pay.

A father watching his son play chess in this most critical moment of BOTH their lives.

Such disgusting manipulation, of both the father and the son.

Shame.

Who the f'k thought up that one???

Whomever you are ... please leave Canada. Thanks so much ... sigh.