'Indians are always very interested in what we do': Alireza Firouzja, youngest to break Magnus Carlsen's record of 2800

BENGALURU: The 22-year-old grandmaster, one of the strongest players on the planet, lies on a hotel bed with his leg propped up on a pillow, calculating variations against a world championship challenger sitting upright across the deck. That was Alireza Firouzja’s reality for a number of tournaments earlier this year, sidelined by an ankle injury. It was unreal.“I just misstepped,” Firouzja, now 23, told TimesofIndia.com, recalling the moment that caught the attention of the chess world during the Super Chess Classic in Bucharest, Romania earlier this May. “I was about to get off the stage and I misstepped and twisted my ankle.Just a bad step off the podium, but this time it happened to someone who had a full tournament calendar and no real chance to just relax.The injury first disabled his movement during the Grand Chess Tour stage in Romania, which he described as the worst point of the entire saga. “Romania was the most annoying because I had to lie on the bed and keep my legs up,” he added.Things improved slightly when he got to Norwegian chess, where he was on crutches, but at least he could sit behind the board again.“I could already sit behind a desk in Norway,” he said. However, Romania checked it the most. Among those opponents was Javokhir Sindarov, now a world title challenger who will face Gukesh later this year.When asked directly what it actually feels like to count chess from a horizontal position, leg raised, unable to sit properly, he did not hide his annoyance.“It was very uncomfortable,” he revealed. “But I just wanted to play because it was a good opportunity. But after two rounds I thought, that’s enough. It was impossible to play.”He has since made a full recovery. “It’s fully recovered,” he confirmed.Back in India and obviously enjoying itThe chapter of beds and pillows is behind him, but Firouzja’s relationship with Indian crowds has become one of the more consistent threads of his year.It is his second trip to the country in a span of three to four months. He won the Chennai Grand Masters in July before arriving at the Global Chess League (GCL) here in Bengaluru, where he plays for two-time champions Triveni Continental Kings.“India, always, whenever I come, people are very interested in what we’re doing and it’s very good,” he said when asked about the reception. “I’ve been twice this year, I was in Chennai, now here and last year I was in Mumbai (for the GCL).”Apparently the food also made an impression. Revealing what he enjoys most, Firouzja said: “I like tandoori chicken and stuff.”On Gukesh vs SindarovWith Sindarov set to challenge Gukesh at the World Cup, Firouzja, who has played both of them several times in various formats of the game, offered his assessment of the upcoming encounter in Geneva.“I think it will probably be a close game,” he added. “I don’t know, anything can happen.”Alireza, an Iranian-French Grandmaster, became the youngest player to surpass the FIDE 2800 rating when he achieved it in November 2021 at the age of 18 years and 5 months, surpassing Magnus Carlsen’s previous record of 18 years and 11 months.Despite achieving so much at such a young age, he was much more expansive in how difficult the road to a World Cup match really is, as he walked much of it alone.“You have to play a lot and you always have to be at your best,” he said of qualifying through the Candidates Tournament. “And the candidates, you have to play your best in these two weeks. It’s a tough road. It’s good to try.”What will happen next with Firouzja?As for where he will be heading after the GCL, Firouzja confirmed that his next major stop remains the Total Chess Championship, which will take place from November 10-21, 2026 at the Anantara New York Palace Hotel in Budapest, Hungary.Between a crazy ankle injury, a full recovery, two trips to India in less than half a year, a taste for tandoori chicken and a world-class chess plan, however, the image that sticks is that of Romania.