Indian Chess journalist Niklesh Jain’s soul-stirring proposal to the Columbian Chess star WIM Angela Lopez in the middle of a tournament won the heart of everyone at the Chessboard. Minutes before Lopez’s match begin, Niklesh reached her with a ring and went down on one knee to ask her for marriage at the 2018 Chess Olympiad in Batumi on Tuesday.
Romance at the chessboard! ?
Indian chess journalist Niklesh Jain ?? proposed to his Colombian girlfriend, WGM Angela Franco ??, before round two! She said yes! ?BatumiChess2018
Photo: @photochess pic.twitter.com/gvNMjkQ7Ul
— Chess.com (@chesscom) September 25, 2018
Awestruck by the surprise, Lopez took no time to say a ‘YES’ to his proposal. The duo has been dating each other for the last one and a half years since Lopez met Niklesh at a tournament in Barcelona. The proposal was coordinated by her sister who is also a member of the Columbian team.
“Actually I am chess player and she is too. There were a few places where i could have proposed her, but then I thought what better could it be than the Chess Olympiads. There are 189 countries who are playing here and for us this is our temple,” Niklesh told Chess.com.
The whole Chess Olympiad turned merry with this event that took place at the main playing hall when Lopez was going through her last-minute preparations for her match against China. The most surprising part is, Niklesh cannot speak Spanish and Lopez cannot speak Hindi. Both of them are not even fluent in English.
“The thing is that there is a language problem, she can’t speak English very well, neither can I. So, we had to use our phones to translate and to communicate.”
Olympiad LOVE! He speaks Hindi (India). She speaks Spanish (Colombia). But they found love through chess! He popped the question at @BatumiChess2018 playing hall before round 2. She said yes! … And they are learning English, quick! ? Congratulations! @WOMChess @FIDE_chess pic.twitter.com/wtqmW26f6P
— Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) September 25, 2018
No, it was not an instantaneous thing. It was a well thought out plan. Niklesh explains, “So in the morning I thought I would do this here, and told her sister about my plan and she helped me.”