Iran chess player avoids Israel game
Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:53:43
Iranian chess player Ibrahim Momeni has refrained from playing with his Israeli contestant to voice his support for the Palestinians.
Momeni was supposed to compete against an Israeli chess player in the second round of the World Under 20 Juniors and Girls Chess Championships on Friday.
The Championships commenced in Armenia’s capitol Yerevan on Oct 2 and will continue until Oct 17, according to Iran’s Chess Federation.
More than 150 chess players from 50 countries will take part in the Yerevan contests.
Source: Press TV
What do you think about his action?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Immature on the part of the Iranian, unless he was coerced into doing so by Ahmedinejad & Co.
Ibrahim’s minor sacrifice will be virtually unnoticed by the world at large, and is therefore pointless in that regard.
However, it will cement is position as a good little Iranian with the Iranian government, and perhaps qualify him for a suicide mission some day.
Throw him out of the tournament.
It is a peaceful form of protest, definitely better than to commit a suicide bombing. Also, let’s keep in mind that he obviously is someone under 20 years old from a country with – as I estimate it – extremistic government.
I doubt that this is something worth reporting about and things between these two countries are much more serious.
Ibrahim Momeni demonstrates a rare trait among chess players, character. His protest is not only in support of the Palestinians, who are the victims of a 60 year war of genocide by the Israeli/Amerikkkans, but his awareness of an impending nuclear attack on his country by the Zionists/Amerikkkans.We should all be united against imperialism,racism, and fascism.
Anon 7:20 said: “Ibrahim’s minor sacrifice will be virtually unnoticed by the world at large, and is therefore pointless in that regard”.
I don’t think this argument to be a strong moral argument, for if one decides to act merely on the successnon-success percentage of his act , according to how he judges it, he might have to live with a wrong decision.
Ibrahim might be that petty yes man like that but he might be not also. I don’t know him. But I think as a rule we tend to underestimate Iranians in the west. So may be and just may be this good little Iranian believes
in his ideology and believes in his cause as a right cause.
It might surprise you but as an Israeli peace person I can understand the other side’s pain and therefore can also identify with Ibrahim. However,it is a pity they did not play . Chess can be a peaceful uniting force. They could have fought over the chess board. It is sad that politics intervene into sports in such ugly ways.
And I don’t blame the Iranian who showed solidarity with what he feels to be his brothers. Nothing wrong with that considering Israel’s policy who many good and much wiser than me persons feel very uneasy with. But I don’t want to enter the political arena. As a chess fan and a peace fan I feel the right thing for me is to grieve the situation.
Hoping for a better future for the middle east and for chess in Israel and in Iran.
Abie Weiler
He did what he did. No need to judge his act. Let us love everyone as our brother and not judge.
It matters not what he does, what matters is why he did it. Was it an act of love, then it is priceless. Only he knows why he did it. If it was done as an act of hatred then it was a wasted opportunity to express love. The act in and of itself is meaningless. The Love is everything.
So what happens then if one of his next opponents says, I am not going to play him, he is from Iran and I object to their actions (name any contentious government action).
Is that also fine? Well judging by the precedent set so far, yes it is.
Which I clearly disagree with. No player has the right to refuse to play an opponent based on what country or religion that opponent is. The only way a person could refuse to play a person is if their country’s government has expressly forbidden interaction between the two countries.
If he truly believed in what he did, then he should never _ever_ play with an Israeli or American opponent. If he does this only once, then I consider his act either grandstanding or his commitment transient.
Did the Olympics benefit when the Americans or Soviets boycotted the event in different years? No, it was the Olympics’ loss and the competitors loss. Winners’ victories were less creditable. Boycotting sportsmen and sportswomen (voluntary or not) missed opportunities to push themselves and perform.
When politics and sports collide, no one wins. Not the competitors, not the spectators and fans and not the sport.
Anand is the champ, who cares about anything else?? India is finally better than Bulgaria!!
Kamsky was better than Anand and Topa together.
He may have had little choice on this matter.
Iran is a fascist theocracy, so the person is the tool of the state (or, the religion, in this case). Either he believes the claptrap spewed by Tehran, in which case this was his choice, or he doesn’t, in which case he’s just a pawn. (ahem) Either way, it’s just another move showing the world the real face of clerical Iran.
