BENGALURU: The word “tattoo” is believed to have come from Polynesian languages, particularly words such as “tatau”, a term associated with traditional body art in that region. European sailors encountered Polynesian tattooing and helped carry the word back into European languages. Even thousands of years earlier, ancient Egyptians were already tattooing their bodies, with some of the earliest known examples found on female mummies. Researchers suggest that their markings may have served social, ritual or protective purposes.Millennia later, tattoos still carry stories. On the arms of Russia’s top-ranked chess grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi, they surely do.A two-time back-to-back winner of the prestigious Candidates Tournament, Nepomniachtchi, affectionately known in the chess world simply as “Nepo”, was initially slated to fly from Moscow to Bengaluru on September 2 for the Global Chess League (GCL).Opting to delay his travel, he touched down on the morning of September 4, a day before the start of the tournament. The late arrival has effectively cost him any chance for local sightseeing, but the city has still managed to win him over.“I really like the climate; it’s very mild compared to what I’m used to in India when I visited previously. And yeah, the place is very nice,” Nepo told TimesofIndia.com with a smile during an exclusive interaction as his team, Ganges Grandmasters, opened their GCL campaign with a victory on Saturday.Whether you were inside the arena or watching from a screen, Nepomniachtchi’s arms were hard to miss. At a glance, they looked less like a grandmaster’s limbs and more like a vivid canvas, covered in colours and intricate artwork that stood out against the otherwise restrained setting of professional chess.The elite circuit is a world of pristine blazers, pressed shirts and strict sartorial codes, where body art is rarely part of the picture. Here, at GCL, that is not the case.“Normally, it’s not approved by the dress code. So, this is only for a gym,” Nepo admitted, laughing as he rolled back his sleeves to reveal his tattoo.
Ian Nepomniachtchi’s tattoo on his right arm (Photos by Jyotirmoy Halder from TimesofIndia
When asked how many he has. “Not that much, only two,” he replied. On his right arm carries a powerful mantra. “Rise and rise again and again like the Phoenix from the ashes; until the lambs have become lions.”“I have this one, but this comes from 2023. I think I played the first GCL right after getting this,” he explained. “I like this quote. This I wanted to get many, many years before. It’s always hard to make a decision to get something onto your skin.”The process for his right arm was surprisingly painless, which gave the grandmaster a false sense of security.“This one felt so easy,” Nepo recalled. “So, I felt, alright, maybe the full-sleeve is fine. Why not?”A test of patience off the boardThat casual “why not” evolved into an agonising, transatlantic project on his left arm that would test his endurance on another level.“My nickname is Lachesis, and it’s the Greek goddess of fate,” he told this website, referencing his popular social media handle, lachesisq. “I wanted a Greek goddess, and it took me some time to find a master, an artist who specialises (in this).”Nepo eventually found the right artist, but that artist was in Germany.“The artist I was working with is based in Munich,” he revealed. “It was logistically a bit tricky as I live in Moscow. We completed several sessions, and eventually, it was eight sessions total starting from September and ending in April.”
Ian Nepomniachtchi’s tattoo on his left arm (Photos by Jyotirmoy Halder from TimesofIndia
The resulting full-sleeve is what one can call a chef-d’œuvre. “Eventually, it’s a mix of ideas,” the Russian grandmaster stated while examining the ink. “You have some snake for Ouroboros and also some chess pieces for whatever reason, but it was an idea from my artist, and I didn’t really argue.”But for the 36-year-old Nepo, it was a classic case of no pain, no gain.“This one (right arm) was completely painless, and this (left arm) was a hell of a time,” he confessed. “I finished it (the left one) this year, but it’s a full sleeve. It was quite painful, to be honest, and it took a while. So, for now, I’m fed up with pain. I was patient; I tolerated a lot.”Now that the suffering has ended with its completion, he doesn’t plan on returning to the tattoo chair anytime soon. Now, he just hopes that people can see, and understand, the meaning behind the artwork.“And this is supposed to be a phoenix,” he said with a final grin, gesturing to his right arm, “if it’s recognisable or not.”
