Firouzja Withdraws From GCT Romania After Ankle Injury

Firouzja Withdraws From GCT Romania After Ankle Injury

GM Alireza Firouzja has withdrawn from the Super Chess Classic Romania 2026 following an ankle injury sustained during the event, the Grand Chess Tour announced on Wednesday. Despite the withdrawal, the 22-year-old is expected to travel to Oslo this week to play in Norway Chess on Monday, the organizers told Chess.com.

The French-Iranian star attempted to continue competing after suffering the injury, playing two games from a hotel bed. Firouzja salvaged a draw from a lost position against GM Javokhir Sindarov on Monday, but then lost the postponed fourth round game against GM Fabiano Caruana on Tuesday, the rest day.

However, on Wednesday, hours before he was scheduled to play GM Vincent Keymer in the sixth round, it was announced that the 22-year-old could no longer continue in the event.

Alireza Firouzja Withdraws from Super Chess Classic Romania 2026.

Alireza Firouzja has made the difficult decision to withdraw from the Super Chess Classic Romania 2026 due to an ankle injury.

Alireza commented: “Unfortunately, due to an ankle injury sustained during the event,… pic.twitter.com/CgYZQdHwqe — Grand Chess Tour ( @GrandChessTour ) May 20, 2026

"Unfortunately, due to an ankle injury sustained during the event, I have decided to withdraw from the tournament," Firouzja said in a statement released by the Grand Chess Tour. "Thank you to the organizers for their support and accommodations, and thank you to everyone following the games. I wish the players and organizers the best for the rest of the tournament."

The tournament organizers went on to praise the grandmaster for the attempt to continue. "We thank Alireza for his efforts to continue competing despite the injury and wish him a speedy recovery," the Grand Chess Tour said. "We hope to see him back at the board soon."

As Firouzja has played more than 50 percent of the games, his results in the tournament will stand and count for standings. The withdrawal leaves him 10th and last, with two draws in the five games he played.

The pictures of Firouzja playing from a hotel bed went viral and drew comparisons to the historic images from Tilburg 1985, when GM Tony Miles played, and finished joint first, lying flat on a massage table after suffering severe back pain.

"Fortunately for chess you can lay on the bed," Firouzja joked during his post-game interview after round five. "I just wanted to play more, because we have five more nice games, and I will learn something."

His injury first became public ahead of round five, with questions over whether he would be able to play at all. It was later revealed that he had injured his ankle after the third round. While the injury was not believed to involve a fracture or break, doctors advised him to remain off his feet.

Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana in their postponed fourth round game. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour.

The injury did not stop Firouzja from being aggressive on the board in the postponed game against Caruana on Tuesday. Playing with Black in a Slav Defence, he launched a queenside attack with opposite-side castling, and after 20...c4!, along with a black pawn on a3, it seemed dangerous for White.

However, the position remained roughly in balance, according to engines, until Firouzja, in severe time trouble, made the first mistake with 27...Qd7?, when 27...Nb4 would have given Black far more chances.

The postponed Round 4 game between Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja is currently underway, taking place during the tournament’s free day after being rescheduled to today at 4 PM.

After suffering an ankle injury, Firouzja is playing from a special room at the hotel, while the… pic.twitter.com/8von8SB31g — Grand Chess Tour ( @GrandChessTour ) May 19, 2026

Firouzja is scheduled to play Norway Chess from May 25-June 5. Speaking to Chess.com, Chief Organizer Kjell Madland said they were in contact with the grandmaster late Tuesday night and Firouzja intends to travel to Oslo this week to play the event.

"We have been in this situation a couple of times, and it's important to know as soon as possible," he said, adding that they have no back-up plan. "We have always managed to solve it when it arises."

During Norway Chess 2018, GM Ding Liren ended up in hospital after fracturing his hip by falling off a bicycle. He withdrew from the event after the third round and did not play his remaining six games.

Ding Liren won a cook-off with Vishy Anand on the rest day back in 2018 before finding out he'd broken his hip. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess.

Keymer will now receive a forfeit win in round six, while wins will also follow for GMs Jorden van Foreest, Wesley So and Bogdan-Daniel Deac.

Praggnanandhaa and Sindarov are the only players who won't get a win for their game vs. Firouzja.

Caruana-Sindarov will be the highlight of round six, while we'll also see So-Vachier-Lagrave, Van Foreest-Giri, and Deac-Praggnanandhaa.

How to watch?

The 2026 Super Chess Classic Romania is the second event on the 2026 Grand Chess Tour and runs from May 13 to 23 at the Museum of the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest. It's a 10-player round-robin with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 more minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment starting on move one. The prize fund is $475,000.

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