"Tanked his reputation in a lot of people's eyes" - Fans react as Alireza Firouzja draws against lower-rated player and loses rating

The ongoing chess drama involving the French-Iranian grandmaster Alireza Firouzja has experienced a new development. Engaged in a mini-tournament in his homeland, France, competing against opponents with significantly lower ratings in an attempt to rapidly increase his ELO ratings, he seems to have faced an unexpected setback.

His strategy backfired when he ended up drawing against GM Sergey Fedorchuk, resulting in a loss of points (2.6, to be precise). At the time of writing, Alireza has once again fallen below Wesley So in the rankings.

Reacting to the entire situation, one fan critically remarked:

"Very hilarious that Alireza tanked his reputation in a lot of people's eyes to not make the candidates lmao."

Fans react to Alireza's latest setback (Image via X/@GothamChess)

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What are the current live ratings? Alireza Firouzja falls below Wesley So again

For those unaware, Alireza Firouzja and Wesley So were in direct competition for the last available spot in the upcoming Candidates tournament. Per the regulations, the player with the highest rating in January 2023, among those yet to qualify, would secure one of the two remaining positions.

Wesley So held a slight lead over Alireza Firouzja in rating points. However, in an attempt to alter the situation, Firouzja made a last-minute decision to participate in a tournament in France against opponents with lower ratings.

However, it appears that Firouzja's plan blew up in his face as he lost ground in the last round of the tournament, failing to win against an opponent rated almost 200 points below him. Here is the live standings:

Live FIDE ratings of the top 12 players in the world (Image via 2700chess.com)

As things currently stand, Wesley So has once again reclaimed a higher position than Firouzja. If this situation persists, it implies that one of the last remaining spots for the upcoming tournament will be secured by Wesley So instead of Firouzja.

Here's a quick run-down of the match which cost Firouzja the points:

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Fans react to the drama

Alireza Firouzja hasn't been the most favorably viewed player in the public eye ever since he announced participating in the mini-tournament. Reacting to his latest result, fans said these:

Fans critical of Alireza Firouzja (Image via X/@GothamChess)

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Interestingly, the grandmaster has now pulled out from the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships scheduled for the last week of December. According to reports, the cited reason for his withdrawal is personal.