TEHRAN // Female chess players in Iran have hit back at calls to boycott the world championships due to be held in Tehran, after a US champion who opposes the country’s Islamic dress code called for the venue to be moved.
Iranian chess players say the campaign will hurt women in their country.
Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran has required women to wear the Islamic headscarf in public places but US chess champion Nazi Paikidze-Barnes has said she will boycott the Tehran championships in February because she refuses to wear the hijab.
“This campaign against the tournament is against Iranian women and it doesn’t help at all,” said Sara Khademalsharieh, a 19-year-old international master from Iran.
“It’s the first time we are hosting a world championship, not only in chess but [in any] sport, and I think it’s very important for Iranian women to have this chance to hold such major events.”
Her comments were echoed by teammate Mitra Hejazipour, a 23-year-old grandmaster.
“The hijab is not oppression. We are used to it and it’s one of Iran’s laws and we accept it,” she said.
Paikidze-Barnes has launched a petition calling for the tournament to be moved.
“I think it’s unacceptable to host a Women’s World Championship in a place where women do not have basic fundamental rights and are treated as second-class citizens,” the 22-year-old Georgian-American wrote on Instagram.
Her petition has been backed by some leading figures in chess, including Nigel Short, the British coach who once trained Iran’s national team.
Over the years, women have pushed back the boundaries of the law, with many, particularly in the capital, wearing loose, brightly coloured headscarves far back on their heads.
But they still risk fines and even lashings from “morality police” if they go too far.
The head of Iran’s chess federation, Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, said the calls for a boycott were unreasonable.
“Everywhere in the world, there are rules on how to cover your body. There is no place in the world where people can wear nothing in public,” he said.
The head of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), Geoffrey Borg, expressed surprise at the boycott campaign and said federation members had not expressed “the slightest objection” when Iran was selected as host.
Khademalsharieh and Hejazipour said the interests of Iranian women were better served by engagement with the world than by boycotts.
She pointed to the example of karate, in which women were previously banned from competing in the hijab.
“Now [women wearing the hijab] are allowed and they are getting some medals and I think this helps Iranian women more than isolating the country,” said Khademalsharieh.
Source: http://www.thenational.ae
I’m unclear about the Georgian IM’s issue – she just doesn’t wish to wear Hijab herself or does she want all Iranian women to be exempted from wearing a Hizab or is she seeking an exemption or choice for all foreign players (assuming that most foreign players find this important)?
If Nazi is allowed to not wear a Hizab, will she participate?
Since she has gone on record talking about her fight against Iranian oppression of women, then has she put herself in a difficult spot of being unable to accept the invitation even if she’s exempted from the Hizab?
Is the US State Department supportive of her position (I don’t know if she is a US Citizen or a Georgian student studying in the US, who changed her Federation to US).
It seems the Chess Federations of the world either dropped the ball on it or they really didn’t consider the Hizab an issue for players from across the world. I would believe some flexibility or Player’s choice is quite important, since Chess is a mind game and the player has to be comfortable and not burdened with religious customs. Although again, that may not be sufficient for the IM.
I hope nobody in other countries is against women from Iran wearing Hijab.
Iran also should not require women from other countries , who do not wear Hijab, to wear it.
It is a woman’s right to refuse to play a chess tournament if a hijab is required. No one would even ask the US Women’s soccer team to play a soccer tournament wearing hijabs. Why should chess be different?
It should be the players discretion. Chess is a mind game, with this rules it seems to me psychologically you lost the game, is that something, that bothers you while playing chess. The issue is not whether you are a 1st, 2nd class citizen it is how you play the games “fairly”and in a good condition without anything bothering you while playing the game.