My heart goes out to Chucky and his wife. A sad event to be certain, but they are alive and unharmed and that is a blessing. I hope that the organizers in Bilbao will make a special effort to make the Ivanchuks welcome in Spain!

What about the portable and preparations stored on it? I hope that he has a backup system.

My heartfelt sorrow and well wishes to GM Ivanchuk and his wife.

There is not mention in the press about Rabajov's room being robbed in San Luis, in 20057 was it, (not sure of the date or tournament, please correct me if I am wrong).

He was so upset, he left with his fathering, feeling the need to withdraw.

I am not saying Latin America is worse than other places, not having traveled internationally in a long time, and then only in East Asia. Just noting the great disturbance in a sport where the mind needs the least amount of drain in other areas, for maximum focus.

Again, my heart goes out to GM Ivanchuk who, we recall, was very upset was it, two years ago, saying he would leave chess and the chess world said now.

We love you Vassily. dk

2005... and the the chess world said no.

carlsen/anand wants to win real bad; playing on chucky's nerves. pretty sure the stuff will be returned once chucky finishes at the bottom -;)

Is it me, or is Nakamura's tweet a bit tasteless sounding like he only cares about the continuation of their game?
But kudos to the Brazilians for getting them a salvoconducto at once.

Welcome to the third world!
I remember Radjabov being robbed (not at gun point) in Morelia (Mexico) in a Morelia-Linares event a few years ago!
Teimour refused to play in the event and Ivachuk had to fill in for the Azeri!
Now we witness a similar circumstance.
It is just a SHAME... Chucky is having a great moment since the World Cup!

It seems that the tournament directors have learnt very little from what happened I think to Teimour Radjabov was it? 3 or 4 years ago in Mexico World Championship

Chucky and his wife were not hurt, that is the main thing. I can understand it is a big shock and will affect his tournament, but I'm just happy to hear they only lost their bags and not their lives.

Nakamura lives in one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. I keep expecting to some day hear about him being robbed. Hopefully the crime stats don't apply to his neighborhood.

That is totally lame. But I am 100% super happy that they were unharmed. It sucks, but at least they only lost material stuff.

"Ivanchuk refuses to continue the tournament in Bilbao on Thursday, if he is not with his wife."
That is how the man with cojones should react, agree.

What an awful experience for GM and Mrs Ivanchuk. One should not be so quick to blame Sao Paulo. I know of four titled players who were robbed at gunpoint several years ago in one of the nicest sections of Philadelphia. Unfortunately, there is a post traumatic stress syndrome that can cause many physical and mental problems. If Ivanchuk continues to play in Bilbao, I hope he has someone to talk with to help him understand that what he is feeling is normal. This may allow him to continue his brilliant play and win the tournament as he certainly should.

This is completely unacceptable. With the kind of money and sponsors that back a tournament at this level, the organizers should be able to pony up for armed guards.
Anybody getting the kind of press these players do needs some kind of security escort nowadays - unless we are talking about the town of Mayberry.

Sad, but indeed it could have been worse: In 1990, Artur Yusupov (then a world-top player) surprised burglars in his apartment in Moscow, was shot and barely survived. He then emigrated to Germany which he represents ever since.

It can happen anywhere, but it would really surprise me if something similar happened in Wijk aan Zee ... .

@RealityCheck. Your commentary is showing lack of imagination. A gun point is an extreme situation! It's connected with loosing your life, or the life of the one you love or even worse. Just think about it: You are walking along the road and suddenly a handful of people come up stopping you by point a gun on you. Give them everything you got and they'll leave you alone, hopefully. Never try to be a hero.

So think here: Ivanchuck is a hero at the board. That's what we love about him. But fortunately he's also wise enough in real life to let go of his stuff to save his and his wife's lifes. That's real life decisions. And i'm glad, that they're both alive and unharmed.
Lets hope it doesn't affect his performance in bilbao.

Lololol I think it was a good experience. Feeling safe is just an illusion.

This would be absolutely terrifying especially since the language barrier means there was no one to say, "Give us your stuff or we'll kill you". Instead the robbers would have to show their weapons as well as their intent to kill using unspoken body language. On a dark night, and with one's wife, this would be absolutely terrifying. I am happy at least the Ivanchuks were not physically harmed. Also I think Nakamura's offer to postpone their game is very classy and gentlemanly.

Glad to hear that they are safe. I agree with Anonymous - the organizers should ensure security at places such as the playing hall, the hotel, and transport to and from the venue.

I think there is a bit of overreaction here. This kind of things can happen to anyone in anyplace. Organizers can't secure absolutely all the places. Probably Ivanchuk was just in the city or just taking a taxi. Nonsense to talk about Latin America. I live in a big city in Argentina and I feel perfectly safe living here.

Of course, by the way, that is a shame what happened and a very bad luck. But, in the other side, the robbers who have a gun doesn't shot freely. They just use the guy to keep the work; I mean, to steal money and other things. I'm pretty sure this kind of stuff happens every day in every big city.

I feel sorry for Ivanchuk but also with all the people who pass this same situation. It happen at least a few thousand times every day. Or maybe more than ten thousands time a day. It's a shame, of course, but it's in relation with the economic system that we accept every day.

Poor Ivanchuk, of course. But the situation is a lot harder to asses.

Nobody is saying if the suitcases contained Ivanchuk's chess material (databases, analysis and, especially, repertoire).
Let's see if any of his next opponents, in the second half of the tournament, will be suspiciously well prepared against him...

Why Ivanchuk the tournament leader? Robbers must be hired by one of his tournament rivals. But the command was to steal chuckys passport. Good thing they mistakenly took the wife's one :)

Paco Vallejo did it ;)

it's saddening. my suggestion is to give them security personnels. they are the geniuses of our chessworld. provide them the best security and start it in spain right now so that similar cases wont happen again.

What is a bit strange is that none of the organizers were seeing them off. I'm not sure what the norm is, but even at our university, somebody always drops the guest off at the airport (usually accompanied by students of the research group). I suppose different people do things differently, but perhaps a crowd would have deterred the gang-bangers.

glad they are ok, no harmed done. but still the robbers should be caught.

I guess Ivanchuk will play the Kalashnikov in the remaining games...

I hope this does not affect Ivanchuk's performance in the remainder games - I wish him the best to this tournament. He is one of the most talented chess players I have seen in the modern era.

Was his Real Madrid horrible tracksuit in the suitcase ? I hope so.

Sad event, of course, but I wonder: does Ivanchuk always have ten thousands of dollars on him? What were the robbers aiming at?

Nakas offer was very cool; good on him. Chuckys decline of the offer is even more cool. Well done, both of them.