When a swarm of mosquitoes invaded Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi’s room and interrupted his intense concentration, the first round of the two-legged semifinal in the Crypto Cup between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Wesley So was dragging to a dreary stalemate.

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The Russian, who would have confronted Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship later this year, lost his hermetic serenity in the face of the attack, committed a series of atypical blunders, and found himself 2.5-1.5 behind well before the second round on Saturday night.

The 30-year-old Russian is shown swatting, slashing, and flapping the air as the match proceeded, broadcasted in snippets on the competition’s website.

When attempting to push them away, he nearly smacked himself in the face. Their buzz grew louder as they moved around the loudspeakers, like a high-pitched sonata.

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In the post-match news conference, a flustered Nepomniachtchi was at a loss for words.

He recounted his ordeal, “It seems like a shamanic ritual, I was doing all sorts of weird movements with my hand. But I have never seen such a big amount of mosquitoes in one place. It was just unbelievable. In the camera, it looks so funny, but right there it was not so.”

The result was catastrophic for Nepomniachtchi’s positioning. He made reckless bishop plays and lost territory while slapping mosquitoes buzzing about him and trying to study his opponent’s plays.

Previously, the match had a giant draw painted on it since all of the pawns were on the same side of the board, which the systems would interpret as a stalemate.

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The normally defensive player So is always on the lookout for his opponent’s mistakes. So, with his black king, smashed through Nepomniachtchi’s defences to establish a commanding position.

The Russians’ focus had shifted from winning the match to escaping the onslaught of the mosquito brigade at that time.

Chess players are known for blaming their losses on the playing conditions. This one, on the other hand, appears to be real. He went to the restroom twice, assuming that if he wasn’t there, the insects would leave the room, but he was mistaken.

He pondered asking the arbiter to rerun the game since he believed he “was the better player in the game and deserved at least a draw,” but ultimately opted against it.

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Even his adversary So was taken aback by his opponent’s bizarre behaviour. He wondered whether it was a ruse to divert his attention away from the game.

Nepomniachtchi would be more concerned about fending off mosquitoes in the second round than pondering his opponent’s strategy.

A bit of wisdom and prayer have also been offered by So who told his opponent to shut all the windows and doors or slather himself with mosquito repellent lotion.

“I know these mosquitoes are quite irritating. But I just hope they would keep attacking him in the next round of the games,” he joked.

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With Nepomniachtchi’s chances of making a comeback slim, the perfect final between him and Carlsen appears doubtful. Nepomniachtchi would attest that the party-poopers were a swarm of mosquitoes. It would also be pricey, considering the finalists are guaranteed $ 220,000 in prize money. The mosquito gambit will now be a winning play in the chess jargon.