NEW DELHI: A light and heartwarming moment at the Greinke Freestyle Open grabbed attention when Grandmaster (GM) Harika Dronvali extended her hand to resign, but Uzbek GM Nodyrbek Yakuboev responded with a polite “Namaste” instead. Both players smiled and walked away, making it a memorable and respectful exchange.See:The event itself is heating up in Karlsruhe, where Vincent Kemmer and Hans Niemann lead with a perfect 5/5 score. They will face each other in an important match next. Close behind is a strong group that includes world no. Magnus CarlsenKeeping the competition fierce.Interestingly, world-ranked Daniel Hausrath surprisingly holds his place among the top players. With thousands of participants and a huge prize pool, the tournament is one of the biggest in the world, and the upcoming rounds are expected to shake up the leaderboards.This is not the first time Yakuboev has avoided a handshake. Earlier, during a match against R Vaishali in the Wijk on Zee Challengers section last year, he had done the same, causing confusion. Later, he meets her again with flowers and chocolates to apologize.“I’m sorry for what happened? It was a strange situation for both of us. I was in a hurry that day. It seems there was some misunderstanding. And I want to wish you both the best for the rest of the games. I just want to say, I respect both of you and your brother, both of you, and all Indian chess players,” Yakubov said.Vaishali replied softly: “No, it’s clearly understandable. I didn’t take it that way, so we didn’t have to feel bad.” You actually apologized. That’s totally fine. You don’t have to worry about that.”Yakubov later explained that it was for “religious reasons”, adding, “I want to clarify the situation… I don’t touch other women for religious reasons.” He emphasized respect, saying, “I respect Vaishali and his brother as the strongest chess players in India. If I have offended him with my behavior, I am sorry,” and clarified, “I do what I have to do… it’s their business what to do.”
