Official Update from FIDE (no objection from any nation, including the US):
During the FIDE General Assembly in Baku 2016 the chess Federation of Iran was awarded the organization of the Women’s World Chess Championship in Tehran in February 2017. Iran was the only country which made a proposal to host the event and since there were no objections from any of the delegates (representatives of 159 national federations), the General Assembly accepted the proposal.
Iran has also hosted a number of top international chess events in the recent past such as:
The Asian Women’s Championship 2007 in Tehran (see link with final standings here http://chess-results.com/tnr7855.aspx?lan=1&art=1&flag= )
The Asian Women’s Championship 2011 in Mashdad (see link with final standings here http://chess-results.com/tnr49119.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd= )
In February 2016 the Iranian Chess Federation successfully organized the FIDE Women Grand Prix event in Tehran. You can check more information about the event at tehran2016.fide.com . All the above events, and many more smaller ones, have been organised at a very top level by the very experienced National Chess Federation of Iran.
There were no complaints from the players or officials and everybody respected the laws of the country, including the dress requirements.
At this point in time, there have been no official complaints to FIDE, from any player who is eligible to participate in the Women’s World Championship 2017.
It is not a FIDE regulation or requirement to wear a hijab during the event. I would kindly refer you to local laws or regulations such as wearing the hijab, if you kindly check the UK foreign office website for more information you will find there “You should respect local traditions, customs, laws and religions at all times and be aware of your actions to ensure that they do not offend”:
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-…/…/local-laws-and-customs
FIDE is nevertheless reviewing all possible solutions for the players’ comfort and will discuss all the issues with the organizers in Iran during meetings in the next few weeks.
Kind regards,
Anastasiya Karlovich
FIDE Press Officer
It’s a terrible decision. Women should not be forced to wear alien dress in order to participate in a championship. It’s interesting that Short spoke out against the dress code in the previous women’s tournament in Iran.
Mr. Short was also receiving money to coach in Iran. He did not speak out when he was paid. After his service is no longer required, he becomes vocal. Hypocrite? The world of chess thinks so.
That is not a fair criticism, since GM Short was participating in a chess tournament in Iran a few days before he made his comments and I am sure he will be invited again. One should not judge someone with their own values and be respectful of brave comments like GM Short made about his experience recently in Tehran in the latest issue of New In Chess even at the cost of not being invited again.
How can you pick a place where women are treated like property/second class citizens? Laughable and a black eye for chess. Western women being forced to wear a hijab? That insane.
The US delegate who represented the US approved this. No woman player was consulted.
That right there might be the problem MR. Admin.
As a gentleman, this decision makes me sick. It’s embarrassing to be a male thinking that some male or males on FIDE thinks it’s ok to have the World Chess Championship in such a place as Iran. Women are considered second class citizens there and asking them to go and respect local traditions is equivalent to asking Jesse Owens to accept that it’s ok that black people are second class citizens in Germany at the time of his Olympics. Please evolve, many many people died in this world for a more evolved mankind. Women rights are equivalent to men period!! No exceptions. If you don’t believe this please step down from your position on FIDE
You need to write to the US Chess Federation to find out why they voted for this bid? No female player was consulted.
She’s boycotting chess while everyone else is boycotting checkers.
Can you imagine if african american players were required to be veiled in order to play? or the men? while the women could wear their usual preferred attire for competition? This would surely not be tolerated. When one visualizes this— a room full of men veiled- or african americans veiled -while the women wore their personal choice of attire – the absurdity is easily seen. The United States is remiss in not taking a stand for the rights of women to dress freely as the men do. To have one sex required to veil themselves and another not ,is the height of discrimination . The Chess Federation is blind and tone deaf ,and moreover, passively supporting discrimination to have selected a country that would require a player to dress in a way that is offensive to herself. The custom of hijab represents, to many non-muslims, a symbol of enslavement and misogyny. No woman should be forced to accommodate the “Custom” of misogyny.
Ms Karlovich you are insincere and dishonest. If you feel comfortable kowtowing to abuse for the sake of money and apparent harmoney, excuse me harmony, you might want to do a little soul searching. A woman going to Iran to compete in the world chess championships should not be obliged to cave in to local narrow mindedness.
But then again, FIDE is more than happy to hold events in venues tainted with the worst sort of corruption because that’s where the money is.
The idea that women are not asked but demanded to wear a veil while playing chess In Iran because of a “religion” is absurd. What Iran should be encouraged to understand is that unless they bend or become more tolerant to western dress and respectful to western ideas then they can look to be left out and left behind. This would never be tolerated in any Olympic sport. So why would chess be so quick to agree to force a female player to wear this ridiculous costume? To me it is despicable.