Things You Didn't Expect To See In Elite Chess: Firouzja Playing With An Injured Ankle

It's been a while since chess produced an image destined to live forever.

There was GM Magnus Carlsen thumping the table at Norway Chess last year. Chess fans still remember the iconic shot of Carlsen celebrating in a swimming pool after becoming World Champion in 2013.

And, of course, there was the unforgettable image of GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alexander Grischuk elbow-bumping during the 2020 FIDE Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg as the chess world tried to navigate the early days of the pandemic.

Now we may have another, by Grand Chess Tour photographer Lennart Ootes.

Round 5 of the Superbet Chess Classic Romania delivered an instant addition to the genre: GM Alireza Firouzja playing his classical game against the Uzbek man of the moment GM Javokhir Sindarov while lying in bed.

What a picture.

Made even better by the context. The tournament was reaching its boiling point, Firouzja appeared physically miserable, and yet the French star somehow pulled off a miraculous defensive escape to secure a draw.

The image also carried an unmistakable echo of chess history. Older fans immediately recalled the famous photograph of English GM Tony Miles playing while stretched out horizontally during the 1985 Interpolis Tournament in Tilburg.

The Grand Chess Tour noted as much on X:

Just 24 hours after missing his Round 4 game against GM Fabiano Caruana because of medical issues, Firouzja returned to action against Sindarov in a specially arranged room away from the main playing hall.

Reports from Bucharest described the setup as a “bedside classical game,” and it instantly became the talking point of the tournament.

The timing could hardly have been more dramatic.

Firouzja had already endured a miserable start to the event, losing to fellow Frenchman GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in Round 2 before collapsing in a long endgame against GM Anish Giri a day later. Missing Round 4 only deepened the sense that the tournament was slipping away from him entirely.

But elite chess players don't give up easily.

Firouzja’s return—however unconventional—immediately injected fresh intrigue into the standings.

At the top of the leaderboard, GM Vincent Keymer remained one of the tournament’s central figures after seizing the sole lead in the previous round. The German number one has looked increasingly comfortable among the Grand Chess Tour elite, continuing the outstanding form he showed throughout 2025.

Caruana, meanwhile, continued his pursuit of another Grand Chess Tour title against Romanian wildcard GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac.

Elsewhere, there was no shortage of heavyweight clashes. Indian hotshot GM Praggnanandhaa R faced GM Wesley So in a meeting between two of the event’s most resilient scorers, while Giri took on Keymer in a battle between perhaps the tournament’s two cleanest technicians. Vachier-Lagrave versus GM Jorden van Foreest completed a line-up where almost every pairing felt like a feature game.

What has made this edition of the Superbet Chess Classic especially compelling is the sheer amount of fighting chess. Even the draws have felt exhausting. Caruana pressed for hours against Van Foreest earlier in the tournament, Firouzja squandered a huge chance against Praggnanandhaa in Round 1, and Sindarov has already shown a willingness to grind equal positions deep into six-hour territory.

That tension is beginning to define the tournament.

Nobody has managed to break away completely. Every leader has looked vulnerable at some point, while every player near the bottom has shown flashes capable of beating anyone in the field.

In other words: hats off to the Grand Chess Tour so far, it's been a thoroughly enjoyable watch, even if Round 5 ended in all draws.

Firouzja is expected to make up his postponed match against Caruana on Tuesday, the rest day.

The Superbet Chess Classic Romania is the first of the Tour’s two classical events and features a 10-player round robin with a $475,000 prize fund, up from $350,000 last year, making every half-point important.

And with four rounds still remaining, there's more chaos to come.