Incredible Sportsmanship! World's Tallest Grandmaster Is Sick—So Opponent Offers Draw

It has been a fractious few days in the chess world with the heart-breaking death of GM Daniel Naroditsky and the fall-out that followed.

But elite chess is not all about sadness and in-fighting.

Polish IM Sebastian Poltorak, playing for Schachfreunde Berlin 1903, showed exactly that on Tuesday during Round 3 of the European Club Cup in Rhodes, Greece.

Poltorak was faced with an unexpected incident when his Serbian opponent GM Aleksandar Indjic, who at 6ft 7in is believed to be the world's tallest grandmaster, unexpectedly fell ill during their game and had to leave the playing hall.

How did Poltorak react? Instead of claiming the win, which 20-year-old was fully-entitled to do against Indjic's team Alkaloid, the lower-ranked player made an extraordinary gesture by offering a draw.

Having consulted with the captains of both teams, Chief Arbiter Ashot Vardapetyan officially declared a draw on the 16th move. That was despite the Sofia Rule, which states no draws are allowed before 30th move, being in effect.

Alkaloid went on to win the match 4-2 and Poltorak remained without a win in the event. He is on 1/3.

Poltorak said after: "What to say? We play chess, I enjoy it, but in situations like that we are just people and we manage to be people, to be moral and behave like we should behave."

Indjic is a four-time Serbian national champion and the 2024 European Individual Chess Champion. Thankfully, it was later reported that he suffered nothing serious. Indjic was not paired for Round 4.

"This touching act of fair play is a beautiful reminder that sportsmanship stands above all else, and that fair play remains the true heart of chess," the European Chess Union's WFM Stefana Milutinovic said.