All I can say is that Ibrahim should not have competed in the tourney,as he has reservations about playing against Israelis.
It must have been known that Israeli players are also competing.
Anon said: Did the Olympics benefit when the Americans or Soviets boycotted the event in different years? No, it was the Olympics’ loss and the competitors loss. Winners’ victories were less creditable. Boycotting sportsmen and sportswomen (voluntary or not) missed opportunities to push themselves and perform.
When politics and sports collide, no one wins. Not the competitors, not the spectators and fans and not the sport.
Well put. We won’t know if the kid did this on his own or was “encouraged” by Irani officials to do so, but I think it’s too bad because I think he deprived himself and his a opponent to a chance to meet in an arena where politics should have no part.
A generous explanation is that Mr. Ibrahim knew he was outmatched and didn’t want to lose face. The alternative explanation is worse.
I don’t think anyone cares. The Iranian forfeits the game. Plain and simple…then we just move on.
People are responsible for their own conduct and not the actions of their government, unless they are ranking members of that government. There are reasons to condemn the Israeli government, but the Israeli chess player is not responsible for those things. As an American, I certainly would not want to be blamed for the actions of my government and would feel terribly wronged if someone refused to play me because of my country. Guilt by association is wrong.
Was this player ordered by his own government to boycott the game with the Israeli? Possibly. If so, it shows again what an awful, bigotted regime rules in Tehran.
The punishment: He should forfeit the game and any others in which he refuses to play a duly registered player with whom he is paired in the tournament. Don’t dignify his action by overreacting and throwing him out of the meet.
This should be specifically prohibited by FIDE statutes.
First offense: game forfeiture.
Second offense: expulsion from the tournament
3d offense: expulsion from FIDE
Discrimination on the basis of race, gender and politics is wrong and must not be tolerated in sport.
I have played several games with guys from Iran on playchess.com (they had big troubles with lags) and I doubt that they live in a free country. They have to do what their politicos say. I have lived in such a country for over twenty years so I know that they are either brainwashed or enslaved.
If I were him, I would ask to have the game replayed 🙂
What a great and honorable thing to do!
He such a great man… maybe like the president of Iran Ahmad Di Nejad (who is no dictator he even is not the most powerful man in Iran)
If it is permissible to protest the disgusting apartheid regime of South Africa then surely you should protest this disgusting and ‘murderous’ Zionist regime of the ultra-apartheid (where goy are below cattle) state of no democracy Israel(who are majority white European and not even semitic)
Maybe Ultra apartheid and ‘Messianic’ Regime like this needs to be wipe out to merely to the page of history
“Ibrahim Momeni demonstrates a rare trait among chess players, character.” So says anon 7:49. Who knows? Might be that if he did decide to show to the game defying politics, than it would have been an act of character. This self hate of westerners toward themselves , hailing the Iranians and Palestinians in this case as men of character reflecting on us in the west with all of our problematic existence, that we lack character. I don’t buy this. It is a trend to make heroes out of them- the others. But they probably are complexly humanely weak and strong as we are, and probably Ibrahim was driven to the decision not only by ideal reasons and character but because of lower motives as well. Lets’ see things from all possible perspectives please, as we don’t really know what happened there and whether Ibrahim is our new hero or not.
What a great and honorable thing to do!
He such a great man… maybe like the president of Iran Ahmad Di Nejad (who is no dictator he even is not the most powerful man in Iran)
If it is permissible to protest the disgusting apartheid regime of South Africa then surely you should protest this disgusting and ‘murderous’ Zionist regime of the ultra-apartheid (where goy are below cattle) state of no democracy Israel(who are majority white European and not even semitic)
Maybe Ultra apartheid and ‘Messianic’ Regime like this needs to be wipe out to merely to the page of history
Or maybe the civilized countries should get together and wipe out all the Hitler 2 wannabes and then the civilized and evolved world can go on, play chess, live their lives without having to have such discussions.
Very good!
a
The title by Susan is biased. “We’re supposed to be united” – as if his actions are somehow questionable!
Why “united” only when someone refuses to play? It’s just a game. But there are much more serious things where nobody asks/says “We should be united”? Shouldn’t human beings in all nations be “united” in opposing aparthied and oppression in the World wherever it is – in the 40’s Germany or the 00’s Palestine? If the posters cannot understand/agree with this players action, at least do not display some jingoistic stupidity and false bravado. Imagine your own families in the Palestinian position for a min. and then reflect on it. If the rest of the world goes on with its own life, who would have saved the Jews/others when they were down? Be glad for humanity’s sake that atleast they are a few who have a conscience and raise objections even if ‘nobody’ else cares.
Iranians are the biggest f**&(*& hypocrites in the world. They should shut the &))*&^ up about Palestine until they get their cowardly asses out of occupied Kurdistan.
Gens una … sometimes.
Ibrahim should certainly be forfeited.
Sad.
As much as I disagree with his position, was his action any worse than the US boycotting the 1980 Olympics in Russia? The motivations are similar I think.
anyone has ever stopped to think what that poor guy would have faced back in his country if he had played the israeli`?
its funny how people who have had the luck of never living in a dictatorship are judging the unfortunates!!!!
To those who denounce him: imagine your worst enemy: would you play achess match against him? Example: Would Presdient Bush have agreed to a chess match against Saddam Hussain?
His actions are justified. Political emotions are not to judged by people who are not involved in those politics. What this awakens us to the realization: how difficult it is to resolve the Israel-palestine conflict with such deep rooted hatred amongst them.
“To those who denounce him: imagine your worst enemy: would you play achess match against him? Example: Would Presdient Bush have agreed to a chess match against Saddam Hussain?”
You are a stupid donkey. He was not scheduled to play an enemy. He was to play someone he didn’t evan know.
Iranians out of occupied Kurdistan FIRST before whining about Palestinians!
MARG BAR IRAN!
i am talking from I-R-A-N.
Iran dictator government has forbidden all iranians form playing with Israel.
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the same problem has occured in all other soprts all the time.
for example 2 monthes ago in the wrestling world championship an Iranian wrestler refrained from wrestling with an Israel wrestler.
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if a player decides to play with Israel , he/she will be punished severely and deprived of playing through out his/her life !
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but if he does not play he will receive a vey valuable gift!!
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as i know all the people of iran hate government decisions and i beleive that fide ,… should ban iran activities in world federation.
The title of the blog is interesting.
🙂
BTW, IF (just if) the Israeli player had refused to play the other player / or a player from an arab nation, would there be this fuss?
In any case, it’s just a game.
People have refused to play, compete on many grounds, or make some form of protest, not because it makes a difference in world politics but because in their own conscience they feel they have to.
It may / may not be something from this players government, but it’s conceivable that it’s something he himself sees as something to do.
Because someone does something we don’t like doesn’t mean it’s been foisted on them…or that they’re wrong because we don’t agree with them.
Chess (shockingly) is only a game.
People including Fischer, Kramnik, etc have boycotted games for less.
Issues in sports in the past included:
not wanting to race on one’s sabbath,
protesting, whilst on the podium, to highlight issues in their own country e.g., Tommy Lee Smith Mexico ’68,
that gymnast whose country had been over run by the then Soviets, and here response, on podium, whilst invader’s anthem was being played
This particular case crops up often in that region of the world -which is probably why, for FIFA,
Israel plays in a European qulaifying group for World Cup (soccer to you folks) as nations in Israel’s region won’t play against her?, etc)…there is a precedent…
Whether we imagine what happens if other nations follow suit is another issue (valid issue nonetheless)…
Obviously, this is a big issue for people on your side of the pond (as it’s Israel) and as it’s Iran (which is probably the next one to be hyped up before another invasion?)…democracy and all that (funny that’s never said about allies like the Saudis, etc)…
🙂
“if a player decides to play with Israel , he/she will be punished severely and deprived of playing through out his/her life !
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but if he does not play he will receive a vey valuable gift!!”
It takes no character or courage to do the right thing when it’s easy. Courage and character are shown when doing the right thing is hard… and you do it anyway. Regardless of the consequences, Ibrahim should have shown some class & courage & character and simply done the right thing and played. There are always nations & cultures that dislike each other, and if we allow this to cause our sportsmen to refuse to play against their “enemies”, then every sporting event will have these types of snubs. Too bad all chess players don’t follow the Boris Spassky manner of classy behavior.
Chess is dead,manufactured political machinations will not revive it.It’s golden age bore witness to Capa & Alekhine; it’s apex revealed Bobby Fischer as the final world champion.