India, March 26 -- The upcoming Candidates 2026 have been facing scrutiny over the tournament's venue. It is set to be held in Cyprus, which is in proximity to the ongoing Gulf conflict. On March 1, a British airbase was also hit in the country. FIDE has decided to stick to the venue, but the players aren't happy with it.

To make matters worse for FIDE, Koneru Humpy decided to withdraw from the tournament, citing security concerns. In an interview, Humpy also questioned if FIDE really cared about player safety and asked if they would host tournaments in Jammu and Kashmir. In response, Hympy was slammed by the chief of Cyprus's chess federation.

Meanwhile, American GM Hikaru Nakamura also highlighted the dire situation in Cyprus in a pos